Losing A Top Player

[RegHickeyStand]

I cared less about the Gold Coast until the talk of Selwood and/or Ablett and who they could entice with the big bucks.

Once you lose key players like this, its a hard road back to regain that level and quality of play. Natural attrition is bad enough. Injuries play its part in making it a comparative level playing field. Imagine Ablett gone, and Selwood missing half a year through injury in 2011.

But losing your gun like this, thats another thing.

I recall when Warne retired, and a cricket commentator (I think it was Chappell) said, "People think there will be a smalll respite, then we will find another Warne. Won't happen. Players like that don't grow on trees. We have been very lucky."

I have thought this whole thing a shame. Gary Ablett should retire in a Geelong jumper. What jumper can you imagine Ted Whitten in. How about Lethal Leigh. James Hird. Voss. Every icon of the game has a jumper and a club that goes behind them, and you couldn't place them anywhere else.

Now all that sounds sentimental, and we are talking cold hard cash, and we are talking a short career. But really, he would aways be looked after in Geelong. When one million bucks a year isn't enough, I can't see how 2 million would be. If thats all it is. If next year such a player could wriggle out of the contract for an offer of 4 million a year to play at West Sydney, there is no reason he shouldn't, if its all about money. "Sorry. Got a new offer for 4 million. Have to go."

 

[LifeSpan-Void]

This whole business wasn't orchestrated by GC, but by the AFL itself. These circumstances aren't just players taking the cash, but a business using it's assets to expand it's market, like when a franchise opens new metropolitan stores and transfers it's best performing management staff from the outer suburban outlet. It's filthy and corrupt, and it will rob Geelong of seeing Gary play his 200th game in the hoops.

 

[Nankervis brothers]

I share your disappointment Reg, and your sentimentality. However, players like Matthews, Voss, Hird and alike were never offered the millions Ablett has been offered (or that Selwood will be offered by GWS in two years) and so their loyalty was never as seriously tested.

And unfortunately we will have to become more familiar with this situation as the AFL starts to abandon its excellent 'socialist model' for the free market model.

In the players defence, their careers are over at 30, maybe 32. Loyalty means little when faced with the realities of such a finite limit on your earning potential.

But still, i am not looking forward to the AFL eventually embracing a model similar to the English Premiership League (and i assume it eventually will). What is the point of supporting a club in that situation? Is success then simply the privy of a team/corporation with the most money at its disposal? That seems dull to me.

 

[David the Cat]

I have to say I am absolutely astounded at the amounts of money being thrown at players.

Campbell Brown , Rischitelli, Now Brennan, Bock, Harbrow apparently...all being paid ridiculously large amounts for their services. If you add Gary Ablett's reported 2 mill on top...we are talking extra ordinary figures here.

Just how much f***king money do the Gold Poachers have to spend anyway. Is it a bottomless pit? I have mentioned only 5 clubs above...there's a heap of others still to come...this is totally absurd.

How has this been allowed to happen? The only bright spot is that numbers in QLD and interest in the code might be maintained in spite of the Voss induced debacle at Brisbane. If there was ever a good bet for the spoon for next year, I reckon Brisbane would be a handy option.

I wouldnt blame GAJ for going...the money is just overwhelming for a young man in his position. But I would love to see him stay...maybe the Poachers cant afford him any more?? LOL

 

[Biggy_Boy]

Just wait a few years for those kids they draft to grow into good players, demand more money and long to return back home.

I hate the way the franchises are given so much. I understand starting from scratch is hard but it's not a whole lot different to the drastic rebuilds many clubs undergo, with far less cap space and lower draft picks. Richmond this year were an example of this. I would be far more willing and admirable of a club like Richmond achieving success in the coming years as they have had to do it the hard way, just as Geelong did.

 

[bulletproof]

Nice OP, I find the whole thing pretty rotten. I also agree that the AFL has been pretty complicite in the sorry affair from the start. I really hope Gary can deliver us a parting premiership and two more magnificent performances. What a player he has been, what a story it has been, what a terrible shame it has a sad ending.

 

[Gaz_Brownlow]

Believe me, Losing Gary Ablett will be the single biggest thing to happen to the greater geelong community over the past 30 years.

What will never be measured as part of any compensation deal is the economic and community benefits that the Ablett name brings to Geelong. It is the single biggest name in Football history - that, i believe is not even negotiable anymore, two players who dominated both their era's is unprecedented within any footballing family. He is only 26 and could have played, i believe, 300 + games with us doing as his old man did and playing as a deep forward. Not only that, Gaj seems to be developing even more into a leadership role, which is just invaluable.

And what is our potential compensation....two untried draft picks.

We will suffer as a team, as a town and as a footballing community. In fact, the greater footballing community will realise that this is a sad event when history is put aside for a new franchise start up.

Demetriou has to be held accountable for this. Without the concessions that the Gold Coast enjoy, this would never ever happen. I can never blame Gaz, he is living his life to the way he wants, and he is certainly entitled to seek new challenges and look after himself financially. What upsets me though is the fact that Gary, admittedly, would be very happy finishing out his career at Geelong and being a proud historical figure for the club and the community.... in fact, in the long term, i have no doubt he would be better off for sticking with us.

However, he has not declared any intention yet. I am hopeful that he does stay, but not so confident anymore.

 

[Hybrid7]

I think I am only one of the ones left that thinks he is staying.
There is just something that reeks of 2007 the way he is holding off his announcement till after the season - he is focusing on his footy and nothing else.

Ablett seems to be the sort of bloke that thrives around the footy culture of the geelong football club, & he wont get the same family club culture up at GC.

He will stay.

Even if he doesnt, he has still played enough games so we can get his father/son in a few years

 

[krisholio14]

Greg Williams was bad enough.

This one is really going to suck.

 

[RegHickeyStand]

.... What upsets me though is the fact that Gary, admittedly, would be very happy finishing out his career at Geelong and being a proud historical figure for the club and the community.... in fact, in the long term, i have no doubt he would be better off for sticking with us.

If I were to advise him, I'd tell him to stay. Oh yeah, I get that as a Cats supporter that is obvious. But I would if I weren't a Cats supporter but interested in football in general. The reasons would be:

If its money, you have a whole lifetime to accumulate it and you have a good start already. And if you want money and you don't know how to accumulate it, then a bigger paypacket won't do you any good. Not a lot of people are on a million a year, and not a lot of people will have the connections and opportunities you will have when you stop playing football.

Geelong will wish you all the best as you go. But don't believe it. Its like when two media celebs split up. Their lawyer tell the media they are still good friends. Don't believe it. There will be resentment. You will have broken the seal, and your career and legacy with Geelong will always be tarnished over money and loyalty. You may not think it fair, but thats how it will be. If you were going at 29 or 30 and a new coach was freezing you out, maybe different. But leaving this way will leave a bad taste in the mouth no matter how much we try to wish you well.

Your place in football history - if that is important to you - will be diminished by moving mid career. You only have to look at Judd. Even though he is a captain of Carlton he no longer has the aura about him he once had. Respected and all, but it isn't the same. Judd will never be regarded as an all time great at Carlton.

The risk. You can't buy AFL premierships. If you could, Carlton would have 30 premierships by now. Even with the AFL behind it, there is no guarantee this will be a successful team within 5 years, let alone a premiership contender. History says it will be at least 5 years. The West Coast Eagles took years. Fremantle, Adelaide...look how many years it took them. Thats when these clubs had the state to themselves. You will be sharing a state, like Fremantle does with the West Coast. And just ask Vossy how so-called great picks can turn to shite. Once you are into your third year and you see its going to take forever, its too late. This is a franchise that thinks Karmichael Hunt was a great inclusion. They want publicity and instant success on the field. I think they will get one, but not the other.

Lastly, you got it all right here. If money isn't the one and only reason, that is.

 

[thegerman]

Great posts guys. I totally agree with what Reg stated, that no matter what is said as he leaves, there will always be that underlying sentiment that he is a money grabber and has absolutely no loyalty.

The AFLPA and most ex-players discuss their opinon that clubs don't give players any loyalty at all. Which is an absolute farce. AFL clubs spend a lot of money on players early in their careers to get them to their best. Pumping them up and keeping them fit and ready to play. At best, 80-90% of draftees are not ready for AFL footy until they are 21, 22 and sometimes later. So paying these guys about 100k (including base and match payments), for 2-3 years shows some intent of loyalty.

One too must view Geelong as a club at how they have shown their loyalty in its players recently. Max Rooke, Pods, Lonners, Egan, etc. The list is endless to the recent acts of loyalty of the club towards its players. Even his own manager's AFL career is a result to Geelong's loyalty, they stuck by him when his own career was going nowhere.

One that stands out for me is the last contract negotiation between the club and Gary Ablett. Here was a player who showed flashes of brilliance, however, didn't have the stamina to last it in the intense midfield. He could kick 20 or so goals a year, but nothing brilliant. The Cats offered him a four year @ 450k.

Does that sound fair? An untried midfielder, son of an ex-player, in his second contract to earn such a large amount?

I think he is gone, I realise that it is a huge amount of money, but like most have stated, how much is too much? How much money is enough? Surely, the love of the club outweighs a ridiculous amount of money? If not, then our game is forever lost.

 

[DanA]

Believe me, Losing Gary Ablett will be the single biggest thing to happen to the greater geelong community over the past 30 years.

This is a ridiculous comment. Gary Ablett Jnr leaving bigger than Pyramid crisis?

 

[patience]

Go or stay Gary is set up financially for life. He will never be short of a quid. It's those intangibles mentioned in the above posts he loses if he goes. Metaphorically, the sun does not always shine in Queensland. Speaking of clubs looking after players - remember how the Club did their best to shield and protect him when he first arrived and the media wanted devour him? The Club has always looked after him and his. It makes me feel sad and disappointed to think of him leaving. It also makes me think less of AFL in general.

 

[Beth]

He's gone I reckon, and I absolutely don't blame him. However I am beyond livid at the AFL for creating this situation. I know I keep banging on about it but I'm really upset. I love the GFC but my heart isn't going to be in it (Im taking about footy in general) for the first time in more than 30 years come next year and that makes me sad.

Even if Gaz stays by some miracle I can't get excited about these bullsh*t plastic teams coming in.

 

[turbo0010]

My biggest problem with this is, nearly all of the players taking pay cuts or willing to be underpaid, just for team success.

I admit they don't have the carrot dangled in front of him like ablett, but still they could go elsewhere to get more money, if they wanted to be traded.

I can understand also, he's achieved a lot at geelong and wants some new challenges, but he has to opportunity to work with a lot of our younger guys as a number of older players are on their way out anyway.

But for me, once/if he's out of a geelong jumper, he's the enemy. Happy to see him lose game after game and suffer while we continue our success. I don't wish him any success at all if he chooses to leave, I would rather see him regret it, but that's just me, don't shoot me down. I do thank him for what he has given us of course and will never forget about it, he'll always be a champion, a cats champion.

 

[thegerman]

Great post Turbo.

What I have thought about over the last week or so is the fact that all of the other Cats players have taken pay cuts to stay together. Yet, it seems, when given the chance at a higher wage (more than 4-5 times higher than his current wage), Ablett seems to be jumping at the chance.

I would percieve this to be a significant slap in the face to his team-mates who have undersold their talents and abilities to keep the team together. Some of these players may have lost value over the last year or two, so where is the player's loyalty to them?

Press writer's and the AFLPA may say how undervalued Ablett is right now, but to pay him nearly twice that of Judd is a farce. Likewise, they continue to write about how a club's loyalty is fickle at most, (especially writer's like Brereton), yet, here we are seeing how a player's loyalty to another player is being eroded and no-one is writing about that.

I know that if I was playing at Geelong and had given up my earning potential to keep the squad together and then at the first opportunity Ablett takes the cash and runs; I would be gutted.

 

[Lunchlady Doris]

God help you if you're one of the kids that gets taken with the picks we receive. I pray they don't receive undue attention or pressure because of the fact.

 

[thegerman]

Sorry Doris, that's not what I was arguing. On an organisational level, it is interesting from that standpoint that every Geelong player has restricted their income to some extent. Some more than others; all for the sake of the group.

Yet Ablett hasn't done so. I would expect there is a few players who are angry at this, as it is a factor which would be touchy. I believe Ablett was overpaid at the beginning of his last contract, as he was an unproven midfielder and could only rotate through for short stints. It wasn't until the mid-end of his four year deal that he began to really shine.

My post reflects that thought, that in regard to the organisational group belief, is Ablett's current behaviour in symphony with this?

My view entirely is that it isn't. No pressure or thoughts on incoming players, just my view on the behaviour of the individual versus the group.

Oh and I'm way to old to be playing AFL footy.

 

[The rabbi]

I think I am only one of the ones left that thinks he is staying.

In a word. Yes.

 

[Turbocat]

While Gary is a unique player , that him going can alone can cause a meltdown of our club is wrong I feel. In fact I think him staying is more likely to cause problems if he is rewarded well above his team mates.Who will be forced out due to him be paid extremely well.Right now he is close to his peak , but how long will he stay there? Him leaving may just allow us to refresh our group and we may in fact be in a postion to press again by the time his career is near end.

Different player but when Colbert left , we were stuffed. Our list was haggard , our coach went to a big money club and our Capt was basically getting the hell out of town before we went under. Colbert was the proverbial "Rat leaving the sinking ship". I was was angry at him.

Yet looking , looking back his choice played a key role in our flags. Enright and Mooney , have been key players for us , well after Colbert was finished.
Who was really worse of for him leaving?

Yes the short term pain will sting , but long term its GA who may end up worse off. We are Geelong and the are who?

 

[Micksy]

What does the Ablett (possible) trade do to player salaries across the board? If Gary take 1.9Million as the rumours state, how much will Franklin, Reiwoldt, Judd etc want at their next contract negotiation?

I realise that there are extenuating circumstances, due to the extra salary cap that these new clubs have, but are you telling me that whoever wins the Brownlow this year won't want a figure somewhere close to the Ablett figure?

I forsee massive player movements in the next 5 years as teams will shape teams around a sole marquee player. For instance if North Melbourne could lure Jack Reiwoldt away from Richmond in 3 years time they could possibly pay him 10% of the total salary cap a-la Judd. Surround him with rookies and has-beens on 60-100,000 a year.

I don't like this. It will probably lead to player strikes in the vein of Major League baseball of the last decade. But hey, maybe then I could get a game for the cats as a replacement.

 

[Commando]

if/when ablett goes there will be no well wishing sentiment from me, he would be considered a filthy judas who is betraying his mates with the lure of some shiny coin.

sorry if it sounds harsh but thats the truth.

hes making better money than 99% of people his age, how much is enough?

as mentioned earlier an absolute slap in the face to the lads who took paycuts to keep the group together.

i am one of the vast minority who thinks he might stay put.

 

[RegHickeyStand]

I didn't mean this thread to be a full on attack on Gary. He is a young guy who has been offered a pot of gold, and with all the chatter you can't blame him.

Its just a bigger picture I'm looking at, and a longer time frame. AFL isn't Rugby League. Melbourne Storm won a grand final after just a few years. But you can't buy a premiership in the AFL. I think the players like Ablett who go up there are going to get the long tour of the league's cellar. I wonder if they know that, or are they sold some speil about instant success, just add money.

 

[krisholio14]

if/when ablett goes there will be no well wishing sentiment from me, he would be considered a filthy judas who is betraying his mates with the lure of some shiny coin.

sorry if it sounds harsh but thats the truth.

hes making better money than 99% of people his age, how much is enough?

as mentioned earlier an absolute slap in the face to the lads who took paycuts to keep the group together.

i am one of the vast minority who thinks he might stay put.

I've said all along I thought he would stay, but I gotta say, it doesn't look good TBH.

I've always been of the belief where there's smoke there's fire, and media beat ups aside, the smoke around this one is so thick i've just about had to stop drop and roll.

 

[turbo0010]

How long are their good kids going to be contracted for? Is there a chance we can use the draft picks for ablett on one of their young kids after 2-3 years of development. Like a young victorian wanting to come home after some experience up there.

So basically use the picks to steal one of their players.... revenge so to speak.... then rub it in when he becomes a premiership player at the cats!