TRADING PLACES: The raids of 2000
Throughout the second half of the 1994 season, the football rumour mill was running at full speed with stories that Tony Lockett was set to leave St Kilda. Richmond and Collingwood were said to be the most likely destinations.When Lockett did officially leave the Saints, he moved to an unlikely destination – the struggling Sydney Swans. A combination of super coach Ron Barassi, substantial AFL backing and the relative anonymity of being a footballer in Sydney made the Swans offer one that was too good to refuse for Lockett.
TRADING PLACES: The first of its kind
RELATED: Lockett glad to be home
Understandably, St Kilda fans were heartbroken that one of the club’s greatest players was on the way out, but as things panned out, the club did relatively well out of the movements that followed.It was a complicated trade that also involved Hawthorn. While Lockett was the only St Kilda departure, the Saints received picks five (used on Joel Smith) and 13 (Chris Hemley), Robert Neill from Sydney and Hawthorn pair Glenn Nugent and Josh Kitchen.
The Saints then moved a late pick to Fremantle, where it secured Darryl Wakelin – reuniting him with brother Shane who had made his debut the year before.
TRADING PLACES: Time called for Big Ben
The Swans instantly improved with Lockett joining Paul Roos in the Harbour City, but the rebuild for the Saints was a quick one, culminating in a Grand Final appearance just three years later that featured Wakelin and Neill, while Smith only missed because of an horrendous knee injury.Hemley, Nugent and Kitchen only made brief senior appearances but the trade served as a significant changing of the guard that launched a new era for the Saints.
TRADING PLACES: Hall becomes a Swan
Joel Smith played 58 games with St Kilda before moving to Hawthorn.
