Roos wants GC signings revealed

[COBHC]

Roos wants GC signings revealed

Sydney Swans coach Paul Roos says the AFL and AFLPA should tell clubs which current players have committed to the competition's new franchise

[COBHC]

There's supposedly up to 6 players that has signed with the new GC team according to the Herald-Sun. I wonder who they are? That's if the story is true.

[DST]

There's supposedly up to 6 players that has signed with the new GC team according to the Herald-Sun. I wonder who they are? That's if the story is true.

Can confirm that it's 100% legit and three of them are considered very high calibre.

DST

[Legs Akimbo]

I wonder what Jessie White has been up to of late?

[DST]

I wonder what Jessie White has been up to of late?

Jesse signed an extended deal with us lasy year, so unless we decide to trade him for an early pick he is off their radar.

DST

[Matt79]

Can confirm that it's 100% legit and three of them are considered very high calibre.

DST

Such a shame that this 'back door' dealing in a sense has crept in. I guess it was bound to happen.

[gossipcom]

I'm assuming the 6 don't include N. Ablett and K. Hunt who were previously announced?

[Legs Akimbo]

Jesse signed an extended deal with us lasy year, so unless we decide to trade him for an early pick he is off their radar.

DST

Guess that was a pretty lame effort at @@@@ stirring then.

[Steve]

For the expansion teams they should have made an exception to the normal process and just allowed them to openly sign players and announce it at any time.

Better for the new clubs (eg. able to help marketing/promotion well ahead of time, help sign other players once big names are confirmed etc), better for players moving as they can be honest with everyone and just get on with it (rather than lie to their club when they interrogate them as clubs are now doing), and better for clubs as they can get on with signing up other players and not treading water for 12 months thinking they are negotiating with a player (eg. G.Ablett) when it is a charade and other players (eg. J.Selwood and others at Geelong) get pissed off that their negotiations are on hold.

Potentially even better for other clubs if the AFL had offset some of the drafting concessions with the benefits of being able to sign players unrestricted.

We have probably the most restrictive player movement rules/process of any major sport anywhere in the world - a draft, salary cap, capped squad size, no free agency, squads frozen from mid-December to October etc etc. Other sports seem to survive when players move between teams mid-season, and are even loaned out like in soccer, so announcing what is already happening in secret isn?t necessarily a massive issue for us.

Personally I like that we don't have players announce they're moving on during (or before) a season, but it?s naive to think that is a pristine process where no-one talks to other clubs until their contracts expire anyway.

Another area the AFL (as an industry - including the clubs) think they know best in doing things completely differently to everyone else. It is commonplace in the wider world for an employee to negotiate a contract with a competitor while still working with their current employer, announce they are leaving, and work out a notice period (for senior roles often 6-12 months) without it being disastrously detrimental to their current employer.

It was interesting to see Roos being outspoken on the issue saying he would not play anyone who he found out had signed for another team for the following year. Presumably he was implying that it isn't possible to give good service knowing you are not going to be there the following year - a strange thing for Roos to be suggesting.

[BSA5]

Can confirm that it's 100% legit and three of them are considered very high calibre.

DST

I heard one was definite, while a couple were waiting until the year was out but were very interested and a couple were considering as we speak.

[smasher]

Good on Roos for speaking up.Why invest time and money into developing a player who has no plans at being at their 2010 team in 2011.It's a fair call to request names.

[timthefish]

there is a reasonable point regarding development in this but if player X has a contract to play for the swans in 2010 and he honors the terms of the contract the swans should honor theirs. there are plenty of circumstances in which a player is known not to be continuing after the present year (usually at the choice of the club and often without the player knowing) but he continues to train and be considered for selection on merit.

to do any less would be limiting the reasonable opportunities of the player, restraint of trade and potentially workplace harassment.

we'd perhaps like it to be the case that footy was all about the values we largely imagine existed in the past but that is not the case and the clubs are more keen for the expediency of big money and harsh choices than anyone else.

[Mr Magoo]

there is a reasonable point regarding development in this but if player X has a contract to play for the swans in 2010 and he honors the terms of the contract the swans should honor theirs. there are plenty of circumstances in which a player is known not to be continuing after the present year (usually at the choice of the club and often without the player knowing) but he continues to train and be considered for selection on merit.

to do any less would be limiting the reasonable opportunities of the player, restraint of trade and potentially workplace harassment.

we'd perhaps like it to be the case that footy was all about the values we largely imagine existed in the past but that is not the case and the clubs are more keen for the expediency of big money and harsh choices than anyone else.

Is it equally fair then that is same player stops performing to their best because their mind is elsewhere (say come round 15 and their tema has no chance of making the finals) that they can be let go by the club.

I dont think its right personally in such a performance based role where mindset can often be the difference that a player should be able to move on a year in advance. In most jobs 6- 12 months is not the standard notice period, it is somewhere between 2- 4 weeks, which given the off season goes much longer, I cannot understand why negotiations etc cant be done in this period. Player Agents argue that players need to know their futures in advance but I believe this is rubbish. If a player performs during the season they have no less currency at the start of the season as they do at the end and if a club is interested the timing of the negotiation wont change things. I think its quite sad how rugby league has evolved its player movement system and all it has seemed to make the players is a money hungry disloyal bunch of spoilt brats.

Further whats the point of putting time into an emerging talent if you already know that the time you have invested will be reaped by another club. AFL clubs build premierships over a number of years , this is not the case in rugby league where clubs have to take it one year at a time because of all the possible player movements.

[Jewels]

Is it equally fair then that is same player stops performing to their best because their mind is elsewhere (say come round 15 and their tema has no chance of making the finals) that they can be let go by the club.

I dont think its right personally in such a performance based role where mindset can often be the difference that a player should be able to move on a year in advance. In most jobs 6- 12 months is not the standard notice period, it is somewhere between 2- 4 weeks, which given the off season goes much longer, I cannot understand why negotiations etc cant be done in this period. Player Agents argue that players need to know their futures in advance but I believe this is rubbish. If a player performs during the season they have no less currency at the start of the season as they do at the end and if a club is interested the timing of the negotiation wont change things. I think its quite sad how rugby league has evolved its player movement system and all it has seemed to make the players is a money hungry disloyal bunch of spoilt brats.

Further whats the point of putting time into an emerging talent if you already know that the time you have invested will be reaped by another club. AFL clubs build premierships over a number of years , this is not the case in rugby league where clubs have to take it one year at a time because of all the possible player movements.

Completely agree Mr M.
This is one of the main reasons many die hard RL fans are becoming disenchanted with their game. I have a very good friend in Brisbane who is becoming a Lions member for the first time this year, after being a devoted Broncos man since the beginning of time. The garbage with Bennett signing with St George early in the 08 season was the final straw for him with RL.
Talk to any RL fan and this is one facet of their game that they all detest.

[ShockOfHair]

Roos is playing a lone hand here. I'm surprised none of the other coaches has backed him. It could just be that the lazy Melbourne footy hacks haven't bothered to ask Malthouse or Williams or Bomber, who surely must be just as unhappy.

WHy not give GWS one week's exclusivity at the season's end? During that period they can sign their prospects who they've had six months to chat up. Why the need to sign them in March?

THe distinctive thing about footy compared with other industries is that you work six months then train six months. The revenue-raising part of the business happens over winter. THe rest is preparation. Every other business work 12 months a year.

That's why the AFL, the clubs and the fans are in agreement - we don't want to see the seasons disrupted.