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After the events of this week, especially with Warnock and O'Keefe, it is just about a certainty that free agency will be introduced and IMO this will be a disaster.
The arguement for free agency is that the salary cap will keep inflation in check and make sure things remain fair for all. This is naive in the extreme.
Currently there is enormous risk in cheating the cap for very little reward - you can't get players from other clubs without giving up a fair(ish) trade for them. You then have to weigh up the opportunity cost of the missing draft picks/player - you might come out ahead, you might not.
Risk >>>>>>reward.
Yet it still happens. When St. Kilda was trying to re-sign Nick Riewoldt but couldn't fit his higher wage under the cap, Ricky Nixon jumps on SEN and says St. Kilda needed to get more "creative". Nick signs in a matter of days.
I personally know of one instance where an aboriginal player was offered $20K from his club president for "a piece of original aboriginal artwork". The player drew a stick figure on some butcher's paper. He was laughing his head off when he told me.
I met this guy professionally. His account was always paid by an aboriginal community group. The club made a "donation" to the group (and no doubt claimed it as a tax deduction) and a % of that money was syphoned back to the player by way of paying his bills.
All free agency will do is increase the reward for cheating the salary cap. Instead of getting a small benefit from cheating (retaining a fringe player) a successful salary cap cheat could pick up Jonathon Brown.
How does Brisbane keep him? By cheating the salary cap, of course.
You will recognise the most successful cheats, they will be the ones holding up the big, gold cup.
The comp will be heading towards 1982 all over again.
The arguement for free agency is that the salary cap will keep inflation in check and make sure things remain fair for all. This is naive in the extreme.
Currently there is enormous risk in cheating the cap for very little reward - you can't get players from other clubs without giving up a fair(ish) trade for them. You then have to weigh up the opportunity cost of the missing draft picks/player - you might come out ahead, you might not.
Risk >>>>>>reward.
Yet it still happens. When St. Kilda was trying to re-sign Nick Riewoldt but couldn't fit his higher wage under the cap, Ricky Nixon jumps on SEN and says St. Kilda needed to get more "creative". Nick signs in a matter of days.
I personally know of one instance where an aboriginal player was offered $20K from his club president for "a piece of original aboriginal artwork". The player drew a stick figure on some butcher's paper. He was laughing his head off when he told me.
I met this guy professionally. His account was always paid by an aboriginal community group. The club made a "donation" to the group (and no doubt claimed it as a tax deduction) and a % of that money was syphoned back to the player by way of paying his bills.
All free agency will do is increase the reward for cheating the salary cap. Instead of getting a small benefit from cheating (retaining a fringe player) a successful salary cap cheat could pick up Jonathon Brown.
How does Brisbane keep him? By cheating the salary cap, of course.
You will recognise the most successful cheats, they will be the ones holding up the big, gold cup.
The comp will be heading towards 1982 all over again.
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