Kane Cornes wonders whether the AFL should have overturned a trade made between Gold Coast and Fremantle in 2017 that saw the Dockers acquire pick two for Lachie Weller.
Weller had requested a trade to the Suns, wishing to return to his home state, and the Dockers played hard ball, forcing Gold Coast to give up pick two for the speedster.
Pick two would turn into Andrew Brayshaw, who currently leads the AFL Coaches votes and is one of the Brownlow Medal favourites.
Before tearing his ACL earlier in the year, Weller had been good for the Suns. They also managed to draft defender Charlie Ballard with the steak knife pick in the trade.
However given how lopsided the deal felt at the time and the star Brayshaw has become, Cornes believes the AFL should have stepped in to save their fledgling club from a bad deal.
“At the time the AFL should have stepped in and not allowed them to do that trade. We were all saying it in 2017,” Cornes told SEN Breakfast.
“They gave up pick two for Lachie Weller and paid him a stack to go there.
“Add Andrew Brayshaw into Gold Coast’s midfield now and how are they looking? The AFL at the time should have (vetoed) that deal.
“We were doing Trade Radio, this isn’t in hindsight, and now they have potentially traded away the 2022 Brownlow Medallist.
“He’s leading the Coaches Votes. It’s not hindsight at all. I’ll find you a million comments about what was said at the time.
“How could you have done that deal? It’s an absolute nightmare.”
Brownlow Medallist Adam Cooney provided the contrary view, saying the Suns had to secure the services of a player that actually wanted to be there.
“It was a revolving door for the Suns at that stage,” Cooney replied.
“The position the Suns were in at the time, they couldn’t keep a player to save their lives and they’ve got this potential star that wants to come back to the Gold Coast, the first one in history, so they said they were just going to give up anything to try and get him.”
Fremantle would cleverly fleece Gold Coast in a trade again in 2021, essentially acquiring Will Brodie and pick 19 for a future second round pick.
Brodie, who wasn’t afforded opportunities at the Suns, has become one of the game’s best clearance midfielders at Freo.