Flaw in Free Agency

[Weedster 174]

Paul Roos is entirely correct.

There is a fundamental flaw with this process.

The richer / successful clubs can cherry pick the weaker / less successful clubs with a promise of bigger $ or success - example Goddard yesterday, and look how Port Adelaide are being targetted - but do not have to give up anything in return other than what they choose to pay.

The club which loses a player receives a compensation by way of a draft pick, bestowed by the AFL, which in turn disrupts the draft order for all other clubs, meanwhile the plunderer gets exactly what they want to top up their list.

http://www.heraldsun...f-1226486332774

[rpfc 27,614]

Yeah, I don't see the doom and gloom here.

I am a pretty confident person and I would like my club to be confident in its ability to keep 26 or 27 year olds when they are OOC and we need them.

I also think the 'net draft pick' idea will provide less of a disruption than a pick for every leaving FA.

I also think that the Bombers won't be big players in FA for a few years and neither will Collingwood - and that is one of the drawbacks of picking up players for $750k+.

[Jack Jack 415]

I also think that the Bombers won't be big players in FA for a few years and neither will Collingwood - and that is one of the drawbacks of picking up players for $750k+.

Exactly, how many times can the bigger clubs dip into FA and spend up big? It's not like Goddard left to be with a more successful club, he left for a longer and larger contract.

[pitmaster 3,080]

Flaw might be in the Bombers salary cap come 2014-15.

[poita 3,673]

Sorry, but I don't see this. Goddard has clearly had issues at St Kilda for some time. Essendon made him an offer and St Kilda chose not to match it. As RPFC says, Essendon have had salary cap issues in the past, and they will presumably have to offload Monfries and other players to stay under the cap. St Kilda can now actively seek the ruckman and key defender that they want.

As for Port Adelaide, neither Chaplin or Pearce have been consistent performers this year, and would have both been likely candidates for trades even if free agency didn't exist. You can't blame free agency for players wanting to leave the dismal environment provided by clubs like Port and Melbourne.

Ultimately this system will help players ranked 15 - 30 on each clubs list extend and further their careers. There will be the odd Goddard who changes clubs, but the salary cap will ensure that it does not become a free for all.

[Disco Demons 92]

the AFL will have to improve the clubs compensation based on recent sucess.

Port Adelaide should get better compenstation weighting than Saint Kilda.

[rpfc 27,614]

the AFL will have to improve the clubs compensation based on recent sucess.

Port Adelaide should get better compenstation weighting than Saint Kilda.

It will. The picks that don't say "at the end of round" are tied to the Pick of the team.

For example, if we lost Goddard we would have Pick 5.

[7-UP 107]

Does AFL has a hard salary cap, where teams can't go over a limit or a salary cap you can go over the limit as long as you pay some money for AFL?

[1858 224]

The main concern to me is the ability of some clubs to significantly look after players after their footy careers. This isn't under the cap and will certainly separate the haves and the have nots. Apart from that I'm not against the concept of FA.

[Guest fitness]

What about the culture being created right now which appears to be that any player, free agent or not, is approachable/gettable? And the increasing mindset of players who will now start contemplating leaving their (poorer performing) clubs just because they can...

Rivers and Goddard are great examples of guys who, as Paul Roos pointed out, would never have contemplated leaving their clubs under the previous system.

I'm generally a positive person but I'm with those who think that FA is a poor idea and should never have been allowed to happen. in the long run the entire competition will be the loser....

[Dr. Gonzo 22,572]

I also think that the Bombers won't be big players in FA for a few years and neither will Collingwood - and that is one of the drawbacks of picking up players for $750k+.

Flaw might be in the Bombers salary cap come 2014-15.

Not if TOLL have anything to say about it apparently.

I think in theory FA is good but in practice the weaker clubs are going to get raped by it. Look at our situation. We are a poor club at the bottom of the ladder. Haven't looked like playing finals or challenging for a flag for 6 years. Players who qualify for FA status on our list want to look elsewhere for the opportunity to finish their career on a high instead of finishing it in a bottom placed team who will shunt them off to Casey as soon as a kid comes along that we want to "get games into" & "develop".

So we lose guys like Rivers and to a lesser extent Moloney for nothing but a mid range pick (say 30's). We have free cap space now but due to our status as a poor underperforming club with the perception of little chance to play finals in the immediate future we then have trouble luring other FA across to our club to help us rise back up the ladder and/or replace those who left.

At the end of the day we are left with a list which has had the veteran's picked out of it, has a group of mid-age players who have played in poor teams their whole careers and a bunch of kids who can't compete with the elite players/teams in the comp. This all adds up to teams like us and Port ending up like Fitzroy with players desperate to leave and the bigger more successful clubs circling like vultures to pick the bones of our list. We are then left with a mediocre list that is forced to pay 95% of the cap despite having no-one deserving a big "franchise" type contract. Look at our list next year and compare it to the clubs at the top and tell me how we should possibly pay the minimum cap requirement.

This may seem like doom and gloom but it is genuinely where I see the league heading in the future.

[Jack Jack 415]

Free agency was pushed by the players in the new CBA. It still protects the higher paid players in the team. If a player is in the top 25% earners in the club after 8 years they're a restricted free agent. Meaning that if you're going to dislodge a good player you'll need to pay overs for them. It's not perfect but it could be a lot worse.

[Sir Why You Little 34,770]

It will stop the MFC from being a weak club quick smart. That's what it will do.

[Dr. Gonzo 22,572]

Or it could make us even weaker...

[Jordie_tackles 354]

Does AFL has a hard salary cap, where teams can't go over a limit or a salary cap you can go over the limit as long as you pay some money for AFL?

It is a hard cap.

I think Goddard is inetersting, essendon missed finals so i wouldnt sya they are a big club at present and havnt been since 2000.

Big clubs wont have the $$$ the OP suggest they should to throw around, if anything it means we can throw dollars at people and not pay anything extra.

[jumbo returns 6,537]

The flaw is that spuds are commanding top dollar.

What a joke.

[Weedster 174]

What about the culture being created right now which appears to be that any player, free agent or not, is approachable/gettable? And the increasing mindset of players who will now start contemplating leaving their (poorer performing) clubs just because they can...

Rivers and Goddard are great examples of guys who, as Paul Roos pointed out, would never have contemplated leaving their clubs under the previous system.

I'm generally a positive person but I'm with those who think that FA is a poor idea and should never have been allowed to happen. in the long run the entire competition will be the loser....

The key point here is that top clubs can selectively top up - they might only need one player eg Goddard to Essendon or Rivers to Geelong - without having to give up anything at all in return. They just need salary cap. For a long termer at an unsuccesful or rebuilding club, the prospect of a strong offer late in youyr career, combined perhaps with the opportunity to play in a successful club, might be all that is required, regardless of what the current club has done for the player in the past.

[Sir Why You Little 34,770]

Or it could make us even weaker...

certainly. We could die. But it will stop this wishy washy half assed bullsh!t i have witnessed all my life.

Get the right people to run the club properly, to spend money wisely & take a chance when it comes.

[Little Goffy 12,764]

I've been raising this issue every few weeks for about three months.

To recap -

1. By allowing clubs to recruit players outside the exchange process and not giving up any draft picks of their own, the FA system creates a 'super-incentive' to recruit through this method. How much would you pay extra to get a bonus first round draft pick?

2. The wealthier and better resourced a football club is, the more desirable they are as a destination, obviously. In a player's mind, how much pay would you be willing do give up for an extra $100,000 each year spent on your development?

3. This end result means that the less well resourced clubs actually need to pay more through their salary cap amounts to retain players targeted by wealthier clubs, meaning that over the medium to long term it will actually be the clubs LOSING players who find themselves under salary cap pressure. In effect, it costs them more to retain an 'equivalent' playing list.

4. As the process compounds, the stronger cubs increasingly dominate the upper half of the ladder, and weaker clubs spend more time at the bottom. Which of course creates a whole additional incentive for players to leave the weaker clubs, and a downward spiral develops.

Basically, the free agency rules as they stand are just about guaranteed to wedge apart the gap between wealthier and poorer clubs, and that widening will proceed faster and faster over time.

Guaranteed.

So, Melbourne has to get two things right, and fast.

1 - get that footy department well resourced and well run

2 - go hard at free agency ourselves, to get the maximum advantage before the rules are corrected (hopefully they will, I'm not keen on a dysfunctional league)

[Sir Why You Little 34,770]

Agreed L.G. But i doubt the rules will be changed, or at least not in the direction that you wish.

[old55 21,539]

Richmond appear to be working it nicely - Chaplin and Knights. We could do worse than follow their model. Drafted smartly - Cotchin and Martin, traded wisely - Maric and Grigg etc, rose up the ladder looking like a club going places and now are using FA well. More Richmond, less whinging ...

[IRW 1,262]

It is a hard cap.

I think Goddard is inetersting, essendon missed finals so i wouldnt sya they are a big club at present and havnt been since 2000.

Big clubs wont have the $$$ the OP suggest they should to throw around, if anything it means we can throw dollars at people and not pay anything extra.

Just wait until Eddie and the other powerful Presidents start to agitate for increased salary caps.

It's going to happen, 2 maybe 3 years max.

And the AFL will buckle because it will solve their problem of having too many Melbourne Clubs on the drip and allow them to keep proping up the franchises and wasting money in China and New Zealand

[Fitz Fitzpatrick 886]

What about the culture being created right now which appears to be that any player, free agent or not, is approachable/gettable? And the increasing mindset of players who will now start contemplating leaving their (poorer performing) clubs just because they can...

Rivers and Goddard are great examples of guys who, as Paul Roos pointed out, would never have contemplated leaving their clubs under the previous system.

I'm generally a positive person but I'm with those who think that FA is a poor idea and should never have been allowed to happen. in the long run the entire competition will be the loser....

just the same as every other international competition using FA has been worse off for it . Free agency is not going to be good for this comp.

[Fitz Fitzpatrick 886]

The other bad thing about it is that Free Agency allows clubs to buy premierships. Now i know from where we are sitting this year that sounds pretty good but surely the satisfaction of winning a premiership from shrewd trading and good drafting/developing is what the game should be all about, not just buying up a few stars and put them on 2 yr contracts.

[Sir Why You Little 34,770]

The other bad thing about it is that Free Agency allows clubs to buy premierships. Now i know from where we are sitting this year that sounds pretty good but surely the satisfaction of winning a premiership from shrewd trading and good drafting/developing is what the game should be all about, not just buying up a few stars and put them on 2 yr contracts.

after 48 years of incompetence i would take those flag(s)