If there’s one thing Lynden Dunn is not, it is elite. Except, maybe, for his torp. He is a serviceable, experienced defender with six career Brownlow votes who has spent most of his career desperately trying to help hold the line at a club prone to conceding big scores.
The Pies have a desperate need for any mature defender that can salvage. Dunn has never relied on agility so he should age well, or at least hold the line in terms of ability. He is 192cm, 29 years old, has played a variety of defensive roles, and also has something of a thumping kick-out.
Most of the games he has missed was due to being dropped for the majority of this year. Dunn is a flexible utility but Melbourne’s development pushed him out of every available role. Vince’s move down back and the emergence of Oscar McDonald, Wagner, Frost and Hunt left Dunn without a spot but being pushed to the VFL shouldn’t be a problem in the Pies’ backline next year.
Collingwood’s key and mid-sized defensive stocks look badly depleted when we consider the following:
- Jack Frost has been traded to Brisbane.
- Jonathon Marsh has requested a trade to Western Australia.
- Nathan Brown has left for St Kilda as a free agent.
- Ben Reid has struggled to get his body right.
- Alan Toovey has retired.
- Lachlan Keeffe returns after his two-year anti-doping infraction but remains a huge unknown in terms of form and fitness.
Dunn should play every week at a vaguely AFL-standard level in whatever role is needed down back, and that’s what the Pies need.
Dunn has been valued by this trade as being virtually worthless, meaning that Collingwood might have a steal on their hands if they can get even 10 games out of him.
Verdict: A Collingwood win.