Not losing sleep over this one yet, but if he continues to play this well for the balance of the year we may need to up the ante a little.
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Not losing sleep over this one yet, but if he continues to play this well for the balance of the year we may need to up the ante a little.
I heard Stringer on the news tonight saying he thought JJ would stay.
If that is the case, then why on earth would a player not want the security of a contract. His approach effectively means that if JJ were to suffer a career ending injury in the next 26 weeks, he's exposed. As it is, he's completely un-secured...
If he does genuinely want to stay, then his manager's a complete knob who's bluffing. What's more, he's risking JJ's welfare. JJ should remind both himself and his agent that JJ has a lot more on the line than the agent does...
JJ saying he wants to stay and Stringer saying he thinks he'll stay is the party line. JJ is testing the open market allowing his manager to broadcast the fact he's not signing till the end of the year. His perogative but mark my words the opposition will come hard and put forward an offer that will be 'too good to refuse'. As Webby says though if he cops a serious injury this year his offers will take a significant downturn
If he helps win another flag and we get something good I'll wish him well. .
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/af...7d961481c2ce73
AFL landscape has changed forever as players happy to hold out on new contracts
WELCOME to the new normal.
A new paradigm where all the usual notions of loyalty and flying under the radar have been rejected by the AFL’s stars.
We suspected the football world had irrevocably changed but it was confirmed beyond doubt by Jason Johannisen on Tuesday.
Across half a dozen radio and TV interviews this summer the Dogs defender had pledged his undying loyalty to the club that took him in the 2011 rookie draft.
And yet with the Dogs and his management well apart on that new contract, his manager told the Herald Sun the deal was on hold until season’s end.
Just four days into the AFL season.
Extraordinary.
If that isn’t Jerry Maguire’s mantra filtering into the AFL system as Rod Tidwell screams “show me the money!” how else can we interpret it?
It would shock the Bulldogs if “JJ” actually left, but if he can’t cash in on his Norm Smith Medal he will scare the club into making them think he might.
He is seen to want full tote odds — the market says he could get $800,000 elsewhere — so why accept maybe $600,000 a season at his existing club?
Once a premiership was seen to bond players with a lifelong commitment and at least guarantee a season of goodwill.
Yet just 15 days after Luke Beveridge selected Joel Hamling in the Western Bulldogs premiership side the key defender left to join Fremantle.
Once we would have accused him of being a football mercenary but instead we didn’t blink an eye.
When a rival offers you $1.3 million over three years it’s just seen as good business to cash in on a lucrative rival offer.
Johannisen is joined by free agents Dustin Martin and Nat Fyfe in delaying talks while they extract every possible dollar from new deals.
Yet if you think Johannisen, Fyfe or Martin will be distracted by months of contract discussions you don’t know Generation Me.
In between working hard on the track over summer Johannisen put in hours considering a new hair cut, a thatch of white hair also designed for maximum shock value.
The inspiration was NFL wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr, known for bizarre sideline antics including proposing to a practice net he had inadvertently kicked over the previous week.
If you think he wants to dodge the limelight you don’t know JJ.
If Dusty was afraid of people looking at him, he wouldn’t have tattoos on each side of his neck.
Martin believes if Fyfe and Dangerfield can wait on contracts so can he, and has already shown after Chopstick Gate and his father’s deportation to New Zealand his form is not affected.
The only problem with this brave new world is the rest of us haven’t caught up.
Now every Western Bulldogs player will be asked about Johannisen’s contract position, starting with captain Bob Murphy.
Already Damien Hardwick and Jack Riewoldt — twice — have had to answer for Dusty this week.
Presumably in a decade the practice will be so common we wonder why players like last week’s free agent signing Luke Breust hand over their leverage so early.
But right now we are stuck in the middle, aware players were handed these very rights yet still uncomfortable when they use them to full effect.
Bevo concerned by Johannisen contract delay
WESTERN Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge has admitted he's concerned Norm Smith medallist Jason Johannisen has put contract negotiations on hold until season's end.*!
AFL.com.au reported on Tuesday the defensive playmaker's management and the Bulldogs were poles apart in discussions, and that the Johannisen camp wouldn't entertain further offers until the end of the season.*!
Beveridge revealed he had spoken to the 24-year-old about the stalemate, and had been assured by Johannisen that the former rookie wasn't looking to leave Whitten Oval.
"Yeah, (I am) a little bit (concerned)," Beveridge said on Thursday.
"I think the simple way to look at it is (Jason) has backed himself to have a great year, and leverage a contract for the future.
"It doesn't appear the lure of his (home) state (Western Australia) has anything to do with it.*!
"He wants to be a Bulldogs player, and that's encouraging.
"I take him at his word and he's a very honest person."*!
LINK
On Foxtel last night Jake Niall said that after the Tom Boyd contract that the doggies have taken a leaf out of the way Geelong has handled their contracts over the past years. That in order to keep the team together the players coming out of contract will have to accept unders.. The Club was very firm on this. He did mention that The Bont would be the exception. So if JJ wanted top dollar he would have to go elsewhere.
He was getting financial advice from Adam Cooney at the time, who is well known as a lover of the folding stuff. I don't want to delve into salaciousness but it seems (based on social media) in the fallout of Stringer's relationship breakdown, his ex-partner is still very close with the Cooney family which may mean Adam isn't as big an influence on Jake anymore. Can only be a good thing if so.
I'm going to go the opposite way to what appears to be popular opinion and say we pay him.
We can retcon how good his finals series "actually" was, or how good his disposal "actually" is (it's really good btw), or claim that there's players on our list that far exceed him, but realistically he's a very unique, legitimate 80m player who is one of the most damaging gunners in the league (Shaw excluded he just might be #1, and he's definitely got him covered for pace). His game is in high demand around the league - look at what Geelong gave up for Zach Tuohy, a far lesser player of the same mould as JJ, who distinctly does not have a Norm Smith medal - and I honestly don't think $700k is that far off what his value is worth.
It's a nice thought that he should take less money just because he had the nerve to be drafted outside of the National Draft, but this is detached from reality. If we lose JJ we become a far worse side; could you say that about Hunter or Macrae? Pay the man.
I think he is a great chance for the Brownlow too
I agree and if he wins the Brownlow, just hand us the flag now!
I liked Bevo's comments on the situation today. He was upfront and said JJ is backing himself in to have a big year and earn top dollar, which we'd like to pay but we also have a list to manage.
This could turn into a win-win for us:
A) he has a huge year, wins the Brownlow, AA etc which means we finish high up the ladder, go deep in finals = him being paid top dollar either by us, or another team (reaping us a top draft pick if that's the case)
B) he doesn't quite hit the heights he was hoping & his inexperienced manager has to crawl back to us and accept a more realistic deal