The jury is still well and truly out on whether or not last year's trading was a failure. It certainly hasn't been a roaring success in the short term.
Of the 4 players we traded in:
- Seedsman is the only one to have played an AFL game. He finishes the season outside the best 22, and only a 50/50 chance of being a "best 22" selection in 2017.
- Hampton missed a large chunk of the season through injury, and has never been considered for AFL selection as a result. Probably less than 50/50 to be "best 22" in 2017.
- Menzel was clearly unfit (by AFC standards) at the start of the season. Since then he's been concussed twice, and had a stop-start season courtesy of the SANFL fixturing. Has never been close to gaining AFL selection in 2016, and it's hard to see this changing in 2017.
- Gore hasn't really impressed much, even at SANFL level. Some posters have even suggested that he could be delisted (though I think that's unlikely). Unlikely to make it at AFL level.
That just leaves Milera (who was drafted using the pick we gained from Geelong). Milera played half the season, and definitely showed some promise. However, he does have a lot of work to do if he's to play in the AFL again next year (or beyond). Of the 5 players arriving as a result of last year's trading, he's by far the most likely to play 100 games for the AFC. Actually, he's probably the only one who is likely to play 100 games for the AFC.
If you call that a success, then I think you're kidding yourself. It's too early to call it a failure, but that's the way the scales are leaning.
** Doedee was drafted using our own 1st round draft pick, and his recruitment is/was not the result of trading.