BOMBER BUMMER
Daniher to return with his tail between his legs
ESSENDON has denied star Joe Daniher’s request to continue his career at Sydney, the Bombers refusing to do a deal for the forward before the AFL trade period ended last night.
Essendon’s Adrian Dodoro was adamant he would hold Daniher to the final year of his contract unless the Swans came up with a blockbuster deal and the veteran list manager didn’t blink as the 7.30pm deadline came and went.
“We went into it with an open mind but we set some really clear parameters with the Sydney Swans from the first day,” Dodoro said.
“We were really consistent with what we said, we were honest from the first day and we stuck to our principles. Unfortunately we couldn’t get a deal done for Joey.”
ESSENDON spearhead Joe Daniher must return to Tullamarine with his tail between his legs after the Bombers walked away from trade talks with Sydney last night.
Last night’s 7.30pm deadline also brought Carlton unstuck with list manager Stephen Silvagni unable to secure Jack Martin (Gold Coast) and Tom Papley (Sydney). While Martin is out of contract, Papley is tied to the Swans until 2023. Silvagni last night said the Blues would look to secure Martin for nothing in either the national or pre-season draft.
It is understood Silvagni was desperate to split pick No.9 to secure both players, but when he couldn’t strike a trade both deals ended up falling over.
Eddie Betts, 32, was the only player Carlton was able to bring in.
Collingwood wingman James Aish’s request to get to Fremantle was granted in the final seconds, helping the Magpies’ salary cap squeeze next season.
Daniher, 25, rocked the Bombers by requesting a trade this month after managing just 11 games in two seasons that were destroyed by persistent groin problems.
The Bombers were chasing Nick Blakey and Isaac Heeney, but after about a dozen names were flatly rejected by Sydney the trade was destined to fail.
Daniher will qualify for restricted free agency next year. The Bombers hope Daniher will “fall back in love with the club” and re-sign, but if he doesn’t it will be easier to join Lance Franklin at Sydney.
While 16 deals were lodged on deadline day, seven came in the frantic final 30 minutes and several others fell over. St Kilda walked away as the trade period’s big winners, bringing in Bradley Hill, Paddy Ryder, Dougal Howard, Zak Jones and Dan Butler.
Richmond premiership goalkicker Butler cost just pick 56 and will spice up the club’s forward pressure.
Western Bulldogs also walked away laughing, holding on to pick No.13 and securing bookends Alex Keath (Adelaide) and Josh Bruce (St Kilda). List manager Sam Power stared down both clubs to secure the pair of players while retaining the prized draft pick.
Geelong sent Zac Smith to Gold Coast for pick No.58 and then used that selection for four-time St Kilda bestand-fairest winner Jack Steven, who was given a twoyear deal by the Cats.
Essendon landed Tom Bellchambers an understudy in fringe Carlton ruckman Andrew Phillips, 28, who will also help the highly-rated Sam Draper develop.
The Blues replaced Phillips with Marc Pittonet, who played just seven games in five seasons at Hawthorn.
The Bombers also secured long-kicking wingman Tom Cutler from Brisbane Lions although while list manager Adrian Dodoro met Aiden Bonar (GWS) on Monday, he landed at North Melbourne.