David Harding
Gippy
Kristy lee
Cain RiveraFree Agency in the AFL
February 24th 2010 09:41
It's now hear, AFL Free Agency, the AFL has set 8 years as being the bare minimum for a player to be allowed to be placed on free agency, this comes as mixed news because it will allow some of the richer clubs more access to bolstering their list, and it will make the poorer teams, poorer on field and off field. The only saving grace right now for this is that fact we do have a Salary Cap in the AFL, but with this coming in it may see the salary cap become irrelevant as players on team lists start to take pay cuts for the shopping spree.
Gary Ablett Jr and Luke Hodge already meet the eight-year qualification, but clubs with players of similar ilk in 2012 are expected to have the right to make a matching offer. Lance Franklin is not far from this either, I think that some rookies should be allowed to enter free agency as well, it may see a young man who wishes to stay in his state a better avenue to that team by having them allow free agency on him as well. Sure this means they should be docked 1 draft pick per free agent they sign, it's only fair that if you are going to make a free agent signing you cough up money and a draft pick.
Still though, teams like Collingwood are probably going to prosper from this, as a Collingwood supporter myself I am not sure if I am happy about the free agency yet, I am a football traditionalist at heart and I have not been a massive fan of the talk of free agency, or any of the new changes that have been made of the last few seasons, rules being the main thing that has been irking me with the changes of the AFL.
Would this also open the door for Midseason trade talks? A transfer window of such like the English Premier League, and other English leagues have? Maybe even a chance of a loan of players, have a loans window, a team could find a player from say Tasmania, I will use an example here of a former AFL player, say Justin Plapp, who has retired but that's irrelevant, a club in the AFL wants him they could offer to loan him for 4 rounds, 6 rounds, the season, etc.
I doubt we'd ever see this unless there was a national league in other countries that was the same as the AFL, at the moment there are a lot of small leagues in a lot of countries but they have not yet taken off as much as the AFL. But let's talk free agency, Gold Coast are hoping this would mean they are going to have a better shot at getting Ablett, who they are keen on, apparently they are keen on Trent Cotchin, and Travis Cloke.
They are already free to one uncontracted player at each side upon their entry into the AFL, I do not expect to see either Cloke or Ablett going there, well Ablett you would think would have to have been offered a mighty fine contract to move from Geelong who are aiming for a 3rd premiership in 4 years, I doubt that the Gold Coast are even going to be a challenger in the next 3 seasons, and the Cats have the goods which could bring them more premierships if they are lucky.
I see Cotchin maybe leaving, but I am not sure if he would go from his current club to a club that could be exactly like his current club. Travis Cloke I am not sure what he would do I would hope that he would stay, and I am not sure if they are seriously interested or if it is David Cloke wanting to hype up his son.
Cloke being managed by his father has been a silly idea, I think there is too much bias there when negotiating contracts. Though most managers do look to get their players the best possible contracts, they do know the boundaries and there is where I do not think a father of a player would when he is the manager.
Can free agency truly be the best thing for the game? I do not think it can be, some clubs are surely going to be made powerhouses because of their bank account is better then others, and the others are going to be ripe for the picking, as a Collingwood supporter again I should be happy with this, because it means Collingwood has a great chance of recruiting but somehow I am not that happy at the moment.
Collingwood has tried to throw money at Jonathon Brown for years to get him to join the club from the Lions, he has rejected the offer of a contract, but if he was to accept the offer Collingwood would then have to try and find a good deal to make to get him to the club, which could see him remain even if he was interesting in coming to the club.
Just seems that unless there are some other rules set in place, and clubs that lose a player through free agency are compensated a bit, some of the not so rich clubs are going to suffer.
Gary Ablett Jr and Luke Hodge already meet the eight-year qualification, but clubs with players of similar ilk in 2012 are expected to have the right to make a matching offer. Lance Franklin is not far from this either, I think that some rookies should be allowed to enter free agency as well, it may see a young man who wishes to stay in his state a better avenue to that team by having them allow free agency on him as well. Sure this means they should be docked 1 draft pick per free agent they sign, it's only fair that if you are going to make a free agent signing you cough up money and a draft pick.
Still though, teams like Collingwood are probably going to prosper from this, as a Collingwood supporter myself I am not sure if I am happy about the free agency yet, I am a football traditionalist at heart and I have not been a massive fan of the talk of free agency, or any of the new changes that have been made of the last few seasons, rules being the main thing that has been irking me with the changes of the AFL.
Would this also open the door for Midseason trade talks? A transfer window of such like the English Premier League, and other English leagues have? Maybe even a chance of a loan of players, have a loans window, a team could find a player from say Tasmania, I will use an example here of a former AFL player, say Justin Plapp, who has retired but that's irrelevant, a club in the AFL wants him they could offer to loan him for 4 rounds, 6 rounds, the season, etc.
I doubt we'd ever see this unless there was a national league in other countries that was the same as the AFL, at the moment there are a lot of small leagues in a lot of countries but they have not yet taken off as much as the AFL. But let's talk free agency, Gold Coast are hoping this would mean they are going to have a better shot at getting Ablett, who they are keen on, apparently they are keen on Trent Cotchin, and Travis Cloke.
They are already free to one uncontracted player at each side upon their entry into the AFL, I do not expect to see either Cloke or Ablett going there, well Ablett you would think would have to have been offered a mighty fine contract to move from Geelong who are aiming for a 3rd premiership in 4 years, I doubt that the Gold Coast are even going to be a challenger in the next 3 seasons, and the Cats have the goods which could bring them more premierships if they are lucky.
I see Cotchin maybe leaving, but I am not sure if he would go from his current club to a club that could be exactly like his current club. Travis Cloke I am not sure what he would do I would hope that he would stay, and I am not sure if they are seriously interested or if it is David Cloke wanting to hype up his son.
Cloke being managed by his father has been a silly idea, I think there is too much bias there when negotiating contracts. Though most managers do look to get their players the best possible contracts, they do know the boundaries and there is where I do not think a father of a player would when he is the manager.
Can free agency truly be the best thing for the game? I do not think it can be, some clubs are surely going to be made powerhouses because of their bank account is better then others, and the others are going to be ripe for the picking, as a Collingwood supporter again I should be happy with this, because it means Collingwood has a great chance of recruiting but somehow I am not that happy at the moment.
Collingwood has tried to throw money at Jonathon Brown for years to get him to join the club from the Lions, he has rejected the offer of a contract, but if he was to accept the offer Collingwood would then have to try and find a good deal to make to get him to the club, which could see him remain even if he was interesting in coming to the club.
Just seems that unless there are some other rules set in place, and clubs that lose a player through free agency are compensated a bit, some of the not so rich clubs are going to suffer.
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