This is an interseting, unsolicited email I got from a Pussy fan.
"It seems many people, football fans and media alike have completely misunderstood the King/Gardiner trade, with many taking the view that Geelong have been charitable. Many have incorrectly mistaken a trade done at market value for an act of kindness on the part of the Cats. This is not to say that this particular trade doesn’t require some level of explanation, which as a Geelong supporter, I believe I am in position to provide you. The theory behind the trade goes like this;
Steven King is a 193 game veteran, former club captain and All-Australian, who when fit can play good footy. He is worth draft pick 20.
Charlie Gardener is a right spud who aint worth two knobs of goat s***. Under rules negotiated by the AFLPA, players can be traded for nothing less than draft pick 160 (not that I am suggesting for one minute that CG is worth draft pick 160).
A problem arose here because St Kilda didn’t have either draft pick 20 or 160 to give us. This lead the Saints recruiting manager to suggest that the 2 draft picks be added together and divided by the number of players being traded (180/2 = 90). And so the deal was done.
You might get some good footy out of King but it is probably unlikely that his body will see him through a full season. Some Cat fans will be glad to see him go, many have short memories and forget what a good player he was. I think he has been very unfairly maligned and am sorry to see him go to another club . However you can’t expect either him or Blake to play VFL footy. Also, with him leaving Trent West is now the no.1 ruckman in the VFL team and his development would have been slowed by King staying.
Charlie Gardiner has had more chances at senior level than was warranted. He has played very few good games and has blown many opportunities particularly in front of goal where he is very unreliable. His better games have come when we have had easy wins. The only exception was the ’04 preliminary final against Brisbane where he came on took 2 good marks and kicked 2 goals at crucial times, under serious pressure".
Geelong Trades
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Bernard Shakey
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