Adam The God

No, that's all fair from an argument standpoint mate. I'm not an AFL footballer, but I do know the wage of a relatively senior footballer and it's not as high as $365k, even when you factor in match payments. So where have you got that average player wage from? I'm not disagreeing with you, I'm just asking, because my understanding is that the average player wage would be a lot lower than some think. It's still far higher than the median or average wage of Australians though, which is the point I've been making. Still, you're right, it's not apples with apples, but if he's been offered $300k or more, that is considerably higher or at the least in line with many middle rung FIRE employees, and FIRE are the three industries that basically prop up our GDP, so the top earners. Anyway, perhaps I'm getting dragged into the microeconomics of Australian society and I should simply concede. This is quite right. I'm happy to concede I don't know enough about the facts to make an accurate assessment.

Well, hang on. You're imposing what you think he's worth. What happens if the club took the view that it doesn't see him as "one of our best players"? Jake Lever may have been worth say $650k a couple of years ago, in order to get him to change clubs. He's a good player, but if we want to keep building our list, his next contract should be worth less (unless AFL wage inflation brings it in line with his last contract by then). Likewise, Jack's last contract, might have been $650k, when he was one of our best midfielders and a captain or soon to be, captain of the club. But value shifts all the time. If you are a leader, I would expect you to take what is in line with similar players of similar worth. And the point I'm also making is that it's not like these guys are going to be destitute at the end of this tax year.

Yeah, I get how contract negotiations work, thanks very much. The reality is someone like Viney has been paid a large sum of money over the years (millions and millions of dollars by the age of 26) and this latest offer would almost certainly be a minimum $300k. And you're saying that's not enough value to his worth. The fact he may or may not have turned down other offers is irrelevant. By demanding more, he's putting list management into jeopardy. You may call that loyalty and leadership, I don't. We're not talking about $30,000 here, we're talking about a significant amount of money. I'm not sure what world some people are living in. The median Australian income for 2019 was $48,360 before tax. This is pre COVID. And we're talking about a person here that is on $300,000+! Are you kidding me?

Indeed.

There is one happening, yes. If one wasn't happening, you'd be more likely to get a conciliatory email.

I'd have a look. Play him at half forward. Neat ball user, bit of pace. Would be an upgrade on a few of the guys we've had running through there.

Interesting. I wonder how far off further list management decisions are. I assume as the external review is being conducted, the FD just operates as normal.

Most spending occurs digitally these days. The private banks issue loans by crediting debtors' bank accounts. The central banks spend by crediting bank accounts - overt monetary financing it's called. I did think about this the other day though. We're quite lucky that most transactions are digital these days. I'm sure it's stopped the spread to some degree.

I see you wanted to play Frost alongside Hunt. I think you'd enjoy the APS Aths carnival. Those two might be okay in the 50m sprint. At least Hunt's improved his game sense, but still has no consistency whatsoever.

Interesting. That said Cornes is not the most trustworthy commentator.

You've got no idea how we've handled our cap. You've got speculation and that's it. I'm happy to say that Mahoney's internal review from 2019 was not good enough, but as for list management, it's mere speculation on your part. Well, you can't really win then can you. I think this is a good move and yeah, what's wrong with ensuring we play finals next year? Our core is good enough. Tomlinson is a handy player. No star, but does his job at CHB, can go into the ruck if we need him, can go onto a wing if we need him and can even play as a half forward flanker. I think he's a handy acquisition. And a vast upgrade on Frost and Oscar McDonald. Completely disagree. I'll never understand people's obsession with Frost. More often than not he'd sprint out of defence with no idea what was going on and couldn't hold team defensive structure.

It feels like if he's out of Essendon it'll be because he's going back to SA, but stranger things have happened. His injury history has to be a concern at this stage, but he's a handy player and would add goals to our forward set up.

Who says he will leave?

I get that the game is a job for players, but I don't like hearing that a guy with so much history tied to the club has basically refused to take unders (which is still likely to be way above the top tax bracket - surely he was offered $300-400k) in order to secure his signature. I know McCartney was big on instilling a culture of guys taking unders, so that the club could manage its list better and keep the core together. Geelong do this and Hawthorn did this for years. If true, I don't like it and to me that's not leadership at all.

I'm not saying I don't believe you, but if he's going to sign the contract, what would caps and list sizes have to do with his signature? That seems at odds...

So you're saying Merrett is the vomit, or you're saying our midfield is already the vomit? Given you've said the cake is made of vomit, I presume you're saying the midfield...

This thread is laughable, @picket fence. And @DeeSpencer, I'd take Tomlinson over Frost every day of the week. One is a headless chook, the other you don't see much of and the players around him step up. Classic role player. Frost... classic headless chook. The 21st century has seen a rise in project players. I hope we witness a decline in these speculative athletes with little football understanding. It's not something you can suddenly teach to a 20 year old that's used to running around in circles on an Aths track. Probably explains why he runs around in circles on a football field.

He made it up. For example, we're paying Goodwin $46 million a year.

I think what's going to happen league-wide is that the AFL will help pay out a strategic amount of excess FD soft cap at each club. Given they're imposing austerity measures, they need to be sure that club's can structure their FDs in a competitive way, otherwise it'll just mean the AFL has to pump more money into certain clubs down the line. In such a volatile time, the AFL has to make sure all 18 clubs offer their memberships something in the near future, otherwise we could see 2 or more clubs fold. This means smaller broadcast deals and the potentiality of having to up the number of yearly fixtures to cover the shortfall in the smaller broadcast deal. At a point that becomes unsustainable too. The 38 games in the English Premiere League season are not comparable with 38 games of AFL football.

Yeah, I know you were, but champion coaches don't always lose it at their second club.

Interesting, because a Freo supporter who spoke to Adem told me that one. It didn't entirely add up, so perhaps it was wrong.

Look, I'm inclined to agree, but at this stage, all we know for sure is he's left the Hawks list in a mess. Malthouse went to Collingwood after winning the Eagles' flags and still managed to pull out a flag, so there is a precedence.

Interesting. I heard Yze was close. Do you know if he interviewed for the Freo job?

This is why I'm not all in on Clarkson. Has he run out of ideas, as you say? It's a pertinent question.

That's a tall squid.