I posted this in another thread but I think it is worthy of its own thread and discussion

We can debate until the cows come home when the SCully "deal" was a "done deal". And Jimmy is right in saying that the current GWS scenario forces players to lie. This is not going to go away because we are coming into the new era of free agency and more lying, perceived lying, charades, players protesting innocence will take place.

We, the AFL and the clubs, need to stop being children and adopt the NRL model. When you sign up with another club or are looking to move, you sign up ( or signal your intentions) and say - next season I'm with the Lions/Saints/whatever. What will happen is the clubs in the hunt for the flag will play their leaving players as winning is everything. The players out of the running for the flag may drop their defectors ( the problematic part is if the players existing contract may have bonus's for games played, goals, B&F votes etc etc)

We will hate it for 5 years and then it will be the accepted norm. It happens in most other professional sports - it should in happen ours.

It may be foreign to the culture of our game but it is the only way to go in my opinion - thoughts ?

Agree completely!

The idea of not playing players who have indicated their future lies elsewhere is short sighted, and appears to be a big part of why players don't come out and flag their intentions earlier.

AFL appears to be stuck in between the old and new when it comes to player movement at the moment, and it simply causes too much heartburn for all parties involved.