Jake Stringer and Jack Macrae sign until 2018!!

dogwatch

Brownlow Medallist
Joined
Jun 17, 2009
Posts
15,994
Likes
21,727
Location
Canberra
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
Other Teams
Arsenal
#76
Fantastic news.
For those concerned about the media, I think this will be a watershed in how they look at us. While there are some fair commentators and journos we know there are also some who are habitually either patronising or scathing of our club. What they can't ignore is the fact that we have some players with serious talent - players they had assumed would leave as soon as their market value escalated.

The fact that these very players are now saying things like "easy decision", "couldn't wait to sign", "want to play here for my whole career", "we are tightly knit", "going places", "wanted to show our commitment early" means the commentators will have to sit up and take proper notice.

This is going to jolt the media groupthink. They will have to consider what's actually happening at the kennel. Maybe they will acknowledge that something special really is developing and the October cleanout may have even been beneficial. Especially if Wood and Talia follow with contract renewals in short order.

I expect the narrative to start changing over the next few weeks. There could be a few feelgood stories but I don't read too much into those. It will be more subtle - just in the way they talk about us from week to week. Some long overdue genuine respect.
 

(Log in to remove this ad.)

Mofra

Moderator
Joined
Dec 6, 2005
Posts
40,146
Likes
99,507
Location
Footscray
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
Other Teams
Footscray, The Exers
Moderator #77
How good is it to think we could have three 192cm+ jets lining up in the midfield over the next decade?
Given we have a kid who was the no 1 contested ball player in the AFL (Libba) feeding them - at a young age too - who the hell wouldn't want to sign on and take advantage of that service?

Everyone here who mentioned the huge frontloading of contracts in 2016 yet was laughed at by opposition supporters has been vindicated. That's 4 signings in 2 weeks - a VC, Dahl, and two kids who are borderline A grade already as 20 year olds.
I can't remember a time with so much promise at the Bulldogs.
 

go you pups

Hall of Famer
Joined
Jun 27, 2013
Posts
41,072
Likes
36,622
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
Other Teams
Tottenham Hotspur, SSC Napoli, ESH
Moderator #81
Given we have a kid who was the no 1 contested ball player in the AFL (Libba) feeding them - at a young age too - who the hell wouldn't want to sign on and take advantage of that service?

Everyone here who mentioned the huge frontloading of contracts in 2016 yet was laughed at by opposition supporters has been vindicated. That's 4 signings in 2 weeks - a VC, Dahl, and two kids who are borderline A grade already as 20 year olds.
I can't remember a time with so much promise at the Bulldogs.
Bonti, Macrae, Stringer, Libba, Dahlhaus and hopefully Boyd etc will be like our new Grant, Johnno, Smithy, Westy, Darce and take us forward, lets hope these kids are winners and are clutch and can perform on prelim day. We pretty much know Bonti is clutch already, just hope Stringer, Boyd and Dahl can follow suit.
 

Mofra

Moderator
Joined
Dec 6, 2005
Posts
40,146
Likes
99,507
Location
Footscray
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
Other Teams
Footscray, The Exers
Moderator #82
Bonti, Macrae, Stringer, Libba, Dahlhaus and hopefully Boyd etc will be like our new Grant, Johnno, Smithy, Westy, Darce and take us forward, lets hope these kids are winners and are clutch and can perform on prelim day. We pretty much know Bonti is clutch already, just hope Stringer, Boyd and Dahl can follow suit.
I have a sneaking feeling that Lukas Webb will join their ranks within a year or two - and let us not forget Hrovat & Hunter have a huge amount of talent.
If Roughy & Talia can stand up (big ifs) we're in very good shape.
 
Joined
Feb 24, 2013
Posts
35,167
Likes
28,988
Location
The GoldenBrown Heart of Victoria
AFL Club
Hawthorn
Other Teams
Man Utd Green Bay Melb Storm
#84
Congrats Doggies...Looks like you've got your house back in order!

Bontempelli, MaCrae & Stringer are 3 of the most elite young talents going around....All 17 other clubs would love just one of them!....Future looks rosy.
 

(Log in to remove this ad.)

FlyingDog

Senior List
Joined
Feb 1, 2007
Posts
204
Likes
73
Location
Melburne
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
#87
Great news. Suddenly, I start to get excited about footy again.
Well done boys. This group of young players are the most talented I ever seen since I follow doggies from 1997.
 

BRWB

Brownlow Medallist
Joined
Oct 7, 2012
Posts
14,802
Likes
21,581
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
#89
Robbo in 2016: "we are, already seeing, the symptoms of, Boyd's massive contract, on the bulldogs, young gun, and future superstar, Daniel Pearce, along with, 2nd round pick, Matt Fuller, have been, pushed out the door, due to salary cap, pressure. And I love James Hird, a lot, a real lot"
Edited for accuracy.
 
Joined
Aug 15, 2009
Posts
65
Likes
61
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
#92
This is the best news out of our club in a very long time. However in this age of the free agent, it only keeps the media/bigger clubs at bay for a while. These guys are so young we have not signed them beyond their restricted, let alone unrestricted free agency periods.

Let me share with you a little story about one of the great underdog stories of the modern global free agency sporting world, and how it applies to our club.

The Kansas City Royals are a "small market" club in Major Leage Baseball, and as close to a comparotable team as the doggies have in that sport. While the NY Yankees, and LA Dodgers of the world routinely spend over $200 MILLION in annual player payroll, the Royals spend a small fraction on that. That is not to mention the non player expenditure on farm systems, scouting, development, etc.

So how, last year, did the Royals win the American League (Yankees, Red Sox, Oriels) pennant, and come within a single out of winning the World Series?

Well as you can imagine, a perennial basket case like the Royals were afforded a number of very early draft picks over the past 10 years (sound familiar), but what they did with those picks is of great interest. They took the best available player, no matter the position, nurtured him, and when they decided he was a long term A-grader (Libba, Bonti, Stringer, Macrae)..signed him to along term (and I mean long term) contract. Not only buying out his pre-free agency years, but 7 years and beyond.

This is the way teams like the Royals and Doggies can compete with the Yankees and Dodgers, Hawthorns and Collingwoods of the world. Secure your talent for the bulk of their careers and acknowledge you may get the very odd one wrong, but remove the free agency threat until they have little option than to become a 1 club player, or leave when their best years are behind them.

So to get back to my original point, I salute the club on securing these guys for this season plus another three full seasons, but let's really roll the dice, sign these A-graders up for 7 years. Really, what do we have to lose? Another 60 odd years of watching other teams win it all.
 

BRWB

Brownlow Medallist
Joined
Oct 7, 2012
Posts
14,802
Likes
21,581
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
#93
This is the best news out of our club in a very long time. However in this age of the free agent, it only keeps the media/bigger clubs at bay for a while. These guys are so young we have not signed them beyond their restricted, let alone unrestricted free agency periods.

Let me share with you a little story about one of the great underdog stories of the modern global free agency sporting world, and how it applies to our club.

The Kansas City Royals are a "small market" club in Major Leage Baseball, and as close to a comparotable team as the doggies have in that sport. While the NY Yankees, and LA Dodgers of the world routinely spend over $200 MILLION in annual player payroll, the Royals spend a small fraction on that. That is not to mention the non player expenditure on farm systems, scouting, development, etc.

So how, last year, did the Royals win the American League (Yankees, Red Sox, Oriels) pennant, and come within a single out of winning the World Series?

Well as you can imagine, a perennial basket case like the Royals were afforded a number of very early draft picks over the past 10 years (sound familiar), but what they did with those picks is of great interest. They took the best available player, no matter the position, nurtured him, and when they decided he was a long term A-grader (Libba, Bonti, Stringer, Macrae)..signed him to along term (and I mean long term) contract. Not only buying out his pre-free agency years, but 7 years and beyond.

This is the way teams like the Royals and Doggies can compete with the Yankees and Dodgers, Hawthorns and Collingwoods of the world. Secure your talent for the bulk of their careers and acknowledge you may get the very odd one wrong, but remove the free agency threat until they have little option than to become a 1 club player, or leave when their best years are behind them.

So to get back to my original point, I salute the club on securing these guys for this season plus another three full seasons, but let's really roll the dice, sign these A-graders up for 7 years. Really, what do we have to lose? Another 60 odd years of watching other teams win it all.
Great post, started a thread on this exact subject a while ago, a fair bit of discussion on the inherent risks (remember Darcy's 5 years and 2 knee reco's?). But despite the risk, I completely agree we need to lock these players down on lengthy contracts to take them out of the FA period, maybe we can look at it for the next negotiation.
 

immortalmike

Brownlow Medallist
Joined
Feb 11, 2008
Posts
14,191
Likes
23,580
Location
West Footscray
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
Other Teams
Chicago Bulls
#94
This is the best news out of our club in a very long time. However in this age of the free agent, it only keeps the media/bigger clubs at bay for a while. These guys are so young we have not signed them beyond their restricted, let alone unrestricted free agency periods.

Let me share with you a little story about one of the great underdog stories of the modern global free agency sporting world, and how it applies to our club.

The Kansas City Royals are a "small market" club in Major Leage Baseball, and as close to a comparotable team as the doggies have in that sport. While the NY Yankees, and LA Dodgers of the world routinely spend over $200 MILLION in annual player payroll, the Royals spend a small fraction on that. That is not to mention the non player expenditure on farm systems, scouting, development, etc.

So how, last year, did the Royals win the American League (Yankees, Red Sox, Oriels) pennant, and come within a single out of winning the World Series?

Well as you can imagine, a perennial basket case like the Royals were afforded a number of very early draft picks over the past 10 years (sound familiar), but what they did with those picks is of great interest. They took the best available player, no matter the position, nurtured him, and when they decided he was a long term A-grader (Libba, Bonti, Stringer, Macrae)..signed him to along term (and I mean long term) contract. Not only buying out his pre-free agency years, but 7 years and beyond.

This is the way teams like the Royals and Doggies can compete with the Yankees and Dodgers, Hawthorns and Collingwoods of the world. Secure your talent for the bulk of their careers and acknowledge you may get the very odd one wrong, but remove the free agency threat until they have little option than to become a 1 club player, or leave when their best years are behind them.

So to get back to my original point, I salute the club on securing these guys for this season plus another three full seasons, but let's really roll the dice, sign these A-graders up for 7 years. Really, what do we have to lose? Another 60 odd years of watching other teams win it all.
While I appreciate the analogy, the salary cap changes things a fair bit. Meaning that we can't continue to pay kids big contracts over many years. The good news is they won't go anywhere if they can see team success. Which I see happening around 2017-18.
 

Mutt

Moderator
Joined
Aug 16, 2008
Posts
7,715
Likes
14,232
Location
Mildura
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
Other Teams
Footscray; Lakers
Moderator #95
While I appreciate the analogy, the salary cap changes things a fair bit. Meaning that we can't continue to pay kids big contracts over many years. The good news is they won't go anywhere if they can see team success. Which I see happening around 2017-18.
I can't agree Mike.

I think that Georgiades made it clear that you select from your list only those who you think will be A Graders and you lock them away for long term lucrative contracts. Within the Salary Cap every club can afford at least half a dozen players on big money. Our problem over recent years has been that the Cap rules force us to spend almost all of the Cap each year but we really haven't had the half dozen A graders to justify that spend. We, like Melbourne and a few other clubs have paid overs (virtually A Grader salaries) to some players simply because we have to spend the Salary cap money.

Now we have a larger group of potential A Grade talent coming through we have the opportunity to emulate the Kansas City Royals strategy. The Salary Cap space is there if we are judicious in its use and JMac has shown to my satisfaction that he knows what he is doing and can manage the player contracts well. I think Georgides has nailed exactly the list management strategy we are successfully implementing.

It's an impressive list we've signed on to extended contracts and the Boyd deal shows we are prepared to take a risk to secure young talent for the bulk of their careers. Brilliant and necessary for our future success.
 

doggies ftw

Brownlow Medallist
Joined
Sep 22, 2008
Posts
15,199
Likes
11,576
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
#96
I think the way we've done it is good, these kids will be just about to hit FA when they're coming out of contract, but not quite there yet (I'm assuming) so we've given ourselves enough time to confirm they are stars as we will definitely know by the end of these contracts (not like we don't already have enough proof) then just before they become FA we can sign them up long term and miss the bulk of their FA years.
 

Dogsman16

Norm Smith Medallist
Joined
Oct 19, 2012
Posts
8,164
Likes
7,462
Location
Minas Morgul
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
#97
I think the way we've done it is good, these kids will be just about to hit FA when they're coming out of contract, but not quite there yet (I'm assuming) so we've given ourselves enough time to confirm they are stars as we will definitely know by the end of these contracts (not like we don't already have enough proof) then just before they become FA we can sign them up long term and miss the bulk of their FA years.
Think they are at least a season or two (Think its 8 years before a player gets to free agency) so thats when we load up the 5 year deals for both. Both will be around 25 so a 5 year big deal each makes them life bulldogs.
 

doggies ftw

Brownlow Medallist
Joined
Sep 22, 2008
Posts
15,199
Likes
11,576
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
#98
Think they are at least a season or two (Think its 8 years before a player gets to free agency) so thats when we load up the 5 year deals for both. Both will be around 25 so a 5 year big deal each makes them life bulldogs.
Yeah that sounds perfect, I reckon that's what we've got in mind too. No need to lock them up long, long term now when they're years from FA and could still fail or get a serious injury etc.

Although if the AFL get their way and FA starts a few years earlier then it throws this idea out completely. Let's hope not, that would be absolutely ******* terrible for the game, it's bad enough as it is but can you imagine teams putting 5 years into players and having them **** off at 22/23 to FA? Would kill the lower clubs.
 

Dogsman16

Norm Smith Medallist
Joined
Oct 19, 2012
Posts
8,164
Likes
7,462
Location
Minas Morgul
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
#99
Yeah that sounds perfect, I reckon that's what we've got in mind too. No need to lock them up long, long term now when they're years from FA and could still fail or get a serious injury etc.

Although if the AFL get their way and FA starts a few years earlier then it throws this idea out completely. Let's hope not, that would be absolutely ******* terrible for the game, it's bad enough as it is but can you imagine teams putting 5 years into players and having them **** off at 22/23 to FA? Would kill the lower clubs.
You just summarised my biggest fear. AFLPA want to change it from 8 to 6 but I think the AFL have said no. Really should be 10 in my opinion.
 

fronkalicious

Brownlow Medallist
Joined
Apr 10, 2008
Posts
14,375
Likes
28,401
Location
sydney
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
By the time the lads are off contract again, we'll be playing finals footy and pushing for a flag. If we're not, I wouldn't blame them for leaving.

It's up to the club now. Improve the way we should, and these boys will be dogs for life imo.
 
Top Bottom