I think the real area which we aren't trying to exploit and that afl clubs in general aren't trying to exploit enough is going hard at guys coming off their first contract. If they look to have the goods giving them a good contract early would hopefully get a lot more guys nominating to come our way. The other aspect to this is that even if you don't get them to your club by shaking the tree it forces other clubs to pay them more thus leaving them with less room in regards to free agents. If you look at building a successful list you really only need 2 best 22 players from each draft / trade period and to then pick up a free agent who's best 22 every second season.
The other area in which i think afl clubs in general aren't doing at a world best level is in managing the salary cap. Going forward i think realistically we could work on an average of there being an increase in TPP of 7-8% a year and look at structuring players deals accordingly. If you pay players a % of your total cap it can work both in the clubs and the players favour as generally the cap will increase by more than expected and secondly if there is a years where it doesn't increase by as much as expected you are covered both ways. Looking at generic contract numbers of 400k or 450k or 500k or 800k a year makes things a lot more difficult to balance in the future as opposed to 4%, 4.5%, 5%, 8% etc. etc.
As a club we need to stop being the good guy, community focussed, lay down at the trade table bitches that we have become and get back to being leaders in strategic innovation and professionalism as we once were.