Essendon COLA-style player settlements and the almost limitless ability to sign coveted free agents and retain players

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Herne Hill Hammer said:
The only bit I'd argue is that Essendon shouldn't have been entitled to the number 1 draft pick.
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We shouldn't have been, but blame HQ for going early with draft sanctions.
 
TheEnsign said:
That's why there are comedy twitter accounts tracking how many days since EFC last won a final. Good luck breaking the mozz on Thursday.
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I mean, you go for Saints. Give me a 16yr finals drought any day over a 60yr premiership drought.
 
DapperDon said:
I mean, you go for Saints. Give me a 16yr finals drought any day over a 60yr premiership drought.
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Fair enough. It's all relative; I moved to Aus in 2004 and started supporting around 2008; so I find the idea that EFC and Carlton are 'Big 4' clubs and Hawthorn and Geelong aren't quite bemusing.
 
Better this than the Essendon players taking the AFL to court for Essendon's appalling behaviour, then all clubs would lose in a major way.
 
owen87 said:
So you believe that they should have been penalised by stripping additional draft picks, in addition to the already issued AFL sanctions? Keeping in mind that the players suspended was a WADA imposed sanction, not an AFL one, so the WADA sanction occurred well after the AFL imposed sanction had already been decided upon and issued.
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They should have been ineligible to receive the number 1 draft pick, with a self inflicted Wooden Spoon and all their banned players returning the next season.
 

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Belnakor said:
they haven't won a final in 15 years - strange definition of powerhouse.
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Foundation club mate.

Us, RFC, Pies, MFC, GFC and CFC are the very foundation your little club sits on.

I know this fact is hard to swallow but that’s just the way it is.
 
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Herne Hill Hammer said:
They should have been ineligible to receive the number 1 draft pick, with a self inflicted Wooden Spoon and all their banned players returning the next season.
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Guess the AFL should have waited for the WADA verdict before issuing their penalties then. Bit of an own goal on their behalf.
 
Linda Lovelace said:
Short version: AFL allowed Essendon to artificially boost its salary cap with player settlements, meaning Essendon can still retain players and sign massive trades beyond what any other club can do to this day.

Long version: So this is essentially a rolling yearly update as the implications of the AFL's decision to allow Essendon to make massive payments to its players outside the salary cap continue to impact the competition.

For those unaware of this situation (which, due to the incompetence/complicity of the AFL media, is most AFL fans), the settlements Essendon paid to its players in the wake of the drugs scandal were discretionary payments outside the cap. This is not Essendon cheating in any way, as they complied with the AFL's directions on the matter. So this is more like COLA, whereby the AFL sanctioned salary cap rorting rather than a team breaking the rules. There was some nebulous 'oversight' on contract negotiations - the AFL insisted that Essendon pay its players 'market value' during concomitant contract negotiations - but this appeared to be a very ill-defined and loose guideline that basically said 'don't take the piss too hard'. So it was a massive advantage given to Essendon. If Collingwood tried to give Brodie Grundy a 5 million dollar 'settlement' for tripping over at training and then pay him 100 grand a year in his salary, then we'd be rightly penalised for salary cap cheating.

Since Essendon was allowed to do this, they have lost no notable players (Carlisle and Ryder had already left) excluding retirement. They've managed to retain and sign on to big contract multiple AA players, high draft picks and other wanted players (such as Fantasia) while bringing in the majority of the league's top free agents in consecutive years in Devon Smith, Jake Stringer and Dylan Shiel, as well as Adam Saad. The thing about the first 3 is that multiple clubs were desperate to sign them, meaning that their market price was very high. Essendon also have one of the oldest lists in the league, which puts extra pressure on the cap.

And yet somehow, magically, they've still got enough room in the cap to go after another high profile trade in Jack Martin. Whatever you think of Martin and whether or not Essendon can satisfy Gold Coast, the fact is Carlton is offering him a lot of money, so Essendon needs a lot to attract him - and they think they've got it. It's seemingly incredible how much cap space they've got, but it makes perfect sense when you realise what the settlements did for them. Simply no other team has had anywhere near the trading capacity of Essendon, able to deflect any raids on its own players while signing big name trades in multiple consecutive years.

Sources: Ill-defined 'market value' rule per Jake Niall

www.foxsports.com.au

AFL to rule on what parts of settlements with banned Dons fit under salary cap

AFL to help Dons fit banned players into cap
www.foxsports.com.au www.foxsports.com.au

4.5 Million in compensation claims and legal fees

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And you and others have been told countless times...

The settlements were negotiated by the players lawyers.

So what you’re saying is, the players were told “you get $xxx, but if you’ll stay at Essendon, you get more”?

Right. Think about about it.
 
owen87 said:
Guess the AFL should have waited for the WADA verdict before issuing their penalties then. Bit of an own goal on their behalf.
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No argument from me. It's like what's happened with Stephenson this year. They just make stuff up at the bar and then everyone pokes holes in their decisions. They're hopeless.
 
It’s pathetic how some of you people keep harping on this stuff.

I mean, do we all sit around still bemoaning the fact that WC brought the league into massive disrepute from the disgusting way they dealt with their out of control illegal drug taking cultural?

Or how Carlton were a disgrace during their John Elliot years?

Or how Ed’s numerous totally inappropriate comments made Collingwood look ridiculous?

Or how MFC sacked Norm Smith?

Or how Hawthorn, Dees, Footscray and North at various times in history have nearly ran their clubs into the ground and everyone had to bail them out?

No we don’t.

Because this game, the biggest sporting league in the country which employs thousands of people, is a major part of Australian culture and has to be protected.

It’s never ever going to be smooth sailing. There’s always going to be some kind of drama going on.

That’s the human condition.

It’s really not that hard to understand.
 
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