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Tom Boyd Deal Could Put The Squeeze On Bulldogs
By JON PIERIK
Having set a benchmark through the audacious trade for Tom Boyd, the Western Bulldogs will soon have several of their home-grown young stars, who are also crucial to their premiership aspirations, asking for a pay rise.
After what appears to be a game-changing free agency and trade period, where players and their agents exercised greater power, the Dogs must now deal with the ramifications of Boyd's stunning seven-year deal worth about $7 million.
It has even been suggested to Fairfax Media that emerging superstar Marcus Bontempelli could debate in coming weeks whether to approach the Bulldogs and ask for his recently extended contract to be revisited.
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Bontempelli, presently overseas on holiday, is contracted until the end of 2017. He still has a year to run on his rookie contract but this year extended his tenure for another two years. However, even by the end of that deal, industry sources suggest he may only be paid, at best, half of what Boyd is on.
Bontempelli, taken with the fourth pick in last year's national draft in which Boyd was No.1, was a stand out in 2014, finishing second in the Rising Star award and was voted by the AFL Players' Association and the Bulldogs as the best first-year player in their awards.
Luke Dahlhaus, who finished fourth in this year's best and fairest, is off contract at the end of next season. He has become one of the commercial faces of the club in recent years and is a player the Dogs cannot afford to lose if they are to make true on club president Peter Gordon's assertion that they will play finals for much of the next decade.
"It's only natural that some player managers will say that if Boyd is worth that much, then their player, even if he is just an average player, is worth at least 50 or 60 per cent, even more, of Boyd's value," one player agent said on Monday.
"Not everyone will be like that but this [Boyd deal] could be a real game-changer for the club."
Midfielder Mitch Wallis, who rounded out this year's top 10 in the best and fairest, is also off contract at the end of next season.
That the Bulldogs can also afford to pay almost $1 million dollars of Ryan Griffen's contract to play with Greater Western Sydney over the next four years has player managers predicting there could be a squeeze put on the Dogs.
While impressive youngsters Tom Liberatore, Jack Macrae and Jake Stringer are contracted until the end of 2016, the Bulldogs will likely open negotiations with the trio later next year.
Boyd played just nine matches for eight goals in his rookie year with the Giants, but his ability to develop into one of the game's premier power forwards meant the Bulldogs were prepared to broker a blockbuster deal. However, the message to supporters and even his teammates is that the 19-year-old will need time to mature.
"He is big and he is strong and he can mark and kick goals," Dogs' list manager Jason McCartney said.
"What we do need to understand is that he is only 19 years of age. That is the big thing."
McCartney said Geelong colossus Tom Hawkins had taken time to morph into a dominant figure and Boyd would most likely be the same.
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