Sydney Swans offer Franklin $7 million

[jnrmac 20,060]

Goodes would be on at least 500k. Oh yeah he probably gets marquee player status so goes into the black hole marketing budget supported by the AFL

[Bluey's Dad 3,419]

Goodes would be on at least 500k. Oh yeah he probably gets marquee player status so goes into the black hole marketing budget supported by the AFL

Yep.

Maybe he even took a significant pay cut in order to allow the Swans extra salary cap room. Could it also be possible that some of the Buddy money will be "AFL marketing" as well?

However as other posters have stated, they have lost a few premiership players which will make some room.

Also we don't know their position regarding front/backloading of contracts. For all we know, Tippett is hugely front ended and Buddy is all back-ended, giving them the space they need. Or maybe Goodes/Jack/Hanneberry etc were heavily front-ended earlier in their contracts?

Just speculating.

[Cards13 9,117]

Mumford and White already leaving because the Tippett and Franklin money took it all off the table for them

So now Sydney will be:

Ruck: Pyke

FF/ruck: Tippett

CHF: Reid or Franklin

+/- Goodes

Compared to before:

Ruck: Mumford

FF/ruck: Pyke

CHF: Tippett

+/- Reid, White, Goodes

So Sydney will have lost a lot of depth (who's their back up ruck if Pyke goes down) and placed pressure on the rest of the list financially.

LRT, who on his day is a very capable player.

[Jaded No More 68,913]

How the hell can this be allowed?

We can't get a PP but Sydney get enough cap allowance to nab two high profile forwards in the space of two years.

What a joke this competition is!

[Toorak 108]

Equalization my ass

the comp is now so uneven, its sad.

it's looking more and more like the English Premier League where realistically only 4 teams can win the competition.

[Jaded No More 68,913]

The only positive here is GWS getting screwed.

Hahaha suck on it!

[Toorak 108]

Equalization my ass

the comp is now so uneven, its sad.

it's looking more and more like the English Premier League where realistically only 4 teams can win the competition.

Dear Mr Demetriou ,

The AFL equalisation dream is a buddy farce.

It is now clear the AFL is absolutely determined to give favoured nation status to certain clubs to the detriment of others.

Can you please pronounce equalisation dead and invite the also rans to abandon any hope of success under your administration.

Its the only decent thing to do.

Ps: Eddie, yourself and the others should refund the costs of the USA trip

Equalisation??? If it's so equal and you were selecting a team made up of Swans and Melbourne. The dees wouldn't have a representative.

[beelzebub 23,364]

Swans? more like Swines, as its obvious some teams are more equal than others!! eh Colless, you f'n hypocrite !!

[RalphiusMaximus 6,049]

GWS aren't getting screwed. They now have a couple of million dollars to use elsewhere and pick 1 to use on Boyd. I'd say that's a better position than if they had scored Buddy on that money.

[beelzebub 23,364]

The only positive here is GWS getting screwed.

Hahaha suck on it!

Id love a photo of the smile being wipes from Sheeds face !!!

[Guest]

Id love a photo of the smile being wipes from Sheeds face !!!

The only thing I like about it is that it has extracted all the smug out of Kevin Sheedy's body. It was probably why he wore that Giants scarf up on stage at the Grand Final. He was looking for a photo op of him and Buddy when Buddy was receiving his premiership medal.

It just goes to show that the blokes he are getting there aren't going there to 'be part of something special'. They're going there for the money plain and simple. In Buddy's case, even money wasn't enough for him to play in front of 5000 people with teams losing by 90 points on a consistent basis. It got him interested but all the money in the world wasn't enough to get him to play for Sheedy's soulless, artificial team.

Edited October 1, 2013 by Guest

[beelzebub 23,364]

Well if it wasnt as plain as the day is long before it certainly now is. Roos, Viney Taylor etc. You need to have a good look whos around and if that means looting, pillaging and plundering anything that Sydney once thought their preserve well who the f cares !!

[demoniac 1,333]

Buddy moving to Flag rival Swans will annoy Hawks' fans like my brother so there is a positive side to it!

In pure football terms Buddy is a very good half forward flanker. He may be 196cm but in recent seasons he has been about as useful overhead as Paul 'The Armless Man' Johnson. $1.4 million a year for a 50 - 60 goal a year half forward is alot He will no doubt enjoy Bondi and the company of Rugger Party Boys like Beale. Presumably Tippett will play as key forward/2nd ruck if Mumford departs, with Reid as the second key forward and Buddy on the flank where he belongs.

Pragmatically I question the Swan's decision because it will place even more pressure on the COLA. Time will tell.

[Bombay Airconditioning 6,391]

Yep.

Maybe he even took a significant pay cut in order to allow the Swans extra salary cap room. Could it also be possible that some of the Buddy money will be "AFL marketing" as well?

However as other posters have stated, they have lost a few premiership players which will make some room.

Also we don't know their position regarding front/backloading of contracts. For all we know, Tippett is hugely front ended and Buddy is all back-ended, giving them the space they need. Or maybe Goodes/Jack/Hanneberry etc were heavily front-ended earlier in their contracts?

Just speculating.

You make some good points, regardless of front loaded/back loaded contracts some of their mids must be asking where their share is. Have we offered pick for a Kieren Jack?

[Dr. Gonzo 24,214]

The competition is rapidly becoming two tier. IMO, never before has there been such a divide between the haves and have nots. There are at least 4 teams that may never win a Premiership in my lifetime. Eventually, people will become disenfranchised with the AFL and there will be big clubs and corporates. Worrying.

Or a few of those clubs who will never win a flag will die, there will be fewer teams, a more even draw and the quality of the game will be vastly superior as the talent won't be spread so thin across the comp. A good thing for the game possibly (although significant history will be lost) but catastrophic for clubs like ours, North, Dogs, Saints who could be forced to make way for the truly national comp.

[Tony Tea 2,809]

Buddy to Sydney is okay by me. The moment free agency was announced I lowered my expectations for Melbourne and accepted our status as a Premier League style feeder club and that we would never win another flag.

[Ouch! 2,262]

I'm really interested to see the impact of bringing Tippett and Franklin in (and their salaries being what they are.) has on the famed Bloods Culture!

2013 Salary cap is just over 9 million. Franklin and Tippett would be taking up close to 25% of the cap it seems...

Whilst I have a grudging respect for how the Swans have been able to pull off the heists of Tippett and Franklin from the two expansion clubs and how they have managed to keep it so quiet, it is a terrible look for the AFL and their argument on the CoLA.

[sue 9,102]

Or a few of those clubs who will never win a flag will die, there will be fewer teams, a more even draw and the quality of the game will be vastly superior as the talent won't be spread so thin across the comp. A good thing for the game possibly (although significant history will be lost) but catastrophic for clubs like ours, North, Dogs, Saints who could be forced to make way for the truly national comp.

I'm not sure that if teams are more full of very talented players the game will be better for us spectators. They negate each other and you can end up with the mad scramble we saw when Fro and Sydney played recently. Exciting in a final, but week after week, yuk. (That said, obviously a certain level of skill is required or we'd all be watching VLF reserves).

The business types running the AFL will be happier with a Premier League style operation than with an even comp. They've worked out there is more money to be made that way and they call sell some clubs to their rich mates for hobbies. Blame 'there is no such thing as society' Thatcher and her descendants.

[Rod Grinter Riot Squad 5,654]

So the period for offer for FA & UFA's starts Friday but the Swans and Buddy have come to a deal.

So the AFL's rules only cover some teams?

[Demon Stalwart 255]

One thing that particularly irritates me about this is that the AFL coaches kicked up a stink when we applied for another Priority Pick (i know we don't really deserve one) being the worst side in the AFL for years, which the Priority Pick may help as get off the bottom and perhaps win more than 2 games and help us be competitive, ultimately bringing more money to the clubs we play. Which the AFL rejected our application.

Yet they let this rubbish go on, with Sydney ( a consistent top 4 side) being able to secure Tippett and now Buddy (perhaps) through the use of this extra million dollars they receive in the salary cap due to "expensive living" in Sydney, all approved by the AFL. Absolute joke.

I couldn't agree more especially when you consider it was Colless that kicked up the fuss about us getting a Priority Pick and then had the temerity to lecture ROOS about Poaching !!!!

[dees189227 12,391]

Its sort of funny that GWS missed out on him.

However this living allowance is ridiculous. People in the real world move to sydney for work, they dont earn over 1 mill a year and they certainly dont get a living allowance. They cope just fine.

To get tippett on 900,000 a year then offer buddy a $7 million, five-year contract from the swans is just unfair.

[RalphiusMaximus 6,049]

There won't be any movement on the Cost of living allowance in Sydney. The AFL need them to be a highly successful club. They can't afford to have a Sydney-based club at the bottom of the ladder given their tenuous market share there. If Sydney turn into a flop they will lose their audience very rapidly to the other codes.

[TGR 1,367]

Buddy has gone from no.4 to greater-than-50 in Sheahan's top 50. That is apparently the greatest fastest drop for a non-injured player.

That is big money for a guy on the decline, that hasn't clunked a one-grabber overhead for a while.

I'm not feral at Sydney, they have spent a decade stockpiling rejects (Mumford, Richards, JKennedy) and low-paid in-house talent (Nick Smith, Bird etc..).

They are allowed to open their wallet like we did the Clark & Dawes.

[Ron Burgundy 8,584]

I'm really interested to see the impact of bringing Tippett and Franklin in (and their salaries being what they are.) has on the famed Bloods Culture!

2013 Salary cap is just over 9 million. Franklin and Tippett would be taking up close to 25% of the cap it seems...

Whilst I have a grudging respect for how the Swans have been able to pull off the heists of Tippett and Franklin from the two expansion clubs and how they have managed to keep it so quiet, it is a terrible look for the AFL and their argument on the CoLA.

I hope the Swans also recruit Josh Gibson, and the Waratahs recruit Kurtley Beale and James O'Connor.

They can all live together in one 4 bedroom apartment overlooking Bondi - spending each recovery session in their communal spa with a couple of retail shop assistants whilst drawing new stickers on one another.

We can then watch these dudes complete blow up the Swans 'no d-heads' club culture, and virtually end the legacy that Paul Roos built at that club in one fell swoop. We will also get to witness Paul Roos rebuild that club culture at the MFC.

Fingers crossed, we land a Rockliff/Sloan, Savage, Cross, re-sign Sylvia, and potentially recruit Shaw, in this year's draft period.

If we do, I'll be the first in the gate for next year's clash against the Swans at the SCG.

[stuie 7,374]

Don't understand why there's so much hand wringing going on over this...

Related outcomes from this include:

-Adams will now stay at GWS, so the little chance we had has now completely gone

-GWS still have that money to throw around at other free agents, including some we'd be chasing

-Mummy now on the trade table, even further lessens the value of Jamar and Spencer who we were rumoured to be offering up

-Hawthorn likely to get a very high compo pick for Buddy, pushing our second round pick and any pick we get through trade after about pick 9 back

Buddy going to GWS would have been good for us.