Or he could buy another one with the money we pay him AND he'd have also have premiership medallions to put in each of them as well.
As for wooden spoons you can buy them at Cole's for less than $3.
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We signed Josh on a long term deal on the cheap (as backed up by his manager a few years back) before he 'broke out'... that isn't our fault, that's good list management on our behalf and poor player management from Josh's team.
He has every reason to request a rise when the next deal is negotiated, but we are well within our rights to hold firm until that day comes.
He signed a 3 year extension in the middle of a career best season in 2019. It's hard to believe he would have signed for much less than the $450K you have suggested, so it's unlikely he is being significantly underpaid at present.
It will be interesting to know what kind of offers he receives as Tom Browne reckoned Essendon were only offering him around $600K at the time, doesn't seem enough to pry a player of his ilk out.
I think he is showing again this year that he is All-Australian quality when played in his preferred position as a midfielder.
It was good business from Essendon to try and prise him out when he was performing below his best, and good business from us to hold on to him. In the end it will be up to Josh whether he wants to stay at the Bulldogs on less money, or go to a new club where he may get paid more and have more responsibility but less support.
If they do come again this year, it will be interesting to see what our strategy is - if the offer is not much better than one first-round pick, I think we could just hold out for a free agency compo pick.
I think with the circumstances of Essendon’s approach last year - much more money and much more midfield time - he was always gonna take it. Not sure why there’s a bunch of hate for him from a few.
You’d expect teams will try and pick apart our midfield. Dunkley, Smith and Lippinski will definitely get targeted. Hopefully we keep them together long enough to win a flag (and maybe even a car).
I don't blame Lipinski if he looks elsewhere for better opportunity. Our midfield has depth this year and maybe more to come so I don't see how he can fit into it in the short term (2-3 years). I don't see Lipinski dominating midfield clearances, bursting through packs with break away speed or clearing zones with long kicking. Hope to be proven wrong, but he does not have anything outstanding or point of difference that jumps out atm.
An analogy would be Heath Scotland , could not fit into Piesmidfield in 2003 ( they had a pretty good year) and ended up at Carlton playing lots of games. Maybe Carlton could be a good trade target, they need depth and some mature bodies in their midfield. AFL is a business and we need to get best currency for him whilst we can.
Lippa reminds me a bit of Gia when it comes to how he fits from a midfield perspective. Gia was an amazing kick, great in traffic with good hands, extremely clever with the ball and a little bit suspect on the tackle/ body when playing midfield.
Unfortunately for Lippa he's not got the go forward option that Gia did to really kick start his career and solidify his spot in the team.....because Gia was a freak and not many players are able to adjust like he did.
I want to hang on to him as long as we possibly can though, he's good enough (or will be soon) to be playing a senior role in an AFL midfield but isn't because he doesn't have opportunity with us to do so. If that's the type of depth our midfield has we're in pretty good shape.
To question a player's character on the basis of them seeking a promotion with another organisation on loads more cash is pretty crazy. I mean sign me up to that thanks.
I can honestly see him signing a new two year contract at the end of 2022, he'll be 27 at the end of that and at the height of his powers. Hopefully he'll have another flag under his belt and can sign a 3 year deal elsewhere on huge coin.
He seems content, is playing really well and has his BFF at the club reckon he's a good chance to sign on.