Loyalty reaps rewards

One hopes the brains trust at the Brisbane Lions are pondering the possibility of having burned three fairly decent players for a sum result of smoke and mirrors.

 

Lachie Henderson looked increasingly like a ready-made replacement for an increasingly injury-prone Jonathan Brown as the season wore on, except that he now plays in the navy blue courtesy of the final Fevola deal.

 

As we noted at the time of Brisbane’s initial shopping of players to Carlton in a bid to secure the services of Fevola, Daniel Bradshaw had made clear his displeasure at this stunning display of disregard and it would only be a matter of time before Michael Rischitelli also moved on.

 

Importantly, the inevitable announcement was made before Brisbane’s best and fairest function this week, leaving Rischitelli smelling of roses, with his conscience clear, and Michael Voss reeking like an open sewer.

 

It’s worth noting that Geelong, a three-time Grand Finalist in three years, has managed to avoid off-loading players due to salary cap pressure. Brisbane, during its heyday between 2001 and 2003, similarly managed to keep an ultra-successful team together.

 

AussieRulesBlog has made no secret of our belief that the Bombers’ disposal of Hardwick, Caracella, Blumfield and Heffernan in the years immediately following that team’s best did more than anything else to drag the Bombers to their current lowly perch on the ladder.

 

Time will tell whether Brisbane can recover from their act of infamy, or whether, like the Bombers, they are destined for a long and slow decline.