THE FINAL week of the Gillette AFL Trade Period is finally showing signs of life after two trades were completed on Tuesday.
St Kilda finally landed Gold Coast ruckman Tom Hickey after pursuing the exciting 21-year-old throughout the trade period. But the Suns extracted a high price for Hickey, with the Saints passing on pick No. 13 - the free agency compensation pick they received for losing Brendon Goddard to Essendon - and the clubs also agreeing to a swap of second and third round picks.
Trade tracker: the latest deals of the Gillette AFL Trade Week
The Saints and Suns have yet to officially lodge the trade with the AFL.
Earlier, Port Adelaide secured Greater Western Sydney key defender Jack Hombsch and Northern Territory zone selection Jake Neade in exchange for pick No.29 in the 2012 NAB AFL Draft.
The Hickey and Hombsch/Neade deals were the first of the trade period's final week as club negotiations involving Kurt Tippett (Adelaide), Ben Jacobs (Port), Mitch Brown (West Coast) Koby Stevens (West Coast), Cameron Pedersen (North Melbourne) and Jamie Cripps (St Kilda) remained unresolved.
Clubs had more success retaining players on Tuesday, with Essendon re-signing veteran ruckman David Hille, 31, and small forward Alwyn Davey, 28, for next season, and the Brisbane Lions securing run-with midfielder Andrew Raines until the end of 2014.
The long-mooted trade of North's Pedersen to Melbourne now seems on the brink of collapse, with the Roos seriously considering hanging onto the 193cm utility given the Demons' struggles to come up with a suitable exchange.
The Demons do not hold a second round pick, having committed pick No.27 to father-son recruit Jack Viney and received just a third round pick, No.49, as free agency compensation for losing Jared Rivers to Geelong and Brent Moloney to the Brisbane Lions, while gaining Shannon Byrnes from the Cats.
Melbourne could look to get the deal done by involving the Brisbane Lions after tall Demon utility Stefan Martin visited the Lions on Tuesday to discuss a possible move to the Gabba.
Although any trade for the contracted Martin remains some way off, the Lions hold pick No.33, a selection that would almost certainly help the Demons secure Pedersen.
Pedersen is not the only player still in the Demons' sights, with former Richmond and Port Adelaide midfielder David Rodan touring Melbourne's AAMI Park facilities recently.
Rodan was delisted by Port Adelaide earlier this month so would be available as a free agent at the end of the trade period if the Demons decided to pursue him.
Rodan turned 29 in early October and has played 176 games since his debut in 2002.
He played 111 games with Port after transferring from Richmond in 2006 after 65 games. He was also a member of the Power's 2007 AFL Grand Final.
Although Port midfielder Jacobs remains North's No.1 trade target, the Roos have also made inquiries about Gold Coast half-back Taylor Hine.
The former Calder Cannon was one of the 12 17-year-old access selections the Suns took in 2010 as part of their start-up concessions, along with Brandon Matera, Trent McKenzie, Josh Toy and Maverick Weller.
Hine, 20, has played nine games in the Suns' first two AFL seasons, including eight in the second half of 2012. He impressed in the Suns' narrow loss to North in round 12 this season, with 16 possessions and a goal.
Meanwhile, there has been little interest in North smalls Matt Campbell and Cruize Garlett.
Even if a trade does not eventuate, both look set to leave Aegis Park.
Campbell, who has played 82 games and kicked 79 goals since debuting in round one, 2007, is contracted for 2013. But North football chief Donald McDonald said last week the small forward and club had mutually agreed he should seek a fresh start to his AFL career.
Garlett rejected a 2013 contract offer from North to pursue a return home to Western Australia and will depart the Roos after playing 32 games in the past four seasons.
Nick Bowen and Peter Ryan are reporters with AFL.com.au. Follow them on Twitter: @AFL_Nick and @AFL_petryan
