I might as well write this now as (Restricted) Free Agency is about to deliver us a second superstar in five years - so it doesn't look like whinging. I love what FA has brought for my club, but I absolutely hate what it's done for the competition.
One of the great things about footy in the 2000s was that it felt like it could be anyone's turn. Fitzroy/Brisbane, Geelong and Sydney all broke droughts; StKilda almost broke theirs.
Now, with the advent of FA, the best players only want to move to the best clubs (surprise, surprise) - and so that means that clubs like Geelong, Sydney, Richmond and Hawthorn all get to turn flags into eras, while spending the decade away from the cliff face that hit Brisbane and Essendon in the 2000s. It's crazy that a side can win a flag or come runner-up and immediately add a "big fish" like Frawley, Lynch, Cameron, Buddy, Crouch et al. In last year's prelim, Tom Lynch kicked five goals of Richmond's twelve, in a three-goal win. No Tom Lynch, no 2019 flag.
As much as I have loved Geelong's run for 14 years now, IMO it really hurts the competition as a whole. Free Agency has just turned into a talent siphon from bad clubs to good, and made it that much more predictable.
One of the great things about footy in the 2000s was that it felt like it could be anyone's turn. Fitzroy/Brisbane, Geelong and Sydney all broke droughts; StKilda almost broke theirs.
Now, with the advent of FA, the best players only want to move to the best clubs (surprise, surprise) - and so that means that clubs like Geelong, Sydney, Richmond and Hawthorn all get to turn flags into eras, while spending the decade away from the cliff face that hit Brisbane and Essendon in the 2000s. It's crazy that a side can win a flag or come runner-up and immediately add a "big fish" like Frawley, Lynch, Cameron, Buddy, Crouch et al. In last year's prelim, Tom Lynch kicked five goals of Richmond's twelve, in a three-goal win. No Tom Lynch, no 2019 flag.
As much as I have loved Geelong's run for 14 years now, IMO it really hurts the competition as a whole. Free Agency has just turned into a talent siphon from bad clubs to good, and made it that much more predictable.