2:45PM UPDATE: And so that wraps up an exciting day of trades at Etihad Stadium. The major news of the week was Lion Mitch Clark's defection to Melbourne despite his initial determination to go home to Western Australia and join Fremantle.

Despite being slated for trade last week, Carlton players Setanta O'hAilpin and Paul Bower both stayed put, as did all of St Kilda's stars initially thought to be on the trade table because of their salary cap issues. In the end, Carlton was inactive while the Saints traded Irish prospect Tommy Walsh to Sydney and Tom Lynch to Adelaide, managing to keep all their established players. Lots of clubs also traded spots in the draft today, particularly the various compensation picks distributed as part of the entry of Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney into the AFL.

2:25PM UPDATE: Essendon CEO Ian Robson explained to the media that they were trying very hard with Gold Coast to do a deal to get Josh Caddy to Windy Hill. Initially out of the eye of the media, given the sensitivities of him being in the at the end of the first year of his contract and a top-ten pick, they today entered mediation with the AFL, but were ultimately unable to secure Caddy.

Greater Western Sydney coach Kevin Sheedy declared that he was looking forward to working with veteran recruits Luke Power, Chad Cornes and Dean Brogan as they enter the final year or two of their careers. Sheedy cited the example of James Hird who, in his final year at the age of 34, managed to win Essendon's best and fairest award, and he hoped that those three would be able to do the same. He is also hoping to pick up a couple more experienced players via the draft.

2:10PM UPDATE: 2011 AFL Trade Week is all said and done with the final trade, a swap of picks between Richmond and Gold Coast, being confirmed just seconds before the window closed.

1:53PM UPDATE: With only seven minutes to go, Adelaide has snagged Essendon's 197cm ruckman Joshua Jenkins and pick 41 in exchange for the draft's 31st pick.

1:49PM UPDATE: Having declared last week that he wanted to move up to Sydney, St Kilda's young Irish import Tommy Walsh has been traded to the Swans in exchange for the picks 35 and 68 just given to them by Adelaide. The highly rated Walsh had shown lots of promise with the Saints' VFL affiliate Sandringham and despite being declared a required player, the Swans were very keen to pick him up and the Saints relented.

1:45PM UPDATE: Despite the deal being floated a couple of days ago, Sydney and Adelaide have only just signed the paperwork that sees Lewis Johnston move to the Crows and Tony Armstrong join Sydney, along with picks 35 and 68. Sydney was hopeful Johnston was to develop into a strong key-position player given his size, but after only two games the South Australian has decided to return home. Armstrong too returns home to NSW after just a handful of games for the Crows.

12:45PM UPDATE: Western Bulldogs backman Ben Hudson will move up to Brisbane. Hudson, who played 88 games for the Bulldogs and 55 games for Adelaide before that, retired from the club at the end of their season in September and was exchanged by the Lions for pick 70.

12:30PM UPDATE: More trades are going through, including a complicated three-way deal in which Melbourne defender Matthew Warnock become a Suns player. The deal, sees the Suns giving up a second-round pick as well as their Queensland zone pre-listed player Dayne Zorkoo to Brisbane, while the Lions are giving up a second- and third-round pick, the latter of which will go to Melbourne to compensate for 55-gamer Warnock.

Other players trades today:

• Hawthorn traded Jordan Lisle to Brisbane in exchange for priority selection 29
• Western Bulldogs forward Josh Hill has been traded to West Coast in exchange for a round-three pick.
• Gold Coast Suns lost pre-listed Queenslander Peter Yagmoor as well as pick 50 to Collingwood, gaining pick 47 from the Magpies
• Western Bulldogs forward Josh Hill is now an Eagle having been traded for pick 49

12pm UPDATE: As many had speculated, the culmination of trade week today produced some feverish 11th-hour activity. As of midday, 10 trades had been done, compared with the 11 in the entire first week of the trade period. Less than two hours remain, and I'll be blogging all the developments live from Etihad Stadium.

The highlights so far today include Mitch Clark who, after taking the extraordinary step of having Fremantle release a statement on his behalf advising that they were the club he wanted to go to, had ended up in the hands of Melbourne, in exchange for the Demons' first-round pick number 12. Melbourne, of course, stepped in over the weekend, offering the promising ruckman/tall forward a deal he couldn't refuse.

And Western Bulldogs forward Josh Hill has been traded to West Coast in exchange for a round three pick, No.49, in the upcoming draft.

Brisbane also this morning lost recently retired triple premiership player Luke Power to the GWS Giants. Having made a sudden announcement about his retirement only a couple of months ago, speculation had been rife from the beginning that Power was seeking to play on, especially with only 18 games needed to become a member of the 300 game club.

GWS, very active in their first trade period, also managed to pick up Port Adelaide veterans Chad Cornes and Dean Brogan, as well as a fourth round pick, in an exchange for pick 49.

Power football operations manager Peter Rohde said he wanted to "do the right thing" by those players and allow them to continue their careers while also getting something in return from Greater Western Sydney. The Giants also traded on pre-listed player Jarrad Brouman to Hawthorn to add to their deals made last week with Gold Coast, St Kilda, Fremantle and Adelaide.

Despite losing veterans Cornes and Brogan, Port did manage to get the player they'd wanted all week from West Coast, midfielder Brad Ebert. He will come to the club along with second-round pick 45 for the Power's priority selection number 28 and their third-round pick 49.

Sydney, with a reputation for getting the best out of ‘recycled' players, made a trade, too, swapping their fourth found pick 79 with Richmond for small forward Mitch Morton. The 24-year old, originally drafted by the Eagles, has kicked 105 goals in his 79-game career, something the Swans forward line will relish.