GWS, Bulldogs battle for Ward

[bornadog]

Jake Niall



THE Western Bulldogs have upped the ante in their contract offer to midfielder Callan Ward, but the revised offer of $400,000-$450,000 a season for three years is still a fraction of what he can earn if he joins Greater Western Sydney.
The Bulldogs recently increased their offer to between $400,000 and $450,000 a season, meaning he would earn close to $1.3 million over the term of the three-year contract.
While this would make him among the top-four highest paid players at the Bulldogs, it remains far below what he would get from GWS, which is understood to have dangled a five-year offer worth at least $4 million.

Over the three years, the GWS offer would be about double the Bulldogs' contract, and the Giants are also offering an additional two years. GWS, however, can be expected to ''frontload'' the contract - a necessity for a club that will have such a young and talented list - meaning that, like Gary Ablett at Gold Coast, Ward would be paid more heavily in his first two seasons.
After Melbourne's Tom Scully, Ward has emerged as one of the key targets of GWS, which met with Ward earlier this season and made a strong pitch for the 21-year-old, who has shouldered a greater burden this year while the club's premier midfielder Adam Cooney has been injured.

The speculation surrounding Ward's future has not affected his form; indeed, over the past six weeks, the hard midfielder has produced his best football of the season, having been consistently among the club's best. He had an injury-riddled season in 2010 after emerging as a potential topliner in 2009.
In expressing the hope that the club would retain him, Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade described Ward as the club's answer to Geelong's emerging superstar Joel Selwood.
Adam Cooney is the highest-paid player at the Bulldogs, on an estimated $550,000-$600,000, followed by injured defender Brian Lake, who has another two years to run on the contract he signed at the end of 2009. Ryan Griffen is the other player among the top bracket, just below Lake; Griffen won the best and fairest last year.

While the Bulldogs could not be reached for comment on Ward, yesterday they issued a statement denying Jason Akermanis's suggestion that football operations chief James Fantasia had been involved in talks about the coaching position with Essendon assistant and ex-Adelaide skipper Simon Goodwin. Eade is out of contract at season's end.
''The Western Bulldogs have started an internal process with Rodney Eade and his management,'' the statement said.

''The suggestion that any representative of the Western Bulldogs has met with or held discussions with any other party in relation to the club's coaching position is categorically untrue.'' Eade recently changed managers and is now handled by Barry Hall's manager Phil Mullen.
As an Essendon insider noted yesterday, Goodwin and Fantasia have a strong friendship from their time at the Crows - the latter was a long-time recruiting manager with Adelaide - Goodwin having lived with the Bulldogs' football department head when he first moved to Melbourne, before his family came across.

[bornadog]

Reading this article a couple of things stick out:

* Should we be offering Ward $500,000, would that get him over the line or would that then upset other players like Griffen who may not be on that amount?

* GWS are offering Ward a 5 year contract, compared to our 3. On the one hand 5 years security of income sounds good, but on the other hand, does Ward want to be away from his friends and family for 5 years? In 3 years time, if he is still playing good footy and becomes elite, who is to say we can't pay him $600,000/$700,000 or more.

I guess he has a lot to weigh up.

[LostDoggy]

What I saw stick out was that there is not a skerrick of information we didn't already know. Rubbish article.

[Mantis]

* Should we be offering Ward $500,000, would that get him over the line or would that then upset other players like Griffen who may not be on that amount?

No we shouldn't.

At present he isn't worth $500k (or even $450k for matter) and it will jeopardise our ability to keep other players if we pay over the odds for him.

[LostDoggy]

I guess the point is that it's not news if it's not new.

Funny point in the article, saying that what we can offer will be 'a fraction' of what GWS can. I've always found this figure of speech weird, as every number is a fraction of another. Also, if you're going to use that term, it's usually taken to mean a TINY fraction, not "more than half". Another example of trying to inflate the facts to sensationalise them.

[bornadog]

No we shouldn't.

At present he isn't worth $500k (or even $450k for matter) and it will jeopardise our ability to keep other players if we pay over the odds for him.

If it takes another $50k to keep him, I would pay him.

[Mantis]

If it takes another $50k to keep him, I would pay him.

I believe we should have stuck with our original offer, an offer we would have seen as being fair & reasonable and if that wasn't good enough we let him walk... that's what other clubs do.

We can't allow ourselves to get in a bidding war with a club that has extremely deep pockets.

[LostDoggy]

No offence cause I love Ward and the effort he puts into the jumper. But if the dogs pay him 1.3 million then there wont be a premiership in sight over that period and maybe further.

[Maddog37]

The way Ward is playing now he may well already be our second best player behind Griff (discounting Lake and Cooney due to injury).

He is moving up the Marmo votes with a bullet over the last month or so.

I would sell the farm to keep him.

[bornadog]

The way Ward is playing now he may well already be our second best player behind Griff (discounting Lake and Cooney due to injury).

He is moving up the Marmo votes with a bullet over the last month or so.

I would sell the farm to keep him.

Good midfielders don't grow on trees.

[Desipura]

Good midfielders don't grow on trees.

Yes they do, great ones dont.

[LostDoggy]

Good midfielders don't grow on trees.

Yes they do, great ones dont.

Agree, I would have thought it would be harder to get a solid functioning Defence and then Forward line before a soild midfield? In that order.
Wouldn't an above average defender be harder to find than a good midfielder?

[BulldogBelle]

Agree, I would have thought it would be harder to get a solid functioning Defence and then Forward line before a soild midfield? In that order.
Wouldn't an above average defender be harder to find than a good midfielder?

Your right

I would have thought that GWS would have wanted to recruit a mature and strong defensive players so that they didnt get scored heaviily against

Eg Gold Coast attempted this when they recruited Bock, Krakour, Harbrow etc

[Greystache]

I believe we should have stuck with our original offer, an offer we would have seen as being fair & reasonable and if that wasn't good enough we let him walk... that's what other clubs do.

We can't allow ourselves to get in a bidding war with a club that has extremely deep pockets.

Agree, it sets a bad precedent for future negotiations.

If it takes another $50k to keep him, I would pay him.

Do we take this view for every player in our top 20?

20 x $50k = $1 million or 1 x Lance Franklin

[bornadog]

Do we take this view for every player in our top 20?

20 x $50k = $1 million or 1 x Lance Franklin

No, its a matter of balancing the list.

I for one would be pissed off if I found out we lost Ward for the sake of $50k