GWS football director Jimmy Bartel has given an insight into the club’s dealings throughout the AFL Trade Period, suggesting the narrative was a “little bit wrong.”
So far, the club’s only move was allowing Jeremy Finlayson to move to Port Adelaide, receiving a future third-round pick in return.
However, they were reported to be in pursuit of Fremantle tall Rory Lobb before that deal fell over on Monday.
Ian ‘Bobby’ Hill also requested a trade on Saturday morning, later confirming Essendon was his club of preference.
Despite speculation to the contrary, Bartel says their moves and dealings have been “all in isolation” at not linked in any way.
In regard to Hill, the Geelong great isn’t confident a deal will get done, hinting that the Bombers are yet to put a trade forward to poach the small forward.
“I don’t know, to be honest (if Hill will get to Essendon),” he told Sportsday.
“It came pretty late upon us at the Giants, his management group and Bobby alerted us only when (the media) found out.
“It’s not like we’ve been prepared for it for four or five weeks, we’ve had three days to think about it.
“But Bobby’s still a contracted player for another year.
“It’s even compounded by the fact that Toby Greene is going to miss the first five weeks due to the suspension that got extended by the AFL.
“Pressure small forwards are hard to find.
“I don’t know whether Essendon has offered that (a future second-round pick) … again, time is running out and this is up to Bobby Hill and his management to get on the phone and do some work.”
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The football director says the misconceptions around Hill are similar to others the club has faced this trade period, where deals have come to them, rather than the other way round.
However, he did confirm that the Giants had reached out to Hawthorn, who are reportedly happy to part with senior players in return for high draft picks.
“It’s like a lot of the deals that get mentioned, where I think the narrative gets a little bit wrong is the fact that the Giants are out there doing all this stuff (when actually) all this has just come to us,” Bartel said.
“We haven’t gone chasing big Rory Lobb, we haven’t gone looking to deal Bobby Hill, and like a lot of clubs, we’re not the only the club that has rung Hawthorn asking, ‘How serious are you about the comments that (Hawthorn president) Jeff Kennett and (football director) Richie Vandenberg and a number of Hawthorn people made about (fast-tracking their development and trading out senior players).
“I think a number of people have rung Hawthorn to ask how serious they are about this.”
The AFL Trade period will wrap up at 7.30pm AEDT on Wednesday night.