Mr Magic wrote: ↑Thu 05 Nov 2020 4:24pm
Can someone explain Collingwood's actions over Treloar to me.
I understand they've probably got a TPP problem, but the way they've handled this Treloar issue is making them look like amateur, untrustworthy, fools.
Why have they managed it this way?
As much as I despise them they've certainly been a very professionally run club for the last decade or so.
Is it merely that Gary Pert is not there steering the ship anymore?
It's pretty simple.
Collingwood has a number of very very good players who, have all come out of contract at the same time. The problem for Collingwood is that they're not really staggered - i.e. Grundy, Moore and De Goey all this year. Then they have some average role players coming out at the same time (Miocek, Cox, Phillips). Collingwood knows that they need to keep all of them together to stay competitive - in hindsight, getting so close in 2018 meant they want want to keep the window open.
Treloar is a lovely young bloke who came from the housing commission flatsin Noble Park and will do anything for someone who does something for him. His dream was to play footy for a big Melbourne club and Collingwood have helped him in buying a house for his Mum and Brother and set his own life up. He feels like he owes them. So - when the Pies need to 'find room' in their cap to make available for other players they need to re-sign ... Adam has basically been their banker. and so here's where the problem arose. The culmination of this was his last contract where the Pies engaged what's known as 'smoothing' ... where a club takes money from the back of your current contract and then gives the player an extension ... and includes the money from the back of the current contract into the contract extension.
In real terms - they moved somewhere between $200K - $400K from the end of his old contract into his new extension (that goes to 2025). In effect - he's owed that money. So - the ultimate outcome is that now Treloar's contract is so bulging with old contract money that it makes it look like he's being paid overs (which he's not - it's just money he was owed from his last contract that they moved around to presumably fit in Grundy). Treloar's proper market rate is about $700K - which is what his current contract is ... but it's the money from the old contract that makes it look like he's being paid $900K.
Ordinarily - it's never been a problem until Covid hit and salary caps and playing list sizes go down. Jeremy Cameron is in exactly the same boat (but more cash involved).
It's the list management equivalent of the music stopping and the most expensive (but not necessarily the best player) being left without a seat.
Also - Gary Pert is no rocket scientist. Mark Anderson is pretty capable but Ned Guy? Wouldn't want to be him and/or Geoff Walsh ...
Diabolical list management from Collingwood in any case. Good luck getting out of it.