Player Watch Rory Laird

[ams4crows]

If we weren't offering 5 he leaves and we get a second round pick

He wouldn't be getting 850k a year at another club we certainly wouldn't get a 1st round pick through compo, free agency compo doesn't work if the player is looking for longer contracts because they'll take less to have more years. The AFL's shitty formula doesn't take that into account.

You get the best compo if the player going only gets a 2 or 3 year deal on great money

 

[ftmch]

Top 5 player from the last few years whos' form is back on an upwards trajectory after a down period (in line with the rest of the team / club). Clearly a great example to the younger guys in terms of how to get the absolute most out of your ability. And it'll keep Smithers happy for another 5 years.

4 years would have been better, but if 5 is what it took (which is clearly what he was wanting and what he would have been offered elsewhere), then big deal. Well played all round.

 

[Truck25]

Genuine question

Who was the last Crows player who had no question marks over his inclusion in the team at the age of 31 or later?

Truck

 

[Murray2503]

If we weren't offering 5 he leaves and we get a second round pick

He wouldn't be getting 850k a year at another club we certainly wouldn't get a 1st round pick through compo, free agency compo doesn't work if the player is looking for longer contracts because they'll take less to have more years. The AFL's shitty formula doesn't take that into account.

You get the best compo if the player going only gets a 2 or 3 year deal on great money

Agree apparently Laird was offered 5 by 2 other clubs. He obviously said give me 5 or I take up one of the deals and you get nothing. The important part is the yearly pay. We must turn our attention to signing up our potential young stars now for at least 3 to 4 years.
Doedee, Sholl, Schoenberg, ROB, Worrell, McPherson, Hamill, Himmelberg, Thilthorpe, McAdam, Pedlar, Berry. This is the nucleus of our future.

 

[Pugsley]

Love this news.

 

[TryAnHit]

Crows board:
"Why does everyone leave and never resign"
Also
"5 year deal.... too long... why sign him that long"

 

[hey shorty]

The players currently contracted to us for the 2023 season and beyond. So a full two seasons away

Rory Laird - 4 more years from start of 2023
Wayne Milera - 3 more years
Brodie Smith - 2 more years
Luke Brown - 1 more year
Rory Sloane - 1 more year
Chayce Jones - 1 more year
Harry Schoenberg - 1 more year

Aside from the two young guys at the bottom of the list, it just isn't a very exciting list to be honest

Milera would've been at the time.

Therefore I expect Laird to have a career threatening injury.

 

[Stan16]

I thought Laird wanted to leave the club, well that's what the media told us..

Take note Brad Crouch

5

Brad Crouch

Age

30

Ht

186cm

Wt

86kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

26.1

5star

K

12.1

4star

HB

14.0

5star

M

2.7

3star

T

5.5

5star

CL

5.0

5star

D

20.3

5star

K

11.1

4star

HB

9.1

5star

M

1.5

2star

T

3.9

5star

CL

4.6

5star

D

21.6

5star

K

10.0

4star

HB

11.6

5star

M

3.4

4star

T

4.2

5star

CL

2.6

5star

, loyalty...

 

[UcantCme]

I woukd have preferred a 4 year deal recognising that 3 years would open the door for other offers

Laird is a player that has been pretty durable, he is not bangged up and should be able to perform in his early thirties

On SM-G973F using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[FR0GGY]

What do you see this impacting on contacts wise? We aren’t attracting big names for 2-3 seasons, Doedee will stay, Crouch is the only other player that will demand a similar contract.

It doesn’t necessarily mean you lose players, it can impact on players coming in.
We should absolutely be looking to bring young players back now.

 

[Scorpus]

I woukd have preferred a 4 year deal recognising that 3 years would open the door for other offers

Laird is a player that has been pretty durable, he is not bangged up and should be able to perform in his early thirties

On SM-G973F using BigFooty.com mobile app

I remember people saying the same things about Bryce Gibbs

 

[arrowman]

If we weren't offering 5 he leaves and we get a second round pick

He wouldn't be getting 850k a year at another club we certainly wouldn't get a 1st round pick through compo, free agency compo doesn't work if the player is looking for longer contracts because they'll take less to have more years. The AFL's shitty formula doesn't take that into account.

You get the best compo if the player going only gets a 2 or 3 year deal on great money

Yep, welcome to the world of free agency. A top player who was drafted at 18 will be 26 when they get to free agency. Prime age. They'll get a 5 year offer from another club, because that's what it takes to prise a free agent out. Ergo, their current club has to offer 5 years if they want to keep them, even if that's 1 or even 2 years longer than they'd like to offer.

So it's a choice between contracting Laird for 5 years (hopefully front loaded), expecting to get maybe 4 years out of him, or to not have him at all. That's the hard decision any club is going to have to make about its better players in the new world. Laird isn't the first player to get a deal taking him through to 32-33, reluctantly on the part of the club, and he won't be the last.

Also worth noting that Laird is "top age" for a free agent, a year or 2 older than most (18 year old draftees).

Also for context in the Laird / Crouch thing:
- Laird will turn 28 in Dec 2021, and 33 in Dec 2026.
- Crouch will turn 26 in April 2021, and 31 in April 2026.
(i.e. Laird is 1 year + 4 months older)
I don't think giving the same (5 year) deal to Crouch, when he would turn 31 in the last year, would be a bad thing.

 

[Scorpus]

I'd be interested to hear from the club why they thought giving Hugh Greenwood

1

Hugh Greenwood

Age

32

Ht

190cm

Wt

92kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

16.9

4star

K

8.8

3star

HB

8.1

5star

M

2.3

2star

T

6.8

5star

CL

4.6

5star

D

17.4

4star

K

10.4

4star

HB

7.0

4star

M

1.5

2star

T

8.9

5star

CL

5.6

5star

D

16.4

4star

K

8.6

4star

HB

7.8

5star

M

2.2

3star

T

7.6

5star

CL

4.4

5star

a contract until he was 32 was a bad idea, but Rory Laird

29

Rory Laird

Age

30

Ht

177cm

Wt

85kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

25.4

5star

K

12.9

5star

HB

12.5

5star

M

5.4

5star

T

2.3

4star

CL

1.0

3star

D

19.6

5star

K

10.9

4star

HB

8.7

4star

M

3.4

3star

T

2.4

3star

CL

1.1

3star

D

14.6

4star

K

7.4

3star

HB

7.2

5star

M

3.2

4star

T

4.0

5star

CL

0.4

3star

to that age is a good idea

 

[Stan16]

Huh?

You think Brad Crouch wouldn't have stayed on a 5 year deal?

You think Laird's management didn't know they had other VFL clubs that were waiting in the wings with 5 year deals hence Laird not putting pen to paper with our initial 3 year offer.

You also realise we had tabled a 3 year deal to Brad Crouch which was withdrawn when Covid struck and the AFL put a hold on all contracts being negotiated.

Big difference, actually massive difference you are forgetting.

Money..

Brad wanted top dollar and 4-5 years.

Laird is probably getting average money over 5 years.

Laird isn't being greedy and shopped himself around and going public (media) for top dollar.

 

[hey shorty]

I'd be interested to hear from the club why they thought giving Hugh Greenwood a contract until he was 32 was a bad idea, but Rory Laird to that age is a good idea

Probably because he's better at his job.

 

[Scorpus]

Probably because he's better at his job.

But also much more expensive to retain

 

[Mego Red]

Yep, welcome to the world of free agency. A top player who was drafted at 18 will be 26 when they get to free agency. Prime age. They'll get a 5 year offer from another club, because that's what it takes to prise a free agent out. Ergo, their current club has to offer 5 years if they want to keep them, even if that's 1 or even 2 years longer than they'd like to offer.

So it's a choice between contracting Laird for 5 years (hopefully front loaded), expecting to get maybe 4 years out of him, or to not have him at all. That's the hard decision any club is going to have to make about its better players in the new world. Laird isn't the first player to get a deal taking him through to 32-33, reluctantly on the part of the club, and he won't be the last.

Also worth noting that Laird is "top age" for a free agent, a year or 2 older than most (18 year old draftees).

Also for context in the Laird / Crouch thing:
- Laird will turn 28 in Dec 2021, and 33 in Dec 2026.
- Crouch will turn 26 in April 2021, and 31 in April 2026.
(i.e. Laird is 1 year + 4 months older)
I don't think giving the same (5 year) deal to Crouch, when he would turn 31 in the last year, would be a bad thing.

Interesting - I thought Laird was a young draftee?

 

[Mego Red]

I'd be interested to hear from the club why they thought giving Hugh Greenwood

1

Hugh Greenwood

Age

32

Ht

190cm

Wt

92kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

16.9

4star

K

8.8

3star

HB

8.1

5star

M

2.3

2star

T

6.8

5star

CL

4.6

5star

D

17.4

4star

K

10.4

4star

HB

7.0

4star

M

1.5

2star

T

8.9

5star

CL

5.6

5star

D

16.4

4star

K

8.6

4star

HB

7.8

5star

M

2.2

3star

T

7.6

5star

CL

4.4

5star

a contract until he was 32 was a bad idea, but Rory Laird

29

Rory Laird

Age

30

Ht

177cm

Wt

85kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

25.4

5star

K

12.9

5star

HB

12.5

5star

M

5.4

5star

T

2.3

4star

CL

1.0

3star

D

19.6

5star

K

10.9

4star

HB

8.7

4star

M

3.4

3star

T

2.4

3star

CL

1.1

3star

D

14.6

4star

K

7.4

3star

HB

7.2

5star

M

3.2

4star

T

4.0

5star

CL

0.4

3star

to that age is a good idea

Probably because Laird is better at footballing.

 

[WeeBlake]

I'd expect that now you've contracted him for six seasons that Adelaide has shifted four of the six years money into 2021 and 2022 so he is essentially playing for free in the last four years of this deal - allowing the crows to throw big cash at attracting new players from 2022 onwards.

I hope you’re right. If so, and the $$ aren’t excessive, I’m happy.

 

[hey shorty]

But also much more expensive to retain

Is he though ??

I'd imagine we'd have gotten similar compo for Laird if he chose to leave.

I'm more comfortable giving Laird this deal than I would've been for Brad. Not that I'm super comfortable about it

 

[Scorpus]

Is he though ??

I'd imagine we'd have gotten similar compo for Laird if he chose to leave.

You reckon we would have gotten a third round pick for Laird?

Laird is surely on $1m+ more than Greenwood is at Gold Coast over the lengths of their contracts

 

[arrowman]

Interesting - I thought Laird was a young draftee?

Yes, his age surprised me. Yes, he was a young draftee, but:

Rory Laird - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

2011 Rookie Draft, so he would have been just about to turn 18 at the time. Elevated to the senior list in April 2013 (i.e. just turned 20) => I'm assuming his 8 years until free agency would have started then => free agent at end of 2021.

 

[WeeBlake]

He’s durable, consistent, versatile, one of our best players, seemingly well liked by the players, and we can afford to front load him. If we are going to offer long term deals to older players, this looks like a good one.

 

[Scorpus]

Yes, his age surprised me. Yes, he was a young draftee, but:

Rory Laird - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

2011 Rookie Draft, so he would have been just about to turn 18 at the time. Elevated to the senior list in April 2013 (i.e. just turned 20) => I'm assuming his 8 years until free agency would have started then => free agent at end of 2021.

I think it was more than his last deal was a 3 year deal, so he went from a 7 year player (out of contract non-FA) to a 10 year player (restricted FA). Free agency opens at 8 years

 

[hey shorty]

You reckon we would have gotten a third round pick for Laird?

Laird is surely on $1m+ more than Greenwood is at Gold Coast over the lengths of their contracts

I wouldn't think so.