Buddy & NDS make a mockery of FA

[saintspremiers]

Should 9 year deals be legal, or should there be a cap of say 7 years on contract length for a FA that by definition is already at least 26 years old?

Clearly the AFL were blind sided by Sydney but should've had a maximum contact length plan in action to prevent this farce.

Also our Dal - the trigger clause is allowing us to play poker re FA vs. A trade - again makes a mockery of FA.

Is this yet another example of an Adrian Anderson cockup?

The other thing that needs tweaking is the compo pick rules, or scrap that all together.
,
I'm in favour of FA as a concept to prevent restraint of trade, but it's already in need of s major overhaul IMO.

[BigMart]

Why should/can you go anywhere you want to? In a competition that requires supposed equalisation so teams don't become dominant and the gap between rich and poor doesnt widen.

FA is a monster that players want, but the competition doesn't need..... It allows massive clubs with pulling power to feed of the carcass of struggling clubs.... By attracting players whom clubs have poured hundreds of thousands of dollars in development and support. And what do those clubs now get in return.... A compensation pick?

[plugger66]

Should 9 year deals be legal, or should there be a cap of say 7 years on contract length for a FA that by definition is already at least 26 years old?

Clearly the AFL were blind sided by Sydney but should've had a maximum contact length plan in action to prevent this farce.

Also our Dal - the trigger clause is allowing us to play poker re FA vs. A trade - again makes a mockery of FA.

Is this yet another example of an Adrian Anderson cockup?

The other thing that needs tweaking is the compo pick rules, or scrap that all together.
,
I'm in favour of FA as a concept to prevent restraint of trade, but it's already in need of s major overhaul IMO.

Im not sure what you mean regarding Franklin. The Swans have to pay for 9 years. If they want to be that stupid they should be allowed. The Dal thing is also unusual as we have a trigger clause. Anyway just stop the compensation. thats the best way to go. We would be better without any FA but as pointed out the players wanted it and if they didnt get it we eventually would be off to court.

[st.byron]

Why should/can you go anywhere you want to? In a competition that requires supposed equalisation so teams don't become dominant and the gap between rich and poor doesnt widen.

FA is a monster that players want, but the competition doesn't need..... It allows massive clubs with pulling power to feed of the carcass of struggling clubs.... By attracting players whom clubs have poured hundreds of thousands of dollars in development and support. And what do those clubs now get in return.... A compensation pick?

Same thing's happened in soccer. It's happening in cricket as well. Sports with a long history of being social equalisers becoming uneven with only a few teams having the possibility of winning, based on who has the most money.
In cricket, it's not so much player's choosing where they want to go, but decisions about the structure and coverage of the game being based entirely on commercial goals. Some players might bemoan the loss of the spirit of the game, but when they, Glenn Maxwell for example, can earn $1 million in the IPL for a couple of months commitment, on the back of a bit of promise, they're not going to turn it down.
In soccer it's become insane and AFL, in it's own way is heading in the same direction. Buddy gets his million plus per year and at the extreme end of the scale, with no salary cap at all, Real Madrid pays Gareth Bale A$72,000 per day, every day. $136,000,000 over six years.

[Dis Believer]

Simple - set up a band range of draft picks - so the club taking the player MUST trade a draft pick for him, and that draft pick is decided by the total contract value they offer.

SO North want Dal and are paying over $1m on his contract? Fine, that 's your round one DP thanks. Carlton want Thomas, that's a round one pick.

Sydney want Franklin and a contract over $3m. That's your round 1 and 2 pick.

Easy - put a cost to the receiving club beyond Salary cap space.

At the moment clubs receive a FA player AND still get their regular draft picks - there's no cost in terms of drafting youth for picking up senior players.

[saintspremiers]

Simple - set up a band range of draft picks - so the club taking the player MUST trade a draft pick for him, and that draft pick is decided by the total contract value they offer.

SO North want Dal and are paying over $1m on his contract? Fine, that 's your round one DP thanks. Carlton want Thomas, that's a round one pick.

Sydney want Franklin and a contract over $3m. That's your round 1 and 2 pick.

Easy - put a cost to the receiving club beyond Salary cap space.

At the moment clubs receive a FA player AND still get their regular draft picks - there's no cost in terms of drafting youth for picking up senior players.

Great idea. It's a shame they didn't canvass enough options before bringing out this flawed system.

[fingers]

I was uneasy when FA came in for a number of reasons...bigger clubs pulling good players from smaller clubs, the competition heading towards the EPL style where only a few will ever be there. I was always hopeful that the salary cap would be the safety net, but given the deals that seem to be allowed outside the cap this is a nonsense. When Anderson decided that the AFL would decide on compensation I got even more worried.

I get the need the players have for more freedom but I am not sure that this is the model to give them that as well as protect the integrity of the competition. I have no idea what the answer is but it's not what we have today.

[Kickit]

I was uneasy when FA came in for a number of reasons...bigger clubs pulling good players from smaller clubs, the competition heading towards the EPL style where only a few will ever be there. I was always hopeful that the salary cap would be the safety net, but given the deals that seem to be allowed outside the cap this is a nonsense. When Anderson decided that the AFL would decide on compensation I got even more worried.

I get the need the players have for more freedom but I am not sure that this is the model to give them that as well as protect the integrity of the competition. I have no idea what the answer is but it's not what we have today.

Its just changed the demographics. If it had come in during 2006 or so, the Saints would have been avoiding paying players like DalSanto and Riewoldt the big bucks so they could try to attract a big name free agent. At the same time it then makes it harder to retain the home grown talent.
Personally I don't like the idea of hunting a big talent which can readily turn pear shaped and leave others disgruntled.
How much were StKilda paying Hamil for that incredibly long 2 week period. How did other players like Gram and Montagna feel about getting paid way less at the time.

[Life Long Saint]

Why should/can you go anywhere you want to? In a competition that requires supposed equalisation so teams don't become dominant and the gap between rich and poor doesnt widen.

FA is a monster that players want, but the competition doesn't need..... It allows massive clubs with pulling power to feed of the carcass of struggling clubs.... By attracting players whom clubs have poured hundreds of thousands of dollars in development and support. And what do those clubs now get in return.... A compensation pick?

That's not an entirely accurate assessment of the AFL version of free agency.
Remember that the AFL still has a salary cap so if a team is paying close to the cap then it won't be able to recruit the big name players.
Unless, of course, the team is Sydney and they have close to an extra $1M to play with!

What is more likely is that players will go to clubs that have the cap room to spare.
Richmond benefited from FA last season by getting a couple of players. Collingwood got a couple but none of any note.
Hawthorn got Lake on a massive pay cut because he wanted to chase a flag.

What doesn't help is that the AFLPA forces clubs to pay a minimum amount of the salary cap. For the bottom teams this means that there are players earning more than they're worth because the club must increase their value to be over the salary cap floor. I'm tipping Dustin Martin might have been a "victim" of this.
If free agency is to truly work then the AFLPA must scrap the salary cap floor so that the bottom teams can go out and pay big name players to come to their club.

[ace]

Simple - set up a band range of draft picks - so the club taking the player MUST trade a draft pick for him, and that draft pick is decided by the total contract value they offer.

SO North want Dal and are paying over $1m on his contract? Fine, that 's your round one DP thanks. Carlton want Thomas, that's a round one pick.

Sydney want Franklin and a contract over $3m. That's your round 1 and 2 pick.

Easy - put a cost to the receiving club beyond Salary cap space.

At the moment clubs receive a FA player AND still get their regular draft picks - there's no cost in terms of drafting youth for picking up senior players.

Why not have a system that if the club surrendering a free agent gets a second round draft pick then the club receiving the player surrenders a second round draft pick.
That makes it fair.
Of course this could have been achieved by simply having clubs trade players for draft picks without free agency!

[ace]

Is this yet another example of an Adrian Anderson cockup?

It is an example of a small man trying to play tall and failing miserably.

[Playon]

The AFL can hardly decrease Sydney's salary cap now that they've locked in Buddy for the next 10 years or they'll cry poor. Otherwise who cares. Those clubs still have to pay them and all clubs have a minimum on the cap anyway.

Its also a wonder clubs dont try to lock in a player 1 year before the contract is up, sign here or be traded.

[samoht]

I don't know what everyone else thinks, but the thought has crossed my mind that maybe it's best to concentrate on building a strong team full of solid B grade players (and no C graders or GOPs) rather than a team of 6A graders with the inevitable 6 or so C graders making up the numbers (even Freo and the Hawks had half a dozen GOPs on their lists).
This might mean trading in an A grade player for two B graders along the way - thus getting rid of the prima donnas, the fat cats who make unreasonable demands, stretch the salary cap and then desert the club when a better offer comes along.

[fonz_#15]

I just updated my blog with a post about Buddy's free agency, here's the link.

fwiw i love free agency

http://sportfromaroundtheglobe.wordpres ... n-capture/

[bergholt]

Simple - set up a band range of draft picks - so the club taking the player MUST trade a draft pick for him, and that draft pick is decided by the total contract value they offer.

Why would the players accept that? It's basically identical to the trading system, which was providing very little mobility for players. There just aren't that many draft picks to go around. For instance, what compo would St Kilda get for Dal? North have already used their first round pick. Zero chance of them getting another so that means Dal can't move.

[Dis Believer]

Simple - set up a band range of draft picks - so the club taking the player MUST trade a draft pick for him, and that draft pick is decided by the total contract value they offer.

Why would the players accept that? It's basically identical to the trading system, which was providing very little mobility for players. There just aren't that many draft picks to go around. For instance, what compo would St Kilda get for Dal? North have already used their first round pick. Zero chance of them getting another so that means Dal can't move.

Well if you don't like that, then the only other option is an equal salary cap with no allowances.

At least my suggestion makes it a choice for a club - what do NOrth want more, a father-son pick for the long term or a gun mid for a flag tilt now. Under the current system they get both, and we get what? Scraps, whatever crap we are forced to take? There is currently no price for a club TAKING a free agent other than salary cap space, and no link between the cost and those deriving the benefit.

Is Collingwood going to pay a price for Adams or any other gun kid they bring in from Brisbane or GWS? They currently are getting a round one pick for Thomas but seemingly it isn't going to be watered down by the long list of expat Vics wanting to return and nominating them as the preferred club !! My perception is that there needs to be something beyond trading that allows a free agent model, but with the compensation being dictated by the AFL and coming from the club securing the player. The North situation is the perfect example, because that would leave them with a choice this year - the father/son or the free agent?

[bergholt]

My perception is that there needs to be something beyond trading that allows a free agent model, but with the compensation being dictated by the AFL and coming from the club securing the player. The North situation is the perfect example, because that would leave them with a choice this year - the father/son or the free agent?

I don't completely disagree, I'm just saying that the players wanted increased possibility for movement and that's what the current system seems to give them. I can't imagine a system with tighter movement controls would be accepted by them, and ultimately they have the power.

[saintsRrising]

Should 9 year deals be legal, or should there be a cap of say 7 years on contract length for a FA that by definition is already at least 26 years old?

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No problem with 9 years AS LONG AS the Swans are forced to keep paying the amount and have it included in the salary cap for the full 9 years.

BTW in 7 years money will only be worth say half what it is and salary cap will no doubt be a lot higher...and so the 9 years is not as big liability as it seems at first glance. though yes it is still a big risk by them.

Swans will make a mint of money out of Buddy.

[bergholt]

BTW in 7 years money will only be worth say half what it is and salary cap will no doubt be a lot higher...

So you're predicting 11% inflation for the next seven years? If that's the case then we'll all have bigger problems than worrying about salary caps.

[vacuous space]

There is currently no price for a club TAKING a free agent...

There shouldn't be. Taking a price off the signing team infringes on a player's ability to freely market his services. It's detrimental to the entire process. AFL clubs get 8 years of controlling rights in exchange for planting a flag in an 18-year old on draft day. I don't think they're entitled to anything at all if they let an FA walk.

[plugger66]

Just dont give compensation for a FA. Its the obvious way to go. It will create more movement which will allow your club to improve quicker. I dont think any comp in the world where there is FA do clubs get compensated for losing a player.

[dragit]

Just dont give compensation for a FA. Its the obvious way to go. It will create more movement which will allow your club to improve quicker. I dont think any comp in the world where there is FA do clubs get compensated for losing a player.

major league baseball

[plugger66]

Just dont give compensation for a FA. Its the obvious way to go. It will create more movement which will allow your club to improve quicker. I dont think any comp in the world where there is FA do clubs get compensated for losing a player.

major league baseball

How does their compensation work?

[dragit]

Just dont give compensation for a FA. Its the obvious way to go. It will create more movement which will allow your club to improve quicker. I dont think any comp in the world where there is FA do clubs get compensated for losing a player.

major league baseball

How does their compensation work?

I won't pretend to know anything about it…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_Leag ... tory_picks

[plugger66]

major league baseball

How does their compensation work?

I won't pretend to know anything about it…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_Leag ... tory_picks

I failed year 5. How can I understand that?