For years now (since fool Elliott gave Koutoufides a $1m contract) I have believed that any club that gives 1 or 2 players massive contracts will not win a flag..

Why?

1. AFL is a team sport (easy to forget). Best/better players win matches, sure, BUT if there is not many $s to go around for the others, the bottom 10 players will not be up to scratch (witness the saints). Its the bottom 10 who will in the end determine success.

2. For a club to win a flag, they need multiple A graders. The $s need to be shared. (Witness the cats, and the Lions in the 2000's, and dare I say it the pies last year.) Big $s to 1 or 2 doesn't work.

This last year (and week in particular) has seen insane $s thrown at players, and possibly, coaches. The air is full of desperation: we miss this chance, we are dead/the world will end.

Total BS!!

The MFC seeks a new coach. Fair enough, we want an experienced & successful coach. But, not AT ANY COST. This club has just worked its arse off to remove all debt. It does not have to sink massive $s to get the perceived best available. It must be careful! No coach is a guaranteed success.

Back to the clubs. I believe the following clubs will NOT get a flag with their current regimes:

1. Carlton: Judd on $1m +, Warnock on $400k +, god knows what Murphy & Gibbs are on. Doesn't leave much for the rest

2. Hawthorn: the following from the Age:

"The Hawks are paying significant sums to their elite players - Franklin's contract averages around $800,000 a season, Luke Hodge close to $700,000 and Cyril Rioli's revised deal puts him around the $500,000 mark, alongside Sam Mitchell.

That estimated $2.5 million is a hell of a lot of money bound up in four players. Allocate another $450,000 to Jarryd Roughead and similar money to Shaun Burgoyne and the Hawks' total player payments become extremely restrictive."

What about Sewell, Lewis et al? GWS bound?

I would argue that no club paying ONE player in excess of, say, $700k will win a flag.

A successful club needs a culture of collaboration, not greed.

Which gets me to coaches. The club must be very careful here. It cannot be A coach at any cost. It is more about the entire FD and the club culture (ie cooperation).

Sigh. Hope I got my point across.

PS1 Cargo cult? Pay the money, and watch the skies: all will be delivered! NOT.

PS2 The $600k we offered scully is/was insane. Glad we lost that one.

Yeah but the problem is if you don't pay your top players top coin someone else will. And I'm sure many clubs have 3rd party deals going to keep the lower paid stars happy too.

Perhaps the players on the lower pay checks deserve them because they are [censored].

Once your out on the field you play to the best of your abilities- becuase it doesn't matter what pay grade you're on- if you don't, you won't have to worry what the stars are on anymore- you'll be getting $540 a fortnight from centrelink.