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Johnstone travelling north

5:16 PM Thu 11 October, 2007
Exclusive to AFL BigPond Network


News

THE Brisbane Lions have secured classy Melbourne midfielder Travis Johnstone in a deal which will see the Demons gain selection No.14 in the 2007 NAB AFL Draft.

The Demons received pick No.14, after the Lions gained that pick when they traded ruckman Cameron Wood to Collingwood.

Effectively, this is what the trade means for each club:
Brisbane Lions – Travis Johnstone.
Collingwood – Cameron Wood.
Melbourne – No.14 (player yet to be known).

Melbourne general manager of recruiting and list management Craig Cameron praised Johnstone's services to the club, but was excited by the prospect of another selection inside the top 15.

"We would like to thank Travis for his services to the Melbourne Football Club over the past decade and we wish him all the very best with his new opportunity at the Brisbane Lions," Cameron told melbournefc.com.au.

"We now have another first round selection in this year's draft, which will allow us to have another good opportunity to select a promising young talent."

Johnstone played 160 matches and booted 111 goals after making his AFL debut in 1998. He was originally drafted as the No.1 selection in 1997. A member of Melbourne's 2000 Grand Final side, Johnstone also won the club's best-and-fairest award – the Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Trophy – in 2005.

An achilles injury interrupted Johnstone's second half of the 2007 season, although his final match for Melbourne included a career-best 42 disposals off half-back against Carlton.

Johnstone is the highest profile Melbourne player to shift clubs since Shane Woewodin was traded to Collingwood at the end of the 2002 season – coincidentally for selection No.14, which resulted in the recruitment of defender Daniel Bell.