Clayton Oliver Contract negotiations

[Sydee 3,612]

Clayton seems to have a great report with his mates at the club 

He and Trac are both special talents who together should lead this team to both finals and a premiership/s

Great players and great teams know the importance of sticking tight and enjoying success with those who have done the hard yards to get there - they will sacrifice a little on $’s to achieve that because it is worth 

I hope he signs soon and on terms that fairly reflect his value to this team 

[Fat Tony 4,350]

14 minutes ago, Roost it far said:

$6 mill for 6 years

Is that a guess or information?

[DeeZee 6,719]

In my opinion he is our most important  player and must be kept at all costs

[Roost it far 5,975]

8 minutes ago, Fat Tony said:

Is that a guess or information?

Guess

[Maldonboy38 5,808]

We have to do our very best to keep him. Not "give him what he wants", but something close to it.

I agree that he has some parts of his game that need improving - like handballing to team mates who are too close and already under pressure, and trying to get around the tackle when he had a first option to give a releasing handball - but the rest of his game is simply a joy to watch.

He plays at full pace, has amazing quick and accurate hands, his kicking has become a weapon, he runs all day, and racks up possessions bringing team mates into the game. He reminds me a bit of Stephen Tingay, although Tingay was more a kicking player.  

And there seems to be genuine camaraderie between him, Gawn, Trac and Brayshaw.

Lots of reasons to fight hard to keep him.

[PaulRB 5,897]

I think the addition of Yze will help us retain Oliver (and Petracca), as we need to craft a midfield strategy that fully leverages our talent in the middle into full game dominance, finals and flags...

if we can grow the sum of our parts they’ll stay for the success that will follow.

Edited March 29, 2021 by PaulRB

[sisso 2,383]

He'll happily stay after we win the premiership this season!

[praha 10,267]

Negotiation in any job is all business. You find your allies, you explore the market, and you make sure you're never the first to offer a figure. It actually takes a lot for someone to change jobs/teams. Players that switch tend to do so for a combination of exposure, success, culture and pay. Tick enough of those boxes and it's hard to leave. As someone in the midst of a pay review now, and knowing I can earn more elsewhere, I have a lot of friends, in a great culture and I have great influence on the workplace. A figure close enough but not necessarily more than what I can get on the market will be enough for me to stay. But it's a waiting game. The media and fans hyperventilate when someone doesn't sign right away but anyone would be crazy not to do their due diligence. If Oliver leaves then it will be about more than money. It will be about his actual place in the team, how he's valued both financially and as a person and player. I'm confident he'll stay. If he doesn't then the questions will be more around what Melbourne couldn't offer beyond money.

[deelusions from afar 1,608]

I think Clayton is our best player and arguably our most important.  I think at the rate he's going at he could end up Melbourne's best midfielder ever.

However, I'd be concerned if we go for a contract of more than 4 years.  Think of GWS that have long terms deals with what at the time were some of the best mids in the game - Coniglio, Kelly etc - doesn't look so great right now.

I also think there's a chance that Clayton won't have a long career as he takes more hits than anyone every week - he's already had multiple shoulder surgeries.  Look at Cripps now - they're different players but he is not the player he was a few years ago and he's similar to Oliver in terms of the number of hits he gets each week.

Clayton deserves to be one of the top 3 highest paid players at the club but should understand that if we overcommit to him then it will reduce the quality of the team he has around him.

[hemingway 7,583]

1 hour ago, Maldonboy38 said:

We have to do our very best to keep him. Not "give him what he wants", but something close to it.

I agree that he has some parts of his game that need improving - like handballing to team mates who are too close and already under pressure, and trying to get around the tackle when he had a first option to give a releasing handball - but the rest of his game is simply a joy to watch.

He plays at full pace, has amazing quick and accurate hands, his kicking has become a weapon, he runs all day, and racks up possessions bringing team mates into the game. He reminds me a bit of Stephen Tingay, although Tingay was more a kicking player.  

And there seems to be genuine camaraderie between him, Gawn, Trac and Brayshaw.

Lots of reasons to fight hard to keep him.

Agree with all this. However we need some balance. Oliver and his manager have the whip hand, and, if they want to, they can delay negotiations and put the club to the fire as they field offers from other clubs. You would imagine they will want to see the colour of the MFCs money first up as a starting point. We assume those discussions have already started. 

What we do know is that we don’t want this remaining an issue and become the basis of the normal media carry-on as we reach the finals (making an obvious assumption). 

This is going to be tough going for the club. The coaches will want to keep him, everyone will want to keep him. But if the season continues to develop favourably for the team, we are going to have a bunch of players who will need to be looked after. And there is one giant shadow looming with CP having a huge price on his head. 

How do we keep them all? Maybe the simple answer is that we can’t. Success on the field will help but we will still need to put dollars on the table for CP and others. 

And we will want to avoid the recent mess created by Collingwood with its player payments. 

[Travis Boots 157]

Brayshaw is going to have the sacrifical lamb and be traded if we are to accomodate Oliver, Petracca and Salem contract extensions.

He’s taking up around 625k of cap space and plays his best footy where we are already heavy on options

[Demonstone 19,050]

11 hours ago, whatwhat say what said:

what if he wants is to be traded to carlton? ?

Hmmm, Carlton you say?

 

[Bombay Airconditioning 5,850]

12 hours ago, bush demon said:

Melbourne is one of the listed clubs whose salary cup is tight. So an Essendon or a Hawthorn could knock on his door with a mega-offer. So we have to basically have  high finish to keep him, IMO.

Where was this?

[Bombay Airconditioning 5,850]

5 minutes ago, Travis Boots said:

Brayshaw is going to have the sacrifical lamb and be traded if we are to accomodate Oliver, Petracca and Salem contract extensions.

He’s taking up around 625k of cap space and plays his best footy where we are already heavy on options

Why?

[hemingway 7,583]

12 minutes ago, demonstone said:

Hmmm, Carlton you say?

 

Be careful, we are only two games in. Melbourne supporters should know that it is a long season and fortunes fluctuate over that time. Injuries, form, travel etc. 

[old dee 22,808]

Unless I am wrong he is not a free agent. If that is correct then we have the ability to decide his fate. Now we obviously want to keep him. But IMO there is a limit we should not exceed. If that is not good enough then we can demand the maximum from any club that wants him. 

[Bombay Airconditioning 5,850]

I’ve posted many times about this, if you look at the “contracts thread” and look at how long certain players have left on their contracts I can’t see it being an issue to retain any of Oliver, Petracca, Salem or Weideman.

[In Harmes Way 7,477]

30 minutes ago, hemingway said:

Be careful, we are only two games in. Melbourne supporters should know that it is a long season and fortunes fluctuate over that time. Injuries, form, travel etc. 

True Ernie, but it's still funny!

[Left Foot Snap 1,814]

I think North are a big concern. Can offer a ridiculous can't refuse contract and will most likely have first pick in the PSD to give them leverage in trade negotiations. Would have to be a hell of an offer though.

[Pickett2Jackson 3,904]

1 hour ago, deelusions from afar said:

I think Clayton is our best player and arguably our most important.  I think at the rate he's going at he could end up Melbourne's best midfielder ever.

However, I'd be concerned if we go for a contract of more than 4 years.  Think of GWS that have long terms deals with what at the time were some of the best mids in the game - Coniglio, Kelly etc - doesn't look so great right now.

 

I bet Clayton would like to keep his options open when hes around 28 and has taken over the league, so 4 years sounds about right for both sides.

[bush demon 1,875]

46 minutes ago, Bombay Airconditioning said:

Where was this?

That was in The Age a couple of days ago. i will have a look for the link.

[sisso 2,383]

11 minutes ago, Left Foot Snap said:

I think North are a big concern. Can offer a ridiculous can't refuse contract and will most likely have first pick in the PSD to give them leverage in trade negotiations. Would have to be a hell of an offer though.

Couldn't see him going there unless he really doesnt care about playing in finals for at least 3-5 more years

[Demonstone 19,050]

53 minutes ago, hemingway said:

Be careful,

I doubt that my posting of a gag on a footy supporters' website would have any impact on the performance of the Melbourne Football Club, Mr. Hemingway.

But, just to be sure ...

[Roost it far 5,975]

As flag favourites we’re in a good position to keep our stars. These guys want success and they’ll get that here

[Lucifers Hero 36,983]

1 hour ago, Bombay Airconditioning said:

Where was this?

salary-cap-score

Salary cap space after 2021

• HAVES (with room): Essendon, Hawthorn, North Melbourne, Adelaide, Port Adelaide.
• HAVE-NOTS: Richmond, West Coast, Collingwood, Melbourne, Fremantle, Geelong, Gold Coast, Greater Western Sydney.
• SOME WRIGGLE ROOM: Carlton, Western Bulldogs, Brisbane Lions.
• UNCLEAR: St Kilda, Sydney

Player payments, including ASAs, are $13,165,950 in 2021, a cut of 9 per cent due to the pandemic. Player payments for 2022 are slated to be $14,769,322 if there are no cuts. All subject to the current contracts and without factoring in recruiting at season’s end or re-negotiations.

 

We have some expensive traded-in players with 2-4 years to go on their contracts.  Add the sal cap reductions and the AFL advice to clubs to transfer the reductions from the near term to later years ie back end the contracts.  Not a fan of too many back-ended contracts as it is easy to get into strife - see Collingwood circa 2020. 

These factors will make our sal cap tight for a few years yet.

Not sure our 'lesser-lights' and older players, whose contracts expire this year would be on big coin so I don't see much wriggle room there.

So I can see why negotiations with Oliver will take time (ditto with Salem).

Edited March 30, 2021 by Lucifer's Hero