AFL fans have gone into meltdown after Geelong struck a deal that allowed wantaway defender Esava Ratugolea to leave the Cats and join Port Adelaide.
A year after he wanted to make the move, Ratugolea has finally been traded for picks No.25, No.76 and No.94.
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Port Adelaide had originally offered pick 25 for the out-of-contract 25-year-old, but Geelong had insisted that was not enough.
Both coach Chris Scott and footy boss Andrew Mackie were on the record as saying the club had invested a lot of time in Ratugolea and he was at an age where he was set to blossom at AFL level.
But when push came to shove just hours before the trade deadline, it was revealed that the standoff was over and Geelong had accepted the additional picks of 76 and 94.
That revelation baffled fans who were quick to take aim at Mackie, believing he had done a lot of “tough” talking for “virtually nothing”.
Indeed, Geelong is likely to call a name with pick 76 at the draft, but it is certainly hard to see 94 being used.
“Holy s*** it took Mackie this long just for two picks he won’t use?” one fan blasted on social media immediately after the trade news broke.
“They spent 10 days haggling over pick 76 and 94 … lol?” another fan said.
And another: “Wow, way to go Mackie getting those 76 and 94 picks. You really showed the rest of the AFL how to play tough. Stephen Wells must be so proud of you.”
And another: “Well that was worth the hassle. Why bother waiting for that?”
While another asked: “Keen to understand what the benefit of this was, given that there’s no points attached to 76 or 94, under the Draft Value Index?”
And another wrote: “They held out for virtually nothing.”
Following the deal, Mackie said it was “his job” to get the deal done and get the best result.
“And I feel like it’s landed in a pretty good spot for both parties,” he said on Trade Radio.
“Right now that No.76 is our third pick of the draft so that’ll come in with all the Gold Coast bids and everything, that was the thinking there.
“We talked about some future stuff but we were realistic about what Port had in their hands. We do value every pick. We can find a player there.”
Asked how much effort they put into changing Ratugolea’s mind, Mackie said there were attempts but “ultimately he was out of contract and that does make it hard”.
– With Glenn Valencich
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