No Oppo Supporters Re-signing Tex, Danger and Sloane *** Crows Only ***

[Crowstar]

He'd be leading our best and fairest and we're (unexpectedly?) in the eight. Not sure it's impacting that much. Positively maybe!

If Hanneberry's Swans had missed the finals 4 of the last 5 years and sacked their coach last year then he wouldn't have signed on, let alone until 2021.

If Dangerfield's Crows were runners up last season and were sitting third with a premiership coach and had just landed Buddy Franklin, then I reckon Dangerfield would have signed long ago.

If everyone should sign on so as not to disrupt their club then no player would ever play for another club.

Not every player is a self proclaimed loyalist. We've beaten 1 team in the 8. The only reason we are 7th is cos of the soft draw. The longer the season goes the more the cracks will open. Let's see if everyone's all smiles after a few losses in a row. Then tell me there's no negative impact.

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

Not every player is a self proclaimed loyalist. We've beaten 1 team in the 8. The only reason we are 7th is cos of the soft draw. The longer the season goes the more the cracks will open. Let's see if everyone's all smiles after a few losses in a row. Then tell me there's no negative impact.

Sheesh

So why isn't Dangerfield signing on then do you reckon whereas Hanneberry did?

 

[Crowstar]

Sheesh

So why isn't Dangerfield signing on then do you reckon whereas Hanneberry did?

Sydney are a fantastic club on/off the field. Not afraid to back themselves in with long contracts to keep their stars. Lifestyle helps too. We need a culture rebuild. We've never been a club that looks after their own. This needs to change and I think it's started eg past players involvement on game day. We aren't a destination club...yet

 

[relapse]

You use what is expedient at the time to suit your needs. Can bet if somehow Geelong passes us up this season that he and his agent will cite chance to win a title among the reasons should he bail along with home, blah blah blah

How the game is played in free agency. Oh and its never about the money.

I actually wish it was solely about the money in the AFL, but the competition is not a level playing field due to the league being too Victorian centric.

The problem for Adelaide is that Melbourne is a far more attractive city to live and it offers far more financial advantages for high profiled players that Adelaide doesn't. The fact that there's 9 different clubs in Victoria trying to poach players makes it all the more difficult to retain players.

West Coast have made the decision to draft predominantly WA based players with their early picks and possibly this is a path that the Crows might have to consider going down.

 

[Tex200]

I actually wish it was solely about the money in the AFL, but the competition is not a level playing field due to the league being too Victorian centric.

The problem for Adelaide is that Melbourne is a far more attractive city to live and it offers far more financial advantages for high profiled players that Adelaide doesn't. The fact that there's 9 different clubs in Victoria trying to poach players makes it all the more difficult to retain players.

West Coast have made the decision to draft predominantly WA based players with their early picks and possibly this is a path that the Crows might have to consider going down.

We've only had 1 player of note return to Melb in I can't remember how long.

We've had plenty that start there and don't come home, same as Victorian kids who start here and don't go home.

I agree retention has been an issue - not sure blaming 1 city is the reason

 

[relapse]

We've only had 1 player of note return to Melb in I can't remember how long.

We've had plenty that start there and don't come home, same as Victorian kids who start here and don't go home.

I agree retention has been an issue - not sure blaming 1 city is the reason

With American sports that have free agency, it works because the league is far more balanced due to an even spread of teams across the country, but I am beginning to suspect that all FA will do in the AFL is create a feeder system where certain clubs will find it difficult to retain players while other sides will be able to attract players on reduced contracts (Lake and Hale at Hawthorn for instance) due to fringe benefits (ie premierships).

The problem for interstate sides in the AFL is that there's 9 potential Vic suitors for players who want to return home. Each of those 9 clubs will have something different that they can offer ie some can offer the chance at immediate success while others will be a position to offer a player a huge contract. In the long term it is going to be really difficult to complete against.

 

[mattymac]

I actually wish it was solely about the money in the AFL, but the competition is not a level playing field due to the league being too Victorian centric.

The problem for Adelaide is that Melbourne is a far more attractive city to live and it offers far more financial advantages for high profiled players that Adelaide doesn't. The fact that there's 9 different clubs in Victoria trying to poach players makes it all the more difficult to retain players.

West Coast have made the decision to draft predominantly WA based players with their early picks and possibly this is a path that the Crows might have to consider going down.

There's no doubt in my mind that if we lose Danger.we will need to review our recruiting strategy with a view to long term retention. It can't go on. It will need to be a pull the head out of the sand moment

 

[GROTTO]

There's no doubt in my mind that if we lose Danger.we will need to review our recruiting strategy with a view to long term retention. It can't go on. It will need to be a pull the head out of the sand moment

+1

Thats not to say also we cant lose a SA player, but that it is obviously a lot harder to do so.

Take a good look at the non-SA players that have remained at our Club throughout their career, in particular VB and Reilly the fact that there has been very little interest in them from other Clubs suggests we can keep the average to above average players comfortably but with the elite it is going to be a battle most of the time.

 

[Samcro24]

With American sports that have free agency, it works because the league is far more balanced due to an even spread of teams across the country, but I am beginning to suspect that all FA will do in the AFL is create a feeder system where certain clubs will find it difficult to retain players while other sides will be able to attract players on reduced contracts (Lake and Hale at Hawthorn for instance) due to fringe benefits (ie premierships).

The problem for interstate sides in the AFL is that there's 9 potential Vic suitors for players who want to return home. Each of those 9 clubs will have something different that they can offer ie some can offer the chance at immediate success while others will be a position to offer a player a huge contract. In the long term it is going to be really difficult to complete against.

Who folded?

 

[mattymac]

+1

Thats not to say also we cant lose a SA player, but that it is obviously a lot harder to do so.

Take a good look at the non-SA players that have remained at our Club throughout their career, in particular VB and Reilly the fact that there has been very little interest in them from other Clubs suggests we can keep the average to above average players comfortably but with the elite it is going to be a battle most of the time.

We've kept some good ones. Like Dougie and Sloane. Love hearing Dougie talk about the tricolours. We've also lost a South Aussie in Bock, although that was a unique set of circumstances. It does worry me the quality east coast boys we've lost. Then comes the Talia speculation and I'm already dreadingthe sharks that will come circling for Lever.

As we do in the U18s you can build a champion side out of South Aussies who aren't necessarily the best A graders as individuals but who play well as a team. Our premiership side was largely built on a similar model. Less distractions, more focus and more workmanlike. Much like west coast is shaping up since shifting focus to homegrown talent.

 

[GROTTO]

We've kept some good ones. Like Dougie and Sloane. Love hearing Dougie talk about the tricolours. We've also lost a South Aussie in Bock, although that was a unique set of circumstances. It does worry me the quality east coast boys we've lost. Then comes the Talia speculation and I'm already dreadingthe sharks that will come circling for Lever.

As we do in the U18s you can build a champion side out of South Aussies who aren't necessarily the best A graders as individuals but who play well as a team. Our premiership side was largely built on a similar model. Less distractions, more focus and more workmanlike. Much like west coast is shaping up since shifting focus to homegrown talent.

With Sloane his family moving over here was massive and in my mind a very deciding factor. Lets face it if the Dangerfield clan move over to SA, Danger would be signing a 5-6 year multi million dollar deal with us.

Douglas is a decent footballer but not top shelf at the moment. However, he had taken his game to another level prior to his testicular injury but since has not recaptured that form that he had.

 

[AmericanCrow]

I actually wish it was solely about the money in the AFL, but the competition is not a level playing field due to the league being too Victorian centric.

The problem for Adelaide is that Melbourne is a far more attractive city to live and it offers far more financial advantages for high profiled players that Adelaide doesn't. The fact that there's 9 different clubs in Victoria trying to poach players makes it all the more difficult to retain players.

West Coast have made the decision to draft predominantly WA based players with their early picks and possibly this is a path that the Crows might have to consider going down.

I won't pretend to know the differences between the cities but if by financial advantages you mean marketing opportunities, then isn't it about the money in the end?

One thing that has become painfully obvious to me is there needs to be a total overhaul on this free agency stuff. For example, a restricted free agent like Danger should not even be able to be approached by any other club until the Monday following the Grand Final. The only club that should be allowed to talk to him about a deal should be the club he is with and a deal needs to get done or not done by lets say July 1. (roughly midseason) Thereafter, although his club can talk to him--he can't sign until the Monday after the Grand Final with anyone.

As a restricted free agent if he signs with another team, his club should get the chance to match. If they don't he gets to leave. If club does match then he stays. If the player or the team he tries to sign with is afraid that a deal will get matched (and they don't want that) well then you play out your damn contract and go the unrestricted free agency route. Risk player is taking is he gets injured and then he is SOL. But if he wants to risk it, so be it.

Way to open-ended and ripe for tampering and secret deals the way it is set up now.

 

[headache1]

With Sloane his family moving over here was massive and in my mind a very deciding factor. Lets face it if the Dangerfield clan move over to SA, Danger would be signing a 5-6 year multi million dollar deal with us.

Douglas is a decent footballer but not top shelf at the moment. However, he had taken his game to another level prior to his testicular injury but since has not recaptured that form that he had.

Sloane's family moved back to Victoria a while ago. He didn't.

 

[cmndstab]

The problem with the "only recruit SA players" model is that the Victoria clubs won't be seeking to adopt a "don't recruit SA players" model.

The only model for sustained success is to recruit the best players and convince them to stay. No point turning down better players because we're worried we might not be able to keep them. May as well just pack it in and take ourselves out of the comp if we're going to go down that route.

 

[GROTTO]

The problem with the "only recruit SA players" model is that the Victoria clubs won't be seeking to adopt a "don't recruit SA players" model.

The only model for sustained success is to recruit the best players and convince them to stay. No point turning down better players because we're worried we might not be able to keep them. May as well just pack it in and take ourselves out of the comp if we're going to go down that route.

Maybe scraping the restricted FA bs would be a start to help non Victorian Clubs.

 

[Crowbots are dead]

Gee this thread has been very negative on the past few pages. The club has done an excellent job of retaining the services of the majority of Victorian players. I actually don't reckon Melbourne is such a lure for all. Our Victorian focus has smartly been on Vic country players who actually love the smaller city feel of Adelaide. Stop worrying about Melbourne.

 

[mattymac]

The problem with the "only recruit SA players" model is that the Victoria clubs won't be seeking to adopt a "don't recruit SA players" model.

The only model for sustained success is to recruit the best players and convince them to stay. No point turning down better players because we're worried we might not be able to keep them. May as well just pack it in and take ourselves out of the comp if we're going to go down that route.

Nah this viewpoint has been popular since the noughties but it's becoming exposed as a false economy in my view. It places too much emphasis on the talent of the individual and not enough on team dynamic and stability. 'If we assemble enough of the best available we will win'.

But it's not that simple. No good taking the best available if you can't hold onto them and its a perpetual circus of 'which club is going to poach player x?'.

That old footy adage 'familiarity breeds defence' is so true, and not just for defence but for entire sides. Stability is key.

You need a group that has been together a long time and is focused and as far as possible free of distractions. You can't keep having instability and turnover of quality players leaving for unders then keep going back to the trough with your head in the sand saying 'might as well pack it in if we can't back ourselves in to retain them'.

At some point you have to admit when a strategy is failing.

IF we lose Danger for unders as well I think we should be realistic about our limitations in retaining east coast players and reassess like west coast did. You say no point turning down better players yet that's exactly the model they've adopted and they're flying.

There is a lot to be said for team stability, the same group focused on the same plan in the long term. Conversely, pure talent can be undermined by a constant state of distraction.

 

[headache1]

Western Australia and South Australia are both traditional football states, with 2 AFL teams each. One state has a population of 2.56m, the other, 1.68m. Unfortunately, the latter is our population figure. So while it may work for the WA teams, it is worth remembering that they have a much larger talent pool to draw from.

 

[Tex200]

Davis and Bock were SA boys and we still lost them.

 

[headache1]

Davis and Bock were SA boys and we still lost them.

Davis wasn't really an SA boy.

 

[Tex200]

Davis wasn't really an SA boy.

Wasn't he? My apologies I had a recollection he was a Saints kid who played for North Adel - and wasn't he injured playing SA u/18's.

I was sure he was an SA lad, but stand corrected

 

[headache1]

Wasn't he? My apologies I had a recollection he was a Saints kid who played for North Adel - and wasn't he injured playing SA u/18's.

I was sure he was an SA lad, but stand corrected

He was technically, but only moved to SA in his mid teens. Think his dads job brought them here. I believe he's from NSW originally.

 

[moogerfooger]

The best way to retain players is to build a club with a strong winning culture. With that in place, the rest takes care of itself.

 

[Sanders]

Wasn't he? My apologies I had a recollection he was a Saints kid who played for North Adel - and wasn't he injured playing SA u/18's.

I was sure he was an SA lad, but stand corrected

He was.

Just clutching at straws to suggest otherwise

 

[Danoz]

I actually wish it was solely about the money in the AFL, but the competition is not a level playing field due to the league being too Victorian centric.

The problem for Adelaide is that Melbourne is a far more attractive city to live and it offers far more financial advantages for high profiled players that Adelaide doesn't. The fact that there's 9 different clubs in Victoria trying to poach players makes it all the more difficult to retain players.

West Coast have made the decision to draft predominantly WA based players with their early picks and possibly this is a path that the Crows might have to consider going down.

I'd love to know which Vic team doesn't make your relevance factor or are you confusing Vic and Melb, and excluding Geelong?

The West Coast only choosing WA players is bollocks and has been disproven a few times already. While the Crows have chosen Vic Country players quite a bit lately, I think it's more important that we get our psychological questions right, to test potential draftees mental strength and assess their need to be close to family etc. It was clear to all and sundry that Gunston is would be on the first plane home.

Also worth noting we've taken a LOT of Calder Cannons'. Almost like we can use that as a reason to encourage players to stay?

Who folded?