AFL confirms COLA was used to snare Buddy

[asanque]

Despite all the Swans denials about COLA, the truth has finally come out from the AFL Chairman himself.

Buddy was poached by the Swans due to COLA.

['"If COLA worked the way I thought it worked, then Sydney were probably out of the equation."']

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-09-10/afl-chairman-disappointed-when-buddy-snubbed-giants-move

The Swans have constantly said that COLA was paid for by the AFL and they got no competitive advantage from doing so.

['But the Swans argue that the cost of living in Sydney remains higher than other states and they were able to afford Franklin and Tippett because of smart use of the veterans' allowance, the retirement of former stars and the offloading of other players.']

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2014-03-04/afl-to-scrap-cola

That blatant lie is now out in the open and it is no wonder that COLA has been abolished after the poaching of Tippett and Franklin (which was the straw that broke the camel's back after approximately 15 years of advantage over other clubs).

It is also good to see the AFL Commission is so impartial.

["The best thing that happened, either way, was that he went to Sydney," Fitzpatrick said. ']

 

[TheRoo32]

Club uses salary cap space to snare big name player...

 

[kane249]

Shocked to be sitting here

 

[Belnakor]

I'm really enjoying the Hawthorn fans this week.

the COLA was additional salary cap space. You could say every single player on their list was "lured" partially by COLA.

 

[coerced]

["The best thing that happened, either way, was that he went to Sydney," Fitzpatrick said. ']

I reckon that's the worst part of it all, that the AFL were happy for a highly loved player from a Melbourne club to be poached for their darlings.

Makes you wonder to what lengths they will go to engineer outcomes. Is this sport as corrupt as FIFA?

 

[Quivorir]

Holy s**t.

 

[DrEvil_]

I'm sure GWS was on the same at the time, so it was a fair fight between those two clubs. We were never going to keep Buddy.

 

[hawks787]

What does it matter now?

Seriously hawthorn have been just fine since buddy left.
Buddy and swans still chasing that flag!

 

[DrEvil_]

I reckon that's the worst part of it all, that the AFL were happy for a highly loved player from a Melbourne club to be poached for their darlings.

Makes you wonder to what lengths they will go to engineer outcomes. Is this sport as corrupt as FIFA?

Mate Buddy wanted to leave Melbourne. Maybe Mike was just happy for him?

 

[HawkMongrel]

 

[BallaratBulldog]

I'm outraged.

 

[Drakescoffeecake]

I personally think the AFL should slap Buddy with a 1 game ban

 

[coerced]

Mate Buddy wanted to leave Melbourne. Maybe Mike was just happy for him?

The AFL executive don't strike me as very magnanimous people.

 

[Harris Specter]

Hawks fans continue to find new ways to get them through the healing period.

 

[bungwahl]

Despite all the Swans denials about COLA, the truth has finally come out from the AFL Chairman himself.

Buddy was poached by the Swans due to COLA.

['"If COLA worked the way I thought it worked, then Sydney were probably out of the equation."']

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-09-10/afl-chairman-disappointed-when-buddy-snubbed-giants-move

The Swans have constantly said that COLA was paid for by the AFL and they got no competitive advantage from doing so.

['But the Swans argue that the cost of living in Sydney remains higher than other states and they were able to afford Franklin and Tippett because of smart use of the veterans' allowance, the retirement of former stars and the offloading of other players.']

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2014-03-04/afl-to-scrap-cola

That blatant lie is now out in the open and it is no wonder that COLA has been abolished after the poaching of Tippett and Franklin (which was the straw that broke the camel's back after approximately 15 years of advantage over other clubs).

It is also good to see the AFL Commission is so impartial.

["The best thing that happened, either way, was that he went to Sydney," Fitzpatrick said. ']

Could you possibly have misinterpreted that article any worse?

During the period COLA was in place, every contract had to contain a 9.8% loading and be signed off by the AFL. Are you suggesting the Swans weren't including the 9.8% or the AFL was not signing off on the contracts?

 

[lamaros]

Didn't GWS have an even bigger cap and COLA? How does the COLA have anything g to do with him choosing Sydney over GWS? Any other club, sure, but GWS?

 

[Glenn_]

Didn't GWS have an even bigger cap and COLA? How does the COLA have anything g to do with him choosing Sydney over GWS? Any other club, sure, but GWS?

And still do have a bigger cap , and will until 2019.

 

[SwampCreature]

I am engorging myself on Hawthorn tears but just can't seem to get enough

 

[asanque]

Could you possibly have misinterpreted that article any worse?

During the period COLA was in place, every contract had to contain a 9.8% loading and be signed off by the AFL. Are you suggesting the Swans weren't including the 9.8% or the AFL was not signing off on the contracts?

I'm suggesting Fitzpatrick has effectively confirmed that Sydney had a 9.8% higher salary cap than any other team (apart from GWS) which gave them a competitive advantage that allowed them to poach players from other teams for a sustained period of time.

This is why COLA was ultimately abolished.

 

[lamaros]

I'm suggesting Fitzpatrick has effectively confirmed that Sydney had a 9.8% higher salary cap than any other team (apart from GWS) which gave them a competitive advantage that allowed them to poach players from other teams for a sustained period of time.

This is why COLA was ultimately abolished.

Yeah they got him ahead of GWS because they had a competitive advantage over GW... oh, wait.

 

[Slats]

 

[bungwahl]

I'm suggesting Fitzpatrick has effectively confirmed that Sydney had a 9.8% higher salary cap than any other team (apart from GWS) which gave them a competitive advantage that allowed them to poach players from other teams for a sustained period of time.

This is why COLA was ultimately abolished.

I'm not sure you're providing us with any new information? Everyone knew Sydney had 9.8% more - that was the COLA.

It was 9.8% on every contract so hypothetically if the cap was $10mil, the Swans had $10.98mil. However, the point you and so many others seem not to comprehend is that it was a 9.8% loading on every contract. In other words, if you removed the COLA loading from every contract the Swans were back to $10mil. Every contract was witnessed and approved by the AFL, meaning it was impossible to abuse COLA in the way you're suggesting. What the Swans did with their base $10mil was entirely up to them.

 

[iBeng]

COLA/Coke...

 

[asanque]

It's not even a Hawthorn issue.

The issue is why supporters from other teams are so laid back about AFL confirmation that Sydney have been operating on a different playing field from all other teams (apart from GWS) for over a decade. This has been constantly denied by Sydney who stated that COLA did not provide any competitive advantage.

1. Sydney have a higher salary cap than other teams
2. This allows them to poach and retain better players
3. This equates to more success for Sydney

Thus this is being abolished.

It is only interesting that it has finally been officially confirmed by the AFL chairman.

 

[bungwahl]

It's not even a Hawthorn issue.

The issue is why supporters from other teams are so laid back about AFL confirmation that Sydney have been operating on a different playing field from all other teams (apart from GWS) for over a decade. This has been constantly denied by Sydney who stated that COLA did not provide any competitive advantage.

1. Sydney have a higher salary cap than other teams
2. This allows them to poach and retain better players
3. This equates to more success for Sydney

Thus this is being abolished.

It is only interesting that it has finally been officially confirmed by the AFL chairman.

Point 1: Correct, although should be past tense - "had a higher.. ".

Point 2: Please explain how this is possible.

Point 3: There are already threads for debating the merits of COLA.