The problem (which as I said earlier appears to only be about a literal handful of players in Buddy, Lynch and Cameron) appears to be that lower ranked clubs don't appear to be able to get their hands on free agents. Don't you think putting a price on a free agents head might be a disincentive to head to a lower ranked team?
Well, Carlton have apparently won the race for Williams - they've been out of the finals since 2013, last legitimately qualified for them in 2011, and finished the season in 11th. Do they qualify as a lower-ranked team?
Aiden Corr is off to North Melbourne - they finished second bottom.
Part of the free-agent landscape is seeing players traded ("pre-agents") in the year before their free agent year. Examples such as:
- Dylan Shiel
PLAYERCARDSTART
9
Dylan Shiel
- Age
- 31
- Ht
- 182cm
- Wt
- 84kg
- Pos.
- Mid
Career
Season
Last 5
- D
- 24.6
- 5star
- K
- 12.3
- 5star
- HB
- 12.2
- 5star
- M
- 3.1
- 3star
- T
- 3.9
- 5star
- CL
- 4.9
- 5star
- D
- 23.4
- 5star
- K
- 13.6
- 5star
- HB
- 9.8
- 5star
- M
- 2.2
- 2star
- T
- 3.4
- 4star
- CL
- 6.4
- 5star
- D
- 19.8
- 5star
- K
- 8.4
- 4star
- HB
- 11.4
- 5star
- M
- 2.4
- 3star
- T
- 2.6
- 4star
- CL
- 3.8
- 5star
PLAYERCARDEND
- Steven May
PLAYERCARDSTART
1
Steven May
- Age
- 32
- Ht
- 193cm
- Wt
- 101kg
- Pos.
- Def
Career
Season
Last 5
- D
- 14.7
- 4star
- K
- 10.5
- 4star
- HB
- 4.2
- 3star
- M
- 5.1
- 5star
- T
- 1.5
- 3star
- MG
- 307.3
- 4star
- D
- 15.5
- 4star
- K
- 12.1
- 5star
- HB
- 3.4
- 2star
- M
- 3.4
- 3star
- T
- 0.5
- 1star
- MG
- 378.4
- 5star
- D
- 12.4
- 4star
- K
- 8.8
- 4star
- HB
- 3.6
- 3star
- M
- 3.2
- 4star
- T
- 1.8
- 4star
PLAYERCARDEND
- Chad Wingard
PLAYERCARDSTART
20
Chad Wingard
- Age
- 30
- Ht
- 183cm
- Wt
- 80kg
- Pos.
- Fwd
Career
Season
Last 5
- D
- 18.3
- 5star
- K
- 11.0
- 4star
- HB
- 7.3
- 5star
- M
- 3.5
- 4star
- T
- 2.9
- 4star
- G
- 1.5
- 5star
No current season stats available
- D
- 10.2
- 3star
- K
- 4.6
- 2star
- HB
- 5.6
- 4star
- M
- 1.6
- 2star
- T
- 2.0
- 4star
- G
- 0.2
- 3star
PLAYERCARDEND
- Lachie Neale
PLAYERCARDSTART
9
Lachie Neale
- Age
- 30
- Ht
- 178cm
- Wt
- 84kg
- Pos.
- Mid
Career
Season
Last 5
- D
- 27.0
- 5star
- K
- 11.5
- 4star
- HB
- 15.5
- 5star
- M
- 4.0
- 4star
- T
- 3.7
- 5star
- CL
- 5.9
- 5star
- D
- 28.3
- 5star
- K
- 13.9
- 5star
- HB
- 14.4
- 5star
- M
- 4.6
- 4star
- T
- 4.0
- 5star
- CL
- 5.9
- 5star
- D
- 12.0
- 3star
- K
- 4.6
- 2star
- HB
- 7.4
- 5star
- M
- 2.0
- 3star
- T
- 1.0
- 3star
- CL
- 0.4
- 3star
PLAYERCARDEND
Seems to me that lower teams aren't having too many issues