goddard to stay a saint

[stinger]

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/afl/expert- ... 6398062257



"BJ TO STAY A SAINT

BRENDON Goddard is favoured to stay a Saint after Greater Western Sydney conceded it was practically out of the hunt to recruit him at the end of the 2012 season.

The unofficial word is the Giants haven't ruled him out, like they did with Collingwood's Travis Cloke, but they aren't hanging their hats on him being their big-name recruit.

Goddard has continually said he wants to stay a Saint, and his manager Dan Richardson repeated that when GWS made contact recently.

GWS did not put in a financial offer to Richardson.

GWS list manager Stephen Silvagni confirmed he, just as he expected every club to, made speculative inquiries about Goddard's future, ie, would he be wasting his time?

The answer leaned towards yes.

Silvagni knows Goddard through his time as an assistant coach under Ross Lyon and understands Goddard's passion for the club.

''In relation to BJ, he's made it quite clear he wants to stay at St Kilda,'' Silvagni said.

'”You are always talking to managers and we haven't specifically spoken about Brendon, but certainly if he wanted to leave St Kilda, we'd be silly not to have a chat.

'”We're in the same boat as any other club and it's whether Brendon wants to stay or if he's looking elsewhere, but all indications is he wants to stay a St Kilda player. So, that's where that sits. He's made it quite clear.'’

Asked if he had now given up on Goddard, Silvagni said: ''Dan's intention is to get the deal done with St Kilda ... he's not shopping him around. But if that deal can't be done, we're one of many club who would speak to Dan to secure his services.''

Negotiations with the Saints over money - the asking price will be somewhere between $650,000-$700,000 per season - and length of the contract and have not yet started.

Richardson refused to go into definitive details, offering only this quote: ''He's happy at St Kilda, he's happy about the direction the club is going.''

The Saints are now waiting on Goddard's management.

After a tumultuous 12 months, which included a change of coach, it's believed Goddard wanted to see how the changes would affect the club, how they would affect him, and in what direction the club was going.

He likes Watters, he likes the additions to the football department and he likes the performances by the team.

Goddard is 27 and would love a five-year deal. He won't get it. It most likely would be three years because the Saints aren't keen on longer-term deals.

Saints chief executive Michael Nettlefold said he expected serious negotiations to begin shortly.

He stressed Goddard was a required player and was adamant Goddard would not be put up for trade to secure draft selections.

GWS, meanwhile, will look for key-position players at season's end."

[SainterK]

Never doubted he wanted to stay.

Hope it's soon though.

If it's with St Kilda, and they are putting together say a 3-4 year deal worth 650-700 I think that's fair.

Or maybe 400 a year and he could be on Nettles books as his butler of something? (anyone see his house he just sold)

[Old Mate]

Very good news but on performance I don't reckon he's worth anywhere near 650-700 a year. I hope we don't commit too much of the salary cap to individuals (especially one that hasn't won a B and F), that's what's got us into trouble in the past.

[SaintPav]

What if Freo offered him a four year contract worth $1 million per year?

[Old Mate]

What if Freo offered him a four year contract worth $1 million per year?

I doubt Freo would be that stupid. And I doubt Goddard which be stupid enough to knock it back of he was offered that amount.

[bigcarl]

Very good news but on performance I don't reckon he's worth anywhere near 650-700 a year

He's a terrific player BJ, but yes, for someone to draw that sort of salary you'd expect them to be either an elite key position player or elite onballer.

BJ is neither, though I do think he could hold down a key position like chb or ff without too many problems.

At the start of the year I would have made him ff or chf, but with Sippos and Stanley emerging that ship may have sailed.

Could he play full back? Though we desperately need one of those, I doubt it.

[SainterK]

He is elite.

Now Gwilt and Fisher are back, watch him flourish again in his own role.

[dragit]

I would give him 5 years at 500K, make him captain, make him the marketing earner (outside the cap)

Surely 2.5-3 million dollars and long term security would be enough of a carrot, and it wouldn't destroy our cap too much either? He would only be 32 at the end of a 5 year extension and he's generally been pretty durable…

Absolutely ridiculous if we are legally obliged to re-contract Gram & Kosi next year for a million dollars at the expense of keeping Goddard

[defacto]

5 year deals on big coin are disaster territory and will max out our salary cap again. reality is goddard is not a KPP or a full time mid. he's a utility. handy, but a utility. you can restructure the side to cover his loss. losing stanley or steven would be hurt alot more.

5 years at 450k. 3 years at 500k is better. 2 years at 600k. thats a very reasonable deal for goddard. if he's not happy with that then he can go sell his soul to a heartless franchise.

he's getting old. he will want a longer deal. we have the leverage.

[dragit]

I don't think 500k is big coin, at any rate in 2 years time we will free up millions with most of hayes, Riewoldt, Kosi, Gram, Fisher, Montagna, Dal Santo, Blake, Milne & Schneider probably retiring. I imagine that would be over 4 million a year freed up… Plus the cap goes up each year…

I'm sure we will be able to pay Goddard well and not break our cap if the contract is structured properly.

[Solar]

Would be very happy to have him sign for 3 years at 500k. Still want him to develop into more of a midfielder personally. Great news though

[bigcarl]

He is elite

No argument with that. He's the most elite half back flank utility I've seen probably

[hAyES]

Until he signs he's going for mine, but either way right now he isn't playing like he's worth $700,000 and hasn't for the past couple of years. We'd be fools to give him that much.

[Teflon]

Agree he aint worth 650-700k Im sorry.

Thats consistently elite and IMO his performances havent been consistent over years.

I worry a little bout Goddard...he looked awfully slow the other night and the precision kicking has deserted him at times of late....the angry man syndrome needs to be counteracted before hes captain material for mine...

But then again who knows.......if Grams on the reported 600k figure bandied about....I guess Goddard's asking price will dwarf it....IF...

[Junction Oval]

Whether he is "elite" or not, he is a key Saints player and at 27, has at least three good years to go. Many others will be leaving/retiring before then, so a high profile "mentor" will be important to the future growth of the team - as R. Harvey, N. Riewoldt, L. hayes and others have been.

Let the Club do the deal. They know what needs to be done.

[Teflon]

Whether he is "elite" or not, he is a key Saints player and at 27, has at least three good years to go. Many others will be leaving/retiring before then, so a high profile "mentor" will be important to the future growth of the team - as R. Harvey, N. Riewoldt, L. hayes and others have been.

Let the Club do the deal. They know what needs to be done.

Fair point but not at any price surely..

[St Lenny]

He is elite.

Now Gwilt and Fisher are back, watch him flourish again in his own role.

At last some sense. Gosh people are quick to write of champions if they arn't playing the way they think they should. We are lucky to have a player like BJ.

[SainterK]

the angry man syndrome needs to be counteracted before hes captain material for mine...

I still find this so overblown.

We have a captain now who admits he was angry for an entire season.

He has shown excellent leadership qualities, I've seen nothing to suggest he wouldn't have the players respect.

These guys are human, think if anything, fans are guilty of expecting too much.

[matrix]

not
going
anywhere

will be the next premiership capt

[SainterK]

not
going
anywhere

will be the next premiership capt

+1

[joffaboy]

He is elite.

Now Gwilt and Fisher are back, watch him flourish again in his own role.

At last some sense. Gosh people are quick to write of champions if they arn't playing the way they think they should. We are lucky to have a player like BJ.

I agree. Goddard is certain elite.

He is extremely versatile and plays in a variety of positions. He is a beautiful kick on play and at goal and has been a true St.Kilda man from the moment he walked through the door.

His manager on the article he is willing to negotiate, and I am sure the Saints know his value.

All good.

[Teflon]

the angry man syndrome needs to be counteracted before hes captain material for mine...

I still find this so overblown.
We have a captain now who admits he was angry for an entire season.

He has shown excellent leadership qualities, I've seen nothing to suggest he wouldn't have the players respect.

These guys are human, think if anything, fans are guilty of expecting too much.

Ofocurse you do because it remotely citicises a player or sees some form of fault and we all know on here you dont do that - its all "positive positive positive"

Goddard's aggression, arm waving and ability to be "got at" IMO are not traits a great leader has. Riewoldt keeps his emotions well under control - heck hes been criticised for it so your "angry all year" is not really in the same context is it?

Im not saying Goddard cant control it - but for mine he has a way to go.

[Cairnsman]

If I was doing his salary review I reckon I'd be pushing a figure of high 3s to low 4s accross the table based on output from the past two years.

Didn't he always harbour ambitions of being a midfielder? If that's the case, maybe another club might offer him a midfield position as the sweetner if you assume most clubs agree with high 3s or low 4s. Maybe throw in the an extra year or two on top of the 3 years the Saints are offering and all of a sudden the offer possibly gets even sweeter.

If he get's 6s or 7s per annum then the club gets a big fail in my opinion.

[matrix]

i reckon i could get under bj's skin in about 2 mins flat on the field
its something he has to work on (imo) and just ignore and let his football do the talking

just shut the yap and get on with getting the cherry

[SainterK]

the angry man syndrome needs to be counteracted before hes captain material for mine...

I still find this so overblown.
We have a captain now who admits he was angry for an entire season.

He has shown excellent leadership qualities, I've seen nothing to suggest he wouldn't have the players respect.

These guys are human, think if anything, fans are guilty of expecting too much.

Ofocurse you do because it remotely citicises a player or sees some form of fault and we all know on here you dont do that - its all "positive positive positive"

Goddard's aggression, arm waving and ability to be "got at" IMO are not traits a great leader has. Riewoldt keeps his emotions well under control - heck hes been criticised for it so your "angry all year" is not really in the same context is it?

Im not saying Goddard cant control it - but for mine he has a way to go.

Now you are getting personal for the sake of it.

I criticise when I think it's justified.

I just don't pretend to know the players, how they think, their role, indicators, how they are regarded within the four walls of the club.

Until they are omitted (and some of these 'hacks' somehow continue to defy the odds) nobody really has any idea.

I just finished reading a book 'house of the rising suns' about the GC franchise (actually written by a very passionate saints fan, but I digress) and it's really eye opening stuff into the fans perception and the reality behind the scenes of a footy club.

Players carrying injuries, trying their absolute best, fear of failure, off field issues...

I don't have this unrealistic expectation that football player can play 4 perfect quarters, be mentally switched on every game, be better than perhaps their realistic 16-22 spot on the list dictates they are.