West Coasters
Rookie
- Sep 30, 2018
- 21
- 14
- AFL Club
- West Coast
These seem to be the reasons players change clubs. Please feel free to suggest others but this is all I can think of off the top of my head.
Opportunity - A fringe player is told they probably won't or definitely won't get a game with their current club but another club is offering them the chance to play games at AFL level.
This seems to be the most accepted/acceptable reason for a player to change. I don't think any one of us would begrudge anyone that changes clubs in this circumstance. Please feel free to argue/discuss this point.
Family/Home I am going to put in two sub categories (family/home specific and family/home general). This will probably cause heated discussions but that is ok.
Family/Home Specific - This is for players going back to their home states or their partners home states for a specific reason. The best most recent example I can think of is Dane Beams (ignoring the fact he came back to Collingwood this year). He went home to be with his sick father.
If a family member or partners family member is sick and the player wants to go back to that state to help look after them, we football fans seem to be accepting of that, even if it is a star player.
Please note: Tim Kelly is not in this category IMO. If he truly needed to go back to his home state he shouldn't have ruled out the dockers. Any other comment on Tim Kelly, please keep in the Tim Kelly Threads.
Family/Home General - This sub category is similar but different to the above. A player wants to go back to their home state or partners home state because their family/friends live there or they want to go play with a sibling. Some of us are very accepting, some very much the opposite. Sometimes, and I include myself in this, we pick and choose our opinion depending on the player. Eg. If they are a star or not, age etc. Personally, unless there is a specific reason as per category above, this is a bs reason to move. They are adults (young adults, but still adults) and they are looked after way more than if a non sports person moves for a job interstate. Also, look at the likes of Soccer and some of them move when they are young teens internationally and I don’t often hear of them complaining about homesickness.
Success – This is one that upsets some people if their club is on the losing the player end but people seem to be happy if they are on the other end if a player decides to go to them. Just to clarify what I mean by this is that a player from a team that has been unsuccessful for a while/looks like they will continue to be unsuccessful for a while longer yet, decides to go to a team that is more successful/looks likely to be more successful in the future. Tom Lynch is the obvious recent example here. I don’t like it when players do this but I can understand why they do. AFL players do/we would like to think they play for premierships. If they are more likely to win a premiership at another club, I can understand why they would move. My opinion is this. If a younger player wants to move for this reason then it is BS. Eg. The aforementioned Tom Lynch. He is only 25 now. Within the next 5 years The Gold Coast could easily become successful. No matter how bad it looks now, 5 years is a lifetime in football terms so he could easily stay AND taste success. However, if a player 30+ wants to move for this reason, I wouldn’t begrudge them doing so. That player may only have a year or 2 left and if your current club is likely to be at the bottom after a full career of not winning anything as a team, I am more than understanding of why they want to taste that ultimate success.
Money – I laugh when I think about this one. We AFL football fans are very harsh when we suspect if a player wants to leave for more money. In Soccer, player move all the time but that is just accepted and part and parcel of the business. If an AFL player said they were moving for money (actually said it and not suspected) can you imagine the backlash. Tom Scully moving to GWS was the closest to this and look what happened to him and he didn’t even publicly say that he was moving for money. I am in the camp of the majority here. A player should be as loyal as they realistically can and moving for money is not respectful to their current club, teammates etc. However, if we (the majority of us, not all) in the real world were offered say a 20% increase in pay for doing essentially the exact same job with the same perks, and staff they you don’t know as well but you have been told are just as friendly/professional we would jump at the chance. We, and again I include myself in this, are a bit/a lot hypocritical but I don’t think I’ll ever change my opinion re the AFL players.
Fallout with Coach/Player/Staff – This one is hard to talk too much on. It is very rare that clubs will publicly acknowledge a player has had a spat with another member of their club. I am of the opinion that if respect is truly lost from one or both parties then it will be better for everyone if the player just moves on.
Opportunity - A fringe player is told they probably won't or definitely won't get a game with their current club but another club is offering them the chance to play games at AFL level.
This seems to be the most accepted/acceptable reason for a player to change. I don't think any one of us would begrudge anyone that changes clubs in this circumstance. Please feel free to argue/discuss this point.
Family/Home I am going to put in two sub categories (family/home specific and family/home general). This will probably cause heated discussions but that is ok.
Family/Home Specific - This is for players going back to their home states or their partners home states for a specific reason. The best most recent example I can think of is Dane Beams (ignoring the fact he came back to Collingwood this year). He went home to be with his sick father.
If a family member or partners family member is sick and the player wants to go back to that state to help look after them, we football fans seem to be accepting of that, even if it is a star player.
Please note: Tim Kelly is not in this category IMO. If he truly needed to go back to his home state he shouldn't have ruled out the dockers. Any other comment on Tim Kelly, please keep in the Tim Kelly Threads.
Family/Home General - This sub category is similar but different to the above. A player wants to go back to their home state or partners home state because their family/friends live there or they want to go play with a sibling. Some of us are very accepting, some very much the opposite. Sometimes, and I include myself in this, we pick and choose our opinion depending on the player. Eg. If they are a star or not, age etc. Personally, unless there is a specific reason as per category above, this is a bs reason to move. They are adults (young adults, but still adults) and they are looked after way more than if a non sports person moves for a job interstate. Also, look at the likes of Soccer and some of them move when they are young teens internationally and I don’t often hear of them complaining about homesickness.
Success – This is one that upsets some people if their club is on the losing the player end but people seem to be happy if they are on the other end if a player decides to go to them. Just to clarify what I mean by this is that a player from a team that has been unsuccessful for a while/looks like they will continue to be unsuccessful for a while longer yet, decides to go to a team that is more successful/looks likely to be more successful in the future. Tom Lynch is the obvious recent example here. I don’t like it when players do this but I can understand why they do. AFL players do/we would like to think they play for premierships. If they are more likely to win a premiership at another club, I can understand why they would move. My opinion is this. If a younger player wants to move for this reason then it is BS. Eg. The aforementioned Tom Lynch. He is only 25 now. Within the next 5 years The Gold Coast could easily become successful. No matter how bad it looks now, 5 years is a lifetime in football terms so he could easily stay AND taste success. However, if a player 30+ wants to move for this reason, I wouldn’t begrudge them doing so. That player may only have a year or 2 left and if your current club is likely to be at the bottom after a full career of not winning anything as a team, I am more than understanding of why they want to taste that ultimate success.
Money – I laugh when I think about this one. We AFL football fans are very harsh when we suspect if a player wants to leave for more money. In Soccer, player move all the time but that is just accepted and part and parcel of the business. If an AFL player said they were moving for money (actually said it and not suspected) can you imagine the backlash. Tom Scully moving to GWS was the closest to this and look what happened to him and he didn’t even publicly say that he was moving for money. I am in the camp of the majority here. A player should be as loyal as they realistically can and moving for money is not respectful to their current club, teammates etc. However, if we (the majority of us, not all) in the real world were offered say a 20% increase in pay for doing essentially the exact same job with the same perks, and staff they you don’t know as well but you have been told are just as friendly/professional we would jump at the chance. We, and again I include myself in this, are a bit/a lot hypocritical but I don’t think I’ll ever change my opinion re the AFL players.
Fallout with Coach/Player/Staff – This one is hard to talk too much on. It is very rare that clubs will publicly acknowledge a player has had a spat with another member of their club. I am of the opinion that if respect is truly lost from one or both parties then it will be better for everyone if the player just moves on.
