Essendon great Matthew Lloyd has listed his top five sliding doors moments from last year’s trade period.
Speaking on AFL Trade Radio’s The Early Trade, Lloyd has looked back on five of the most defining moments of the 2020 trade period and how it’s impacted those clubs 12 months on.
5. Zac Williams
“If Zac Williams didn’t have a Preliminary Final for the Giants where he had 10 clearances and 25 disposals, I don’t think Carlton would have taken two predominantly half-back flankers, which they did,” Lloyd said.
“He lived off that game where he could potentially be an inside midfielder, which we’ve realised he’s not.
“If that game didn’t happen, Carlton would have a war chest. I think they would have just taken Adam Saad and they would have a war chest to go for (Adam) Cerra and whoever else they wanted with the money they’re paying for Zac Williams.
“I hope I’m wrong, but it might come back to haunt the Blues.”
4. Josh Dunkley
“If Essendon gave up those two first-round picks that the Dogs wanted, they would not have the most exciting prospects around their football club that they currently have in the last decade.
“They would not have (Nik) Cox, (Zach) Reid or (Archie) Perkins. They’d have one or two, but they wouldn’t have all three of them.
“That’s what they’re going to build their side around for the next 10 years.”
3. Jeremy Cameron
“If the Giants didn’t match Geelong’s free agency bid for Jeremy Cameron, they (the Cats) would have an injection of youth with three first-round selections that they did have, and potentially it might have been a better fit for their club 12 months on.
“Jeremy Cameron was good in the games that he played, but have they missed their window now?
“In hindsight, take the three first-rounders and build for the next flag rather than the one they’ve just missed.”
2. Tom McDonald
“If one other club wanted Tom McDonald – I think he would have gone and they would have freed up that salary cap space, we’ve got Ben Brown coming in, we don’t need Tom McDonald as well – he would not be a Melbourne premiership player.
“I wonder if Melbourne had have won the flag if McDonald wasn’t there.”
1. Adam Treloar
“If Adam Treloar had have taken the offer to join the Gold Coast Suns – which was pick 5 and they would have paid all his salary – but Treloar said, ‘no, I don’t want to go there’ and before you know it, the football world finds out that they (Collingwood) are in salary cap dramas.
“Suddenly, Collingwood are in all sorts. If he had have taken that (Suns offer), maybe Ned Guy would still be in his job, Collingwood wouldn’t have been the story of the trade period, and they would have kept other players and not had to have had a fire sale.
“With Treloar saying no, that changed absolutely everything and made Collingwood the story they were in last year’s trade period.”