5 players already signed by GWS

[AG]

I don't think any Swans players will go because they are all potentially future captains and red and white are better colours. It's just not going to happen. No chance.

 

[Hollow Knight]

Rich.

Rich is out of contract at the end of the season and there have been rumours the former Subiaco star junior will seek a return to Western Australia.

The raking left-footer was tight lipped when quizzed about his plans for the future last month, but on Monday he said he wanted to win a flag for the Lions.

"Hopefully, the club [and my manager] are going to talk in the coming weeks or months. I don't know the exact date, but I love the club and I love playing with all the boys here up in Brisbane," Rich said.

"I can't wait to push forward with the club and hopefully win a premiership with the club in the years to come."

He isn't going anywhere. Mitch Clark is the big worry.

 

[The Big Steele]

It may do so with the minority of players in the AFL, but there has to be other factors to switch clubs for the majority in my opinion.

KS, How can you possibly say no to $1.5M each year for 5 years. Plus a coaching/marketing role post your career ending for another $500,000 each year for ten years. This would be doubly so because it is a young club needing tradition eg early ex players staying at the Club.

That is saying no to approximately $12.5 million dollars.

 

[KissStephanie]

KS, How can you possibly say no to $1.5M each year for 5 years.

As I've said, there are a minority of players that won't say no to that, but the majority will definitely need other reasons to shift. Gary Ablett needed other reasons, and I don't think it will be any different for the biggest name player that GWS gets. That said, I doubt that they will be paying that figure to any player that I can think of.

 

[absfab]

Rich.



He isn't going anywhere. Mitch Clark is the big worry.

Oh really?
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/a...-to-regain-pride/story-e6frf9jf-1226001071287

And contract negotiations with West Australians Daniel Rich, Mitch Clark and Matthew Leuenberger have stalled pending what the club intends to do with Fevola.

If he were "going nowhere" it wouldn't matter if he could get his hands on 1/3 of Fev's salary or not.

 

[Hollow Knight]

Oh really?
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/a...-to-regain-pride/story-e6frf9jf-1226001071287

And contract negotiations with West Australians Daniel Rich, Mitch Clark and Matthew Leuenberger have stalled pending what the club intends to do with Fevola.

If he were "going nowhere" it wouldn't matter if he could get his hands on 1/3 of Fev's salary or not.

Andrew Hamilton conjecture without quotes. LMAO.

No one at the Lions speaks to him at the moment so his guesswork is even more arbitrary than usual.

Good to see you still have that Daniel Rich chip on the shoulder though. "Nick Stevens ball... Intercepted by Rich, unloads from 60! It's a magnificent kick! IT'S A GOAL!"

 

[Blue and Silver]

Carlton did not tank to get Murphy, we would of had the first pick anyway, because we sucked. If there is a tanking call to be made, then we tanked to get Josh Kennedy that year, which I think is inaccurate because as mentioned before, we were just horrible. Always played the rabble that was the best 22 we could muster etc. We earned Murphy by being bad, not because we tanked

 

[Slattery_20]

As I've said, there are a minority of players that won't say no to that, but the majority will definitely need other reasons to shift. Gary Ablett needed other reasons, and I don't think it will be any different for the biggest name player that GWS gets. That said, I doubt that they will be paying that figure to any player that I can think of.

There's about 10 who would knock that back. Ablett, Judd, Pav etc. who're already on 800k each & are the main attraction

Every 2nd tier player in the league, realistically worth 400; would take 1.5m. No questions asked, no blinking, 'where do I sign'.

Let alone strugglers or fringe guys.

 

[Asgardian]

No one at the Lions speaks to him at the moment

More to the point, does anyone at the Lions speak to anyone else at the Lions?

 

[HowieD]

The players that GWS may have signed already are most likely 25 years of age and younger, and I don't think that includes any important Collingwood players.

Agree about the ages. Not much else.

There are not many players that would sign with a new club straight after just winning a premiership, and most of Collingwood's players want to stay to experience playing under Nathan Buckley in 2012.

Why not? After winning a premiership, a player is at his most valuable. Best time to get moving, especially if you're wanting to maximise your playing income. Even more so the opportunity to maximise that income to its full potential was last year or this year, with GC and GWS having larger salary caps. Also, I'm sure all the Brisbane players were lining up to play for Michael Voss, too.

While I have read quite a few of your posts, and appreciate how big a Collingwood fan you are, it may pay to be prepared that you will lose one of your "big three", especially knowing GWS are aggressively targetting any one of them.

 

[legend166]

Not that bad but just comparing him to Thomas.

If you go to the Collingwood Family Day, Dale Thomas is like the second coming with his popularity.

If they're looking for someone to be a face of the AFL's push into Sydney's west, I really don't think Thomas is a good idea.

Obviously he's a great player (I'd know, even when he's out of form he kills us) and the stuff about him being soft was well and truly put to bed last year, but still. A baby faced, metro sexual nick named 'Daisy' isn't going to go down well.

 

[Cousin of Daicos]

I'll keep saying Pendlebury is more likely than Swan.

 

[HowieD]

I'll keep saying Pendlebury is more likely than Swan.

I'll keep agreeing with this.

 

[absfab]

Andrew Hamilton conjecture without quotes. LMAO.

No one at the Lions speaks to him at the moment so his guesswork is even more arbitrary than usual.

Yeah, you're right.

Your emotional attachment to the idea that The Hobbit actually wants to stay at the ever worsening shitfight which is the Brisbane Lions provides a far more believeable start point.

 

[The Big Steele]

I'll keep saying Pendlebury is more likely than Swan.

Pendlelbury is the perfect player for GWS. They will throw as much as possible at him. $1.5 million a year, captaincy, media, houses on the coast, a nod to a life time contract perhaps as their future coach etc, etc.

Collingwood made Kris Pendlebury captain of the VFL team to try and keep it all in the family and help convince Scott he is part of our family. Hope it works.

 

[Beth]

I'm thinking a bit out loud now, but I wonder if Scully has signed how he would cope with that this year? I think it did take a toll on Ablett and possibly effected the team to a degree last year (hindsight is a wonderful thing). How does everyone think such a young kid would go having to keep that to himself for the next 9 months?

I think it would be just too much pressure for a kid who is still developing his craft and surely his family and management would have considered this. So I'll stick my neck out and say he wont go.

 

[KissStephanie]

There's about 10 who would knock that back. Ablett, Judd, Pav etc. who're already on 800k each & are the main attraction

Oh dear. I have already stated that I don't think that GWS will offer any player that I can think of $1.5 million.

Every 2nd tier player in the league, realistically worth 400; would take 1.5m. No questions asked, no blinking, 'where do I sign'. Let alone strugglers or fringe guys.

I'm living in reality though and not in fairy land. There is no way that any player will be offered that amount let alone fringe players.

Agree about the ages. Not much else.

That's okay, but if you want to give reasons, then go right ahead.

Why not? After winning a premiership, a player is at his most valuable. Best time to get moving, especially if you're wanting to maximise your playing income.

Who said that they're trying to maximise their income though? It seems your opinion is based purely on money, but I believe that most players will only go if there are are other factors involved as well. If a player is tied to western Sydney in some way, or if they have relatives there, or if they believe they are currently at a club that is a fair way from success, then maybe they will be tempted to take an offer from GWS, although I don't believe any player will be offered anything like $1.5 million.

Collingwood has quite a low total player payments after the retirements of Fraser, Lockyer, O'Bree, Medhurst, and Prestigiacomo because those players were receiving quite a lot more than the players have replaced them on the list. Next year Tarrant is eligible for the veterans list, and Swan is in the following season to keep the payments down too. Collingwood will be able to afford to keep them, and I don't think that many players from any club will want to move to the western suburbs of Sydney for the money I think that GWS will offer, unless there are other factors as there was with Gary Ablett's move.

While I have read quite a few of your posts, and appreciate how big a Collingwood fan you are, it may pay to be prepared that you will lose one of your "big three", especially knowing GWS are aggressively targetting any one of them.

Do you have a source that confirms these three players are being heavily targeted? It sounds made-up to me because I have only heard unfounded rumours, and Liam Pickering has stated a number of times that he couldn't imagine Swan or Pendlebury leaving and that he has not received an enquiry about either of them from GWS, and stated they wouldn't be interested in going there anyway, which is completely understandable. I certainly don't believe that any of the three will leave for the reasons I have given, and I have yet to see anything that makes me feel differently about that.

I'll keep saying Pendlebury is more likely than Swan.

Neither will. Dane Swan will be on the veterans list soon, so he will get plenty then, and he has heaps of mates at the club he won't want to leave. Scott Pendlebury has stated that he wants Collingwood to win the next ten premierships, and he knows he is the next captain of the club, and I'm sure he will stick around to play under Nathan Buckley.

 

[Scodog10]

Pendlelbury is the perfect player for GWS. They will throw as much as possible at him. $1.5 million a year, captaincy, media, houses on the coast, a nod to a life time contract perhaps as their future coach etc, etc.

Collingwood made Kris Pendlebury captain of the VFL team to try and keep it all in the family and help convince Scott he is part of our family. Hope it works.

As a collingwood supporter perhaps you could start sticking up for our players and stop being such a negative nancy, every single post of yours in this thread has stated that a collingwood player is gone. It may be true that we'll lose someone and you may just consider yourself a realist however comments like the above, which are an absolute load of crap i mean houses on the coast the nod for a future coaching gig , do not help.

Cast your mind back 15 years to 1996 when the majority of collingwood supporters was convinced Bucks was going to sign with the power, they actually started booing him at games because they thought he'd leave. Now look at him he's probably the most famous player ever at the club and about to become head coach things change very quickly in footy.

If we lose a player we lose them its as simple as that, but the bonus is we'll be compensated and we'll just have to trust Hine to draft well with that pick or picks. Until then i won't turn on players and say there gone because I have no idea whether they are or not just like all of you.

 

[Rummy]

I’d just like to say that all of these comments about Ablett leaving because he didn’t get along with Thompson is just naivety. At the end of the previous premiership winning season he was offered as much money as Geelong could possibly muster for him, yet he asked that contract talks be put on hold until the end of the next season. Why would he do that when knowing full well that they couldn’t possibly offer him anymore than what they were trying to, no matter how well he played. The simple answer is that Gold Coast had thrown him a bucket load of money and he accepted, and continued to give his club a backhand by refusing to answer any questions about him staying on.

Thompson is a smart bloke and obviously realised that if he hadn’t already accepted Geelong’s best offer, then he was off to the Gold Coast, but became angry when Ablett wouldn’t be honest and admit it, even if only to the coaching/management board so that they could plan other player contracts for the next year.

So really he signed an agreement to sign a contract before the season had even began, and any thoughts of it only being decided at the end of the season is not only nonsense for the above reason, but also because Gold Coast also would have demanded an answer before the season had begun, so that they know how much money they have left to throw around for other players, or what type of other footballers are needed for team structure. I just simply cant imagine Gold Coast waiting until the end of the Geelongs season (expected to be in the grand final, with only 3-4 weeks from trade/draft day) and find out that Gary has decided to stay at Geelong, and they would be in a hopeless mad rush to spend $1.5 million a year on the scraps of who ever was left/hadn’t signed up throughout the year. The whole thing about Abletts manager going to the papers and saying that he was now weighing up both offers at the end of the season was nothing short of an embarrassing sham, and just spin doctoring to make people think he hadn’t been so dishonest to the Geelong football club by lying to them throughout the entire year.

As for suggesting it was because Geelong was on the downward spiral, I also find that very hard to believe, as by the middle of the season Geelong were still the premiership favourites (finished 2nd on the ladder), and it was only their loss in the preliminary final to Collingwood, that people all of a sudden thought, oh the Cats are over the hill… and I think we all realise now that he had already made the decision well before this occurred, hence it could also not have factored into his decision making. As for captaincy, well if he had of committed to the cats, it would of been given to him if he wanted, simple as that.

Also wasn’t his brother offered a heap of life lines at Geelong, and they gave him all the time in the world to decide if he wants to play for them, and yet he begrudged them. Was it because he knew his brother was going to the Gold Coast, and hence he said nah I don’t want to play footy with my brother at Geelong, but I will take a long punt that I may be picked up by the Gold Coast, who just happens to be targeting my brother…. So in the end all reasonable circumstances say that he left for the money and nothing else!

 

[NAUGHT5]

why on earth would scully postpone contract discussions with the dees?

I can think of an excellent reason.
Scully will be an absolute gun, and IMO he is going to become a very established midfielder very quickly. It's very possible that he could double his worth this season. Whilst there is an extremely small possibility his value will decrease.
Not to mention the pressure that will put on Melbourne. Scully is the face of the Demons rebuild, if they start to believe he might go, they'll fork out more coin.
When you think about it, Scully would be an idiot to sign anything until at least July. That's why IMO it's nothing to worry about just yet.

It might sound cold, but that's footy these days.

 

[LifeSpan-Void]

I’d just like to say that all of these comments about Ablett leaving because he didn’t get along with Thompson is just naivety. At the end of the previous premiership winning season he was offered as much money as Geelong could possibly muster for him, yet he asked that contract talks be put on hold until the end of the next season. Why would he do that when knowing full well that they couldn’t possibly offer him anymore than what they were trying to, no matter how well he played. The simple answer is that Gold Coast had thrown him a bucket load of money and he accepted, and continued to give his club a backhand by refusing to answer any questions about him staying on.

Thompson is a smart bloke and obviously realised that if he hadn’t already accepted Geelong’s best offer, then he was off to the Gold Coast, but became angry when Ablett wouldn’t be honest and admit it, even if only to the coaching/management board so that they could plan other player contracts for the next year.

So really he signed an agreement to sign a contract before the season had even began, and any thoughts of it only being decided at the end of the season is not only nonsense for the above reason, but also because Gold Coast also would have demanded an answer before the season had begun, so that they know how much money they have left to throw around for other players, or what type of other footballers are needed for team structure. I just simply cant imagine Gold Coast waiting until the end of the Geelongs season (expected to be in the grand final, with only 3-4 weeks from trade/draft day) and find out that Gary has decided to stay at Geelong, and they would be in a hopeless mad rush to spend $1.5 million a year on the scraps of who ever was left/hadn’t signed up throughout the year. The whole thing about Abletts manager going to the papers and saying that he was now weighing up both offers at the end of the season was nothing short of an embarrassing sham, and just spin doctoring to make people think he hadn’t been so dishonest to the Geelong football club by lying to them throughout the entire year.

As for suggesting it was because Geelong was on the downward spiral, I also find that very hard to believe, as by the middle of the season Geelong were still the premiership favourites (finished 2nd on the ladder), and it was only their loss in the preliminary final to Collingwood, that people all of a sudden thought, oh the Cats are over the hill… and I think we all realise now that he had already made the decision well before this occurred, hence it could also not have factored into his decision making. As for captaincy, well if he had of committed to the cats, it would of been given to him if he wanted, simple as that.

Also wasn’t his brother offered a heap of life lines at Geelong, and they gave him all the time in the world to decide if he wants to play for them, and yet he begrudged them. Was it because he knew his brother was going to the Gold Coast, and hence he said nah I don’t want to play footy with my brother at Geelong, but I will take a long punt that I may be picked up by the Gold Coast, who just happens to be targeting my brother…. So in the end all reasonable circumstances say that he left for the money and nothing else!

100%. GC had been surgical in their precision (right after the 2009 flag), and exorbitant in their offer (1.5 to 1.9 mil/season, depends who you ask) to Ablett. While this is going to sound very tinfoil and conspiracy-theorist, it wouldn't surprise me if Ablett had been given a special briefing by the AFL itself; the gist of the meeting giving Ablett's ego a huge stroke, and imploring him to help develop the national game... think of "The Big Picture" oh and here's a briefcase full of cash, take 30 people on a holiday to the USA over the new year and then meet up with the other players we've poached in Thailand for some bonding.

 

[The Big Steele]

If we lose a player we lose them its as simple as that, but the bonus is we'll be compensated and we'll just have to trust Hine to draft well with that pick or picks. Until then i won't turn on players and say there gone because I have no idea whether they are or not just like all of you.

This is a place for debate and asking questions. I hope Scott stays. I am hugely positive towards him as a player and a team leader. I would rather he stayed than we get 2 first round pics for him. I don't see it as a debate about sticking up for our players, I am trying to anticipate GWS's moves before they make them.

 

[KissStephanie]

Pendlelbury is the perfect player for GWS. They will throw as much as possible at him. $1.5 million a year, captaincy, media, houses on the coast, a nod to a life time contract perhaps as their future coach etc, etc.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Thanks for the laugh! What a classic!

As a collingwood supporter perhaps you could start sticking up for our players and stop being such a negative nancy, every single post of yours in this thread has stated that a collingwood player is gone.

I have no idea why that poster has been carrying on like that either. It's funny though! In the first post of this thread, this poster said it was Dane Swan that will go, but now Scott Pendlebury is the perfect player.

It may be true that we'll lose someone and you may just consider yourself a realist however comments like the above, which are an absolute load of crap i mean houses on the coast the nod for a future coaching gig , do not help.

That poster is delusional. There is no way that they will pay $1.5 million. A house in the coast? Ha ha ha! Where is there a coast near western Sydney? The Indian Ocean maybe? That's a fair drive. Future coach to a 23 year old midfielder? Lifetime contract? A job in the media? Who is going to watch in western Sydney where they only care about rugby league? Crazy crap indeed. Collingwood could offer most of those things too, but are not that stupid, and for anybody to even suggest that GWS could do that too is just ridiculous.

 

[cos789]

While this is going to sound very tinfoil and conspiracy-theorist, it wouldn't surprise me if Ablett had been given a special briefing by the AFL itself;

I wouldn't be too surprise either but I don't have the negative conotation you have .I would say the AFL pushed the fact the GC was a secure option .
The bonusses would have been self evident .

.

 

[Hawk88]

What would the life style be like in West Sydney, Havnt been there myself?

Gold Coast has nice beaches, surfing etc, What has West Sydney got to offer?