Former GWS list manager Stephen Silvagni has released an exceptional offer to secure Jaeger O’Meara, the first draft pick, ahead of the club’s first AFL season.
As part of GWS’s participation in the competition in 2012, the club were given up to four selections in a mini-draft that consisted of a small pool of 17-year-olds too young to be nominated for this year’s international Draft.
The catch for the Giants was that they couldn’t use these draft picks directly – they had to pass them on to other clubs. In 2011, Gold Coast would make number 4 in the National Draft and make an equalizing selection for the Giants in the middle of the first round to pick O’Meara with number 1 in the mini-draft while Adelaide was trading to pick Brad Crouch Secure No. 2.
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Fantasy to power?
1:15
Keep talking Commercial radioSilvagni revealed that a loophole in the system would have allowed the Giants to secure O’Meara, with a notable number of picks and players involved in the top-secret offer.
“Our national recruiting manager at the time closed a gap. We sat around and he read the rule… we worked out a plan and started getting clubs involved, ”he said.
“Hawthorn wanted Jack Gunston (then in Adelaide), we knew Adelaide was working with Gunston and interested in Luke Brown, a previously nominated player who was really successful in his nineteenth year.
“We knew Hawthorn and Adelaide would come on board. Ross Lyon had started at Fremantle so we thought we would take care of Ross by bringing in Brad Lloyd (Fremantle list manager). “
Silvagni stated that the Giants had done their best to keep then Suns list manager Scott Clayton in the dark about the deal in order to avoid protests that could attract the ire of the AFL.
After intense negotiations, Silvagni said an overwhelming number of moves were involved.
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“There were tips everywhere and retired players came back to us too. There would have been at least 16, 17 picks and players involved, ”he said.
“We made it. I called all of these list managers. The night before our meeting, I called those involved and said, can we meet? We got there at the office at 9am on Monday morning … we all turned off our phones. We have organized a justice of the peace who will sign the documents.
“Everyone was happy with what they got. We did all the paperwork in the office. We had organized the managers so that they were at AFL House because they had powers of attorney for all players. We’re all going down there. Jaeger O’Meara is number one in mini-draft and then he comes back. “
After arriving at AFL House to file the deal and get the league to sign it, they were given the all-clear by Ken Wood, who was practically the cop of the league’s salary cap.
Then Silvagni was told that the AFL-GM for soccer operations, Adrian Anderson, wanted to see him.
“I went to his office and he says this deal won’t go through. He said it was “not in the spirit of the rule”. That (deal) got hit on the head! “
A stunning raid was therefore stopped at the last line of defense, further underscoring the power of the giants with their mini-draft hand.
“There were players like O’Meara, Crouch, Josh Kelly … they were very valuable picks and I don’t think the clubs realized then how valuable those picks were,” said Silvagni.
“You certainly helped found the Giants. You were so precious. “
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