AFL to allow free agency for players

[Hearts to hearts]

It probably will come in to avoid legal issues, but I'm not sure it would be the lifesaver for older mid-ranked players that this suggests. Makepeace, Woewodin, Betheras and guys like that naturally didn't get trade interest, but after they were delisted every club had the chance to grab them as freebies under the PSD, and none did. The PSD is increasingly an extension of the National Draft and that will probably continue, especially in years like last year where there was a lot of depth among the kids.

While the list size is so tight, clubs just can't give a spot to a guy who will be serviceable at best, for 2-3 years at most, over a younger player with greater potential. The pressure on coaches and selectors is all coming in the other direction now - err on the side of too much youth, rather than not enough. Free agency won't change that.

 

[seanoff]

Its not open slather. The clubs are still restricted by a salary cap so you can't just nip out and buy yourself the competition.

The clubs need to be more up front with the players, delisting someone even after the end of the season doesn't give them long to find a new club. So they should be told they are getting the boot by late July to give them time to shop themselves around. Long serving players coming off contract should negotiate with whoever they like.

Concentrating it into a short period of time is unfair on the players.

 

[giantroo]

I know Troy personally, he used to babysit me . Real nice guy, and no offence to the Roos but the way they dealt with him was nothing short of disgraceful.

But great point you make about the mid-season draft, a lot of people would support that idea.

tell us about it. We were as shocked as you were. It was a disgrace. Poor skull.

 

[mr_cellotape]

It probably will come in to avoid legal issues, but I'm not sure it would be the lifesaver for older mid-ranked players that this suggests. Makepeace, Woewodin, Betheras and guys like that naturally didn't get trade interest, but after they were delisted every club had the chance to grab them as freebies under the PSD, and none did.

I dunno about 'freebies'. They'd be using a pick that they can use to select a younger player with more potential. If clubs had the opinion of signing these types of players to 'remainder of the season' type deals to reinforce their injury-riddled lists, I think they'd do it. Which is a win-win for the clubs and players.

 

[DaSawx]

2 years would be too short. I would imagine a 5th season would be the earliest the AFL would agree on restricted free agency (where the club gets the option to match).

In the NFL they assign 'compensatory' draft picks for teams that lose out in free agency. It can become very subjective but you can formulate criteria based on number of games, length of service, etc.

Don't they go on by how big the contract is? The bigger the contract the earlier the draft picks for compensation are? I can't remember. Some teams get a 1st and 2nd round or 2 first round selections for compensation of good young players, I like the idea of 5 or more years service for unrestricted free agency.

That sounds fair

I think we need to do something about our "Trade" period, so this might be the way to go. I just wouldn't like to see our game become similar to the NRL, where I think players move too much. There needs to be a happy medium between the two imo.

I agree, It definately can't end up like NRL, I can't believe they sign mid-season with another club, if we knew mid-season a Didak or Ryder were playing for someone else next year we would go nuts.

 

[Z_K]

Clubs don't stick to the salary cap. No-one can tell me that a free agent that Carlton signs in 2011 will have his total remuneration from Carlton counted in the salary cap.

"Here's 500k a year. And by chance, there is an executive position opening up at Visyboard. Amazing. What are the odds?".

Mid-season draft, maybe. But anything with the names Gale and Anderson attached will be nothing but negative for AFL footy in general. Absolute asshats, both of them.

 

[KnockOut]

Sorry a bit lost with this one but in essence players can pick a club and there original club gets nothing in return, only the right to match the offer the players chosen club has made?

 

[sydney eagle]

AFL has had a form of "free agency". It was called "the ten year rule" and said that players who had played for ten years became free agents at the end of their latest contract. North Melbourne used it to sign players such as Doug Wade and John Rantell when they went about building their 1970's premiership winning teams.

 

[tylerd83]

It probably will come in to avoid legal issues, but I'm not sure it would be the lifesaver for older mid-ranked players that this suggests. Makepeace, Woewodin, Betheras and guys like that naturally didn't get trade interest, but after they were delisted every club had the chance to grab them as freebies under the PSD, and none did. The PSD is increasingly an extension of the National Draft and that will probably continue, especially in years like last year where there was a lot of depth among the kids.

While the list size is so tight, clubs just can't give a spot to a guy who will be serviceable at best, for 2-3 years at most, over a younger player with greater potential. The pressure on coaches and selectors is all coming in the other direction now - err on the side of too much youth, rather than not enough. Free agency won't change that.

Absolutely spot on - the only correct argument in a sea of confusion.

If someone such as Woewoedin got zero interest in trade week, zero interest in the national draft, and zero interest in the pre-season draft, what makes anyone think that a club would pick him up as a free agent?

Whilst list sizes are so tight, clubs just can't afford to give a spot to a Woewodin type. They have to choose between an ageing, slowing mid-range player, and an athletic 18 year old with potential. We all know which one they will (rightfully, in the interests of the club) take.

If lists were larger, then clubs would have space for the 18 year old AND Woewodin.

 

[Tarkyn_24]

Why are u guys so happy for the players? Shouldn't you be concern with your own club? Doesn't this system encourages the idea of players are bigger than the club like soccer players in europe?

Yeah. I thought that too.

 

[richardnose]

if 9 players out of 700 were traded last year, that's 1.2% changed employers. like the article says, there are going to be times when it's better for the club and the player if there's a swap.

look at draft week now. there's a whole lot of talk and bluster and then hardly any trades happen. i saw somewhere that the number of player trades has been declining each year. it just means the current system doesn't work.

it needs freeing up and it's often the player who is going to be more negatively affected by not being able to realistically look for other opportunities.

it doesn't mean we have to end up with everyone worrying about losing half their stars every year, it just means we have to move to the system a little bit more toward giving players a realistic opportunity to move if they've got a good reason.

and yes, the NRL system sucks. as does the idea of a mid-season draft.

 

[Scotland]

What is the difference between the national draft and the pre-season draft, currently?

 

[tylerd83]

The only avenue out of all these options that I would possibly explore would be to extend trading period. I think a lot of potential deals don't get done due to the tight deadlines.

Allow trading all year round, except for maybe June 30 - Grand Final day. Why not? Its happens in other sports, and if the player and both clubs are in agreement, I can't see the harm. You can even get a clearance from your local club up until June 30!

 

[MarkT]

The AFLPA are nothing but a bunch of money grabbing ambulance chasers. Any idea coming from them has got to be in the worst interests of the game.

AFL players take a lower % of the games revenue than most players in most codes.

 

[jules101]

Ive liked the idea of loaning players and free agency, but it just worries me incase we see a financially well off club start going overboard ala Chelsea/Real Madrid in soccer/football, so they would need to make limitations that make it fair but even.

Free agency with a salary cap would avoid that

 

[FuManchu]

The mal michael free agency experiment worked, so why not?

 

[Tas]

lol lets just wind back the clock to the mid 70s when they introduced the 10 year rule.

So who is going to be the team that abuses this rule to make an unbeatable team which will see this dead in a few years time?

 

[Furn]

That sounds really good.

Also another option they could explore is leasing a player like you can do in soccer.

If your team has say a lot of top midfielders example WCE. Free up a spot on WCE list and try to gain KPF for that year in another lease.

So ur happy for Murphy and Gibbs to walk for nothing at age 24 ?

This will ruin the game as we know it.

 

[Deledio2Conca]

Hopefully it doesn't turn into the NBA, where half the list is different from season to season.

 

[Tas]

Hopefully it doesn't turn into the NBA, where half the list is different from season to season.

Well, it wont if you have to be at the club for 6 years but there will be a lot of changes. This will hurt weaker clubs who have picked up a number of early picks, have a handful of good players that they have developed who will leave to walk into a club that is playing for a grand final. That developing club will then be screwed.

This will allow teams to just remain on top indefinitely just by poaching players rather than developing their own.

 

[Chewy]

I knew this would happen.

I've watched my side painfully rebuild under the current restrictive rules.

I've also watched the Sydney Swans live for the now. I wondered to myself, what the f**k are they doing? Don't they realise you have to keep turning your list over and investing in youth.

Of course free agency will come in...

I just hope all those rich bastards from interstate keep their hands of our players.

 

[Chewy]

Gale said it was no longer acceptable for clubs to delist footballers on the eve of the October 31 deadline, rendering them virtually incapable of being drafted.Gale told The Age: "It's a restraint of trade and the more rigid the rules the more likely the threat of litigation.

They focus on the guys who get delisted, but this is the irrelevant part of the story. Most footy fans don't really care about the B-grade players.

For most of us, the real issue is not what happens to the journeymen footballers, but what happens to the young stars.

Folks, we're going to see a lot more movement of gun players than we have for years.

Brace yourselves.

"The clubs are in the business of selling hope and if you free up the internal player market but continue to respect equalisation with total player payments and the draft system then all parties are better off."

Tell that to the fans of the poorer clubs who see their young champions get picked off by the heavyweights.

Under the proposal, the AFL would introduce restricted and unrestricted free agency. An example of the restricted form would see an out-of-contract player of four years' service nominate a new club, but would be forced to remain at his original club if it was prepared to match a new offer. Unrestricted free agency would be allowed after — for example — a period of between six to eight years' service.

Nothing new here. Simply another stolen idea from the NFL.

Why do we even need Demetriou or Adrian Anderson?

They should put me in charge. I'll do it for $100,000 a year, not $1 million a year, like Vlad gets paid.
How hard can it be? You hand over the fixtures to the TV stations and let them schedule the games. You react to all the media agenda each week and try to save face. You steal all the good ideas from the NFL and present them as your own. Simple.



What's this Restricted Free Agency for 4 year players? The club has to match their rivals offer...
So next year, West Coast can offer Lance Franklin $1 million and if we don't match it, he walks.
I don't like it....

Maybe if the Salary Cap wasn't such a JOKE then I wouldn't be so worried...

"We've put a lot of thought into this and it is a responsible proposal which I believe should be adopted."

An idea stolen from the Americans, which will cause inflation to player payments, raising the salary cap and pushing up the prices. Even more advantage for the haves over the have nots.

If they are going to do this, then I DEMAND that the AFL quit fixing the draw.
No more Blockbusters, no more pandering to the rich clubs, just a completely fair, random draw, names drawn out of a hat.

It's only fair. You can't give the rich clubs all the big games on public holidays and Friday nights, give them all the gate money and increased exposure for their sponsors, then let them turn around and use all this money to pinch the good players from the smaller clubs.

 

[seanoff]

Chewy you are over-reacting.

WCE could only offer Franklin $1M if they cut half their list. Judd will probably cost them close to that. So that leave $5M for 36 players.

The salary cap simply does not allow for mass migration of players for money.

Look at the NFL in the US, there really aren't that many player movements.

It would be much worse without a salary cap, but with a limited cap, not going to happen.

 

[Chewy]

Yeah, well, maybe you're right, call me paranoid but...... I just don't like it.

Like I said, the salary cap is an absolute joke.

Clubs will find all sorts of creative ways to free up $1million, just you wait and see.

 

[Scotland]

So are you worried that good teams will use the limited cap space they have available to poach your Franklins?

Or are you worried that the rich teams will use the cap space that they don't have (ie cheat) to poach your Franklins?