Australian football Hall of Famer Terry Wallace has thrown his support behind a mid-season trade period, believing it’s a win for players, clubs and spectators alike.
The AFL is introducing a mid-season draft this year, but Wallace would like to see them go all-in and allow clubs to trade players and picks at a set point during the season.
“I’d love to see it (a mid-season trade period),” Wallace told AFL Nation.
“There’s a few factors in it, all of a sudden you’re a club that’s around the edges, you’re sitting somewhere from 6th to 10th and how are we going to make a difference, how are we going to do something that gives us a chance to catapult ourselves up.
“The flip side of it is you’re a player who’s stagnant for six months. You’re just either in and out of your side and wanting to have continuity and you’ve just got to sit there until the end of the year.
“I just think it’s great from a player point of view and it’s really interesting from a club and spectator point of view.”
Wallace doesn’t believe a mid-season trade period will disadvantage clubs trading away players or lead to any imbalance as there’ll always be a cost of making a trade.
“There’s always a price. Playing for now versus playing for the future. There’s always a price to be paid and you’re going to be judged on if you do pull the trigger, what does it mean for the future,” he said.
“I think the scope is enormous.”
SEN commentator Anthony Hudson added an example of a trade that could have happened this year if the mid-season trade period existed.
“Geelong at the moment have got Darcy Fort, Ryan Abbott and Zac Smith all trying to play. Would they trade one of those to Essendon, for example?” Hudson said.
