The Free Agency Paradox.

[mjp]

I'll start with this.

I think the players should get everything they can whilst they are playing. EVERYTHING. A lot of them (most of them) are done within 3-seasons and kicked to curb with zero skills and zero ability to 'cope' with life...and many with a lifetime's worth of ongoing medical 'stuff'. So I think Free Agency is - overall - a good thing.

But there is a paradox at play and it is a hard one to manage.

The salary cap is there to make sure that not all the best players can 'BE' at the one club. The 'best' players obviously demand a premium payment, the limit on spending means that one club can't pay 'everyone'.

So...why are the lower clubs continually in salary cap 'strife' and unable to 'outbid' top of the ladder teams for prospective free agents?

Well - it's because the clubs down the bottom regularly need to overpay just to RETAIN. So...they are unable to make the bank-busting offers to elite players coming out of contract. So what ends up happening is they can offer 'more' - but only a 'little bit' more (everything is relative!) and when the 'little bit' is weighed up by the player vs the likelihood of win-loss....

So how do clubs avoid this?

1/. Invest in 'stuff'. Brisbane are known for medical. As were the Hawks for so long. Be seen to be doing 'SOMETHING' that is critical to player welfare better than anyone else. And don't tell me about the soft cap...everything is a priority.

2/. You MUST know where you are at. Don't over-rate your list or players - have a externally based player assessment 'score' and don't pay beyond it. Lean on the available technology - yes, you have to apply the 'eye-test' but if you pay too much for ANYONE then it kills your cap (and since players talk, it can also kill culture).

3/. Lean HEAVILY on the AFLPA. Be the bunny for their programs, offer time and resources - enable them to see how well you are doing everything at your club. Use them for surveys about what annoys players, what they like, dislike...and set your program up HEAVILY weighted in their favour. Tell the players you are using the results of the surveys - tell them that if 'this' is what they 'want'...that is what you will give them....but equally, let them know it is on them to make it work!!! Make sure EVERYONE in the industry knows you are constructing a player-centric training/learning environment based on the input of the AFLPA and that you want to create the best 'environment for players' in the league.

4/. Get your coach in front of opposition players as OFTEN as possible. Promote his personality and the 'player friendly' environment he has created. This cannot be over-stated...and it 100% needs to be true because - again, players talk.

5/. Be 100% open and honest with your fans. Members are incredibly loyal - if you tell them you will only pay $x to player y because this is where he is rated across the competition blah blah, they WILL support you in the stay/go decision. Sell hope - until you are able to sell wins.

Free agency can be a weapon. It 100% is for Richmond and Brisbane - and now seems to be for Geelong. It can be for us. Our club is located in an extremely popular location that is VERY close to the city. We have a personable coach - who needs to show a sense of fun a little more often publicly, that's for sure. We have a list that is winning games if not premierships. There is the stadium thing (MCG teams will always rule the roost and Ballarat is not a popular ground) but our training facilities are in the 'pretty good' group and could REALLY be the basis of something 'great'.

I do worry that we don't have a clear view of where our list is at - no delistings one month after the season ended would seem to clearly point at this - and I'm completely in the dark around how player friendly our program is...

[comrade]

Regarding point 3, do you think Brisbane and Richmond are doing this particularly well?

And to your last sentence - where do you think the list is?

[Mofra]

Players who are facing their last contract will either take a paycut to experience success, or look to maximise their last contract and go to clubs that will overpay. That in itself seems to mean top four and bottom four clubs are the most attractive, with middle-tier clubs missing out.

I do think location is a very important factor that is often overlooked - Geelong have a huge advantage in being able to sell the "rural" or surf coast lifestyle - watch Sean Darcy request a trade to Geelong at some point, for example.
Conversely, St Kilda's move to Seaford was a disaster and I suspect Tullamarine isn't exactly the French Riviera either.

[Happy Days]

Interesting thoughts MJP. Could you expand a bit on why you don't think the footy spending cap doesn't affect the ability to invest in something? To me, a layman/idiot, it would seem you can either be good at something at the cost of something else, or just be really average everywhere.

What should we be doing?

[Topdog]

Agree with a lot of that but I do think you are missing a part about money.

Smaller clubs can offer more within the salary cap but often nothing outside of the salary cap. Big clubs always find a way to provide that something extra.

[comrade]

Agree with a lot of that but I do think you are missing a part about money.

Smaller clubs can offer more within the salary cap but often nothing outside of the salary cap. Big clubs always find a way to provide that something extra.

Rumours going around that Jeremy Cameron's partner has been lucky enough to land a very well paying gig at Cotton On in Geelong. I'm sure it's just a coincidence...

[mjp]

Interesting thoughts MJP. Could you expand a bit on why you don't think the footy spending cap doesn't affect the ability to invest in something? To me, a layman/idiot, it would seem you can either be good at something at the cost of something else, or just be really average everywhere.

What should we be doing?

I don't know. I posted about this 12-months ago and think there is the potential to create a centre of excellence around rehab or recovery or something with Cryo chambers etc.

As for the 'soft' cap - there is heaps of room in the cap. The reality is that footy department spending has just 'spread out' across traditional areas rather than been focussed in on a specialty...I agree, you can be average at everything or good at one thing but can't you be EXCELLENT at one thing and just hitting a base-line for everything else?

Create a player friendly environment. Make it about them. Be DIFFERENT. Rolling out the same stuff they can get 'down the road' but in a different colour scheme? That doesn't impress anyone. Do something different.

[mjp]

Players who are facing their last contract will either take a paycut to experience success, or look to maximise their last contract and go to clubs that will overpay. That in itself seems to mean top four and bottom four clubs are the most attractive, with middle-tier clubs missing out.


I'm pretty sure it means clubs that are smart with their salary cap management will be in a good position to correctly value each player and offer them the 'right' deal. Overpaying is dumb no matter where you are on the ladder - that is money you wont have for the next guy...you know, the one you think is slightly undervalued in the market based on his skill-set and you are trying to extract from a rival club (contract or no contract btw).

[mjp]

Regarding point 3, do you think Brisbane and Richmond are doing this particularly well?

I don't think so - I don't think any club has tried to do this overtly.
The Lions and Tigers have achieved 'popular acclaim' simply through onfield results. Linc McCarthy couldn't get fit at Geelong, now he plays every week at Brisbane ergo the Lions have a great medical program. The fact that it did stuff all for Marcus Adams is neither here nor there if you haven't noticed...that's his fault/his body because the Lions are 'excellent' in the area of rehab and recovery. Freo on the other hand are 'no good' and have had to sack a long time HP manager in response to all the bad PR. Is he the problem? Is it just dumb luck? Well...we will probably never know but they had to be seen to do something.

The Richmond togetherness/family first/story driven culture - and it is real to an extent - as effectively 'sold' in the Marshall book 'Yellow and Black' has really promoted that club as a place players should aspire to play - and their environment as one that 'every club' should be like.

A bit of shine went off the rose with the Stack/Coleman-Jones/Cotchin bs this year but they have won the GF (again) so it will all become a great story of overcoming the odds etc.


And to your last sentence - where do you think the list is?

Umm - I don't know. I wish I did...

I don't really spend any time looking at AFL lists though.