Tarrant Rejected, Lyon to Lead Saints

Well 2 big stories have come out of trade news today:

Eagles knock back Pies deal
West Coast has very intelligently passed up on an offer by Collingwood. The deal would have seen Chris Tarrant put on an Eagles gurnsey next season, but it would have also cost the club a first round draft pick plus the talented youngster Matt Rosa.

Although some West Coast fans will meet the move with doubts, it is above-all, a very smart swerve of the deal. At a time when the club will need to plan for a premiership defence, any major changes to the line-up would have averse affects on team performance.

This leaves Fremantle as the clear favourite to pick up the All-Australian and secure another big name at their club.

Although this may seem reminiscent of the 'Modra Trade' which the club took place in 7 years ago, which eventually became a disaster, Chris Tarrant will prove to be a more valuable asset, especially this time around since the Dockers don't really have any high placed draft picks.

This may mean that the 3-way deal with Richmond may still take place, yet there are other avenues since Collingwood are a club that has also expressed interest in young Docker, Graham Polack.

Longmire overlooked, Lyon gets greenlight
St Kilda have opted for the premiership experience of 5 coaches condensed into one man. That's basically the type of coach that Ross Lyon will prove to be after having the assistant job at a number of different clubs. Having worked with the likes of John Worsfold, Paul Roos and David Parkin, Lyon has definitely earned his right to take the helms of a club at the cross-roads.

This means that front-runner for the job, and my own tip, John Longmire is out of the running. Does this come as a surprise? Yes. Is it a bad move? No. I'm surprised that the media and myself completely overlooked Ross Lyon in the first place. For one thing he is definitely more qualified. He looks like the type of person who will suit the club. He is not too young and also not too old, he has energy and he has a good philosophy on football which is: "....based on character and producing the necessary basics."

Well said from a man who will be increasingly under scrutiny from the media all season. I wish him the best of luck as he fills a difficult role in 2007.

That's it for Up There Cazaly today, if there are any updates to trade week we'll let you know as soon as possible.