If Heath is going to Geelong, then we will be years away from a premiership, because our opposition will be so much better equipped than us to compete for the big prize. With Thomas going to Carlton and Shaw to Geelong, and us getting draft picks in return, then we are going nowhere over the next few years.
If Heath wants to go to Geelong, then he can stay at our club and play in the VFL if necessary for the next 2 years. If we let him go to the Cats, even pick 15 from Geelong is no guarantee of a quality player in the long term, and in the short term we will be severely weakened. When our young guys become competitive, GWS and GC will be ready to dominate the competition.
Collingwood should tell him that he has a choice between GWS or the VFL. Or he can pull his head in and start playing decent footy without his on field outbursts. What is the point of us giving our best players away to clubs who are very much in premiership contention?