Tippett!!

[ernie koala]

well done AFL ... at last they stand up and recognise that the player must always be complicit in the fraud!

The onus is on him to ensure that he understands what his adviser was saying ... I assume that he has an avenue to appeal this otherwise? ... if not, he should accept it and get on with his career.

These elite young players have been "under management" from about age 14, and they and/or their parents fully understand precisely what their contracts are worth, when they expire, and if they include anything "unusual".

Once again, the AFL differentiates itself from the farce that is NRL ... see the penalties imposed on the Melbourne Storm salary cap cheats ... NOTHING! ... they not only retained the cash, never missed a game, but STILL believe that they are the rightful premiers, even having been stripped of their titles ... now that is a farce, and the outcome had absolutely no deterrent value whatsoever.

After these penalties, who will be the next AFL player to try and cheat the salary cap?

Kudos AFL!

Don't agree. Whilst players should, and I'm sure mostly do, understand the terms of their contracts...

They are professional footballers,paid to play football....they are not lawyers, not club administrators, not player managers.

To put all the onus on the player, regarding their, sometimes complex, contract arrangements..... is ridiculous.

Surely the onus should be on the club administrators and player managers, who negotiate the deal, including any lawyers involved, to make sure everything is compliant with the rules....this is what these people are payed for.

[Ruck'n'Roll]

To Ludwig, lwjoyner etal who think Tippett copped the rough end of the pineapple think again. He may truly not have the intellectual toolkit to understand the intricacies of contract law, but failing to notice an annual overpayment of $200,000 suggests DirtyKurt is the AFL's answer to Forest Gump!
A claim the AFL have treated as derisive.
In the end his penalty followed the established precedent to the absolute letter (11 games). A penalty Which was handed out to Greg Williams when he was caught having signed two contracts with . . . . . you guessed it . . . . . . . the Sydney Swns!
Those with a sense of irony will appreciate the fact that if we draft DirtyKurt and forego his services for half a season, just as Carlton had too when they grabbed Diesal off us.
It is truly a case of the biter bit. It may have taken 20 years for the karma train to reach the station, but it got there!

As for DirtyKurts (or Forest Kurts) post-penalty statement:
Only during the recent AFL trade period did I learn that some terms in the Adelaide offer may have contravened AFL rules, and since that point I and all parties associated with me have co-operated fully with the AFL in its investigations.
What another great example of the non-apology from a sportsman (I find the use of the word "may" particularly disingenuous).

In time I will undoubtedly become reconciled to his recruitment, but like Williams, Lockett and Hall before him, Tippett will probably never command my unreserved regard (and to save the trolls the effort: "Yes, I am aware he won't lose any sleep over that either).

[ernie koala]

well done AFL ... at last they stand up and recognise that the player must always be complicit in the fraud!

The onus is on him to ensure that he understands what his adviser was saying ... I assume that he has an avenue to appeal this otherwise? ... if not, he should accept it and get on with his career.

These elite young players have been "under management" from about age 14, and they and/or their parents fully understand precisely what their contracts are worth, when they expire, and if they include anything "unusual".

Once again, the AFL differentiates itself from the farce that is NRL ... see the penalties imposed on the Melbourne Storm salary cap cheats ... NOTHING! ... they not only retained the cash, never missed a game, but STILL believe that they are the rightful premiers, even having been stripped of their titles ... now that is a farce, and the outcome had absolutely no deterrent value whatsoever.

After these penalties, who will be the next AFL player to try and cheat the salary cap?

Kudos AFL!

Don't agree. Whilst players should, and I'm sure mostly do, understand the terms of their contracts...

They are professional footballers,paid to play football....they are not lawyers, not club administrators, not player managers.

To put all the onus on the player, regarding their, sometimes complex, contract arrangements..... is ridiculous.

Surely the onus should be on the club administrators and player managers, who negotiate the deal, including any lawyers involved, to make sure everything is compliant with the rules....this is what these people are payed for.

[Big Al]

Tippett?

Don't agree. Whilst players should, and I'm sure mostly do, understand the terms of their contracts...

They are professional footballers,paid to play football....they are not lawyers, not club administrators, not player managers.

To put all the onus on the player, regarding their, sometimes complex, contract arrangements..... is ridiculous.

Surely the onus should be on the club administrators and player managers, who negotiate the deal, including any lawyers involved, to make sure everything is compliant with the rules....this is what these people are payed for.

Couldn't agree more Ernie. Players pay agents good money to get these things right otherwise they wouldn't need them.

[royboy42]

Ignorance of the law is not acceptable as a defence in any court in the land.

If you sign a contract unread, it in no way absolves you from the terms of that contract.

Contract to get a loan, and if you default, the lawyer who drew up the contract and the financial adviser who earned commission don't finish up being prosecuted..YOU do!

Hard, and being a young person makes no difference, but that's how the world works.

That being said, I look forward to seeing him going around in red and white next winter.

[707]

That being said, I look forward to seeing him going around in red and white next winter.

It'll be almost spring before he gets into red and white!

[Gezball]

A couple times in my life I have sat down and fully read all the fine print in a very long agreement in front of a bank employee before signing it, like when opening a new account. And they looked at me as if this was the strangest thing that they had ever seen. I asked a few questions about certain clauses, which they could not answer without calling a bank official who was not available, and probably never would be. How many times are we confronted with long legal statements we are asked to accept, basically without reading or questioning, and just do it, because everyone just does it!

I am sure many on here have bought or sold property, had a lawyer, and just signed where the lawyer said to sign.

Football players, like the rest of us, especially those with managers, just sign where they are told to sign.

Can you just see a football player reading his contract '......is in compliance with paragraph 4.7, sub-paragraph b as amended on 12 June 1998........ etc. etc. '. You must be joking. But this is what Vlad now expects footballers to be fully compliant with. Most will only be able to train twice a week, as they will have to attend law school the rest of the time. I doubt that more than 50 players in AFL, Tippett obviously being one of them, could sustain this long a suspension, be out of contract, and not find that it was the end

I'm a little confused here, I thought the whole point was that the extra payments/ trade arrangement wasn't actually in his contract. And that is how it slipped by as the AFL vet all player contracts. If it had been in the contract the AFL wouldn't have allowed it.

Am I missing something here?

[Dan]

I think Tippetts penalties are fair enough, but I think Adelaide got off lightly. The AFL has potentially stopped Tippet from getting the 2 year contract extension worth about 1mil a season. Adelaide lose $300 000, two young players who could potentially be delisted after two seasons (or become superstars, the draft is a lottery most of the time), and Trigg is banned for 6 months which is tiny in comparison to 11 weeks of an AFL career.

[CureTheSane]

Hall, Plugger and Dermie were all recruited pre the no dickhead policy, and the Bloods culture was invoked after their recruitment as well. Moreover the recruitment of Plugger and Dermie took place during completely different circumstances.

So to have pride in your team, its history and its culture makes you a sheep? Strangely, our culture seems to be the envy of most other teams, and its a culture that doesn't pander to individuals. As demonstrated in the Grand Final a champion team will beat a team of champions. I think Tippett may be more suited to tennis.

That's not what I said.
I said that getting sucked into believing a no dickhead policy really exists makes you a sheep.
every club ideally recruits great, mature, well balanced players.
In the end unless a player has repeatedly infringed (eg: Fevola) he will be drafted.
No club drafted Fevola, so they can all claim a no dickhead policy if they like.

Don't even get me started on "Bloods Culture"
Please explain to me what this is.
Explain the culture of the team from the early century and why we are considered to be living it now.
Kirk should be in marketing

[Reggi]

Adelaide are hardly impacted. Tippet gets smacked. Salary cap is there responsibility.

I bet the $300k is not as much as they got from the nab cup

Outrageous decision

Should always be premiership points docked

[CureTheSane]

Never agree with the removal of premiership points.

Same with the Storm in that other stupid game.

For me it makes the whole competition a bit of a joke when this happens.

Would prefer that the Crows had to forfeit a player for 11 rounds next year and play with 17 on field

[Jewels]

I am an unabashed Tippett fan but I have no problem with his sentence and I think it will work out well for him and us - give that poor damaged brain plenty of time to rest up before the pointy end of the season, but gee The Crows officials got off lightly.
The AFL have acknowledged that there is benefit of the doubt in Tippett case yet he copped the toughest sentence?
Something wrong somewhere if you ask me.

[ernie koala]

I am an unabashed Tippett fan but I have no problem with his sentence and I think it will work out well for him and us - give that poor damaged brain plenty of time to rest up before the pointy end of the season, but gee The Crows officials got off lightly.
The AFL have acknowledged that there is benefit of the doubt in Tippett case yet he copped the toughest sentence?
Something wrong somewhere if you ask me.

IMO 2 reasons for Tippett getting the rough end of it....

1) It's the best PR result for the AFL...particularly in SA.

2) They already have one basket case in Adelaide, and don't want another.

[Dosser]

That's not what I said.
I said that getting sucked into believing a no dickhead policy really exists makes you a sheep.
every club ideally recruits great, mature, well balanced players.
In the end unless a player has repeatedly infringed (eg: Fevola) he will be drafted.
No club drafted Fevola, so they can all claim a no dickhead policy if they like.

Don't even get me started on "Bloods Culture"
Please explain to me what this is.
Explain the culture of the team from the early century and why we are considered to be living it now.
Kirk should be in marketing

Probably off topic but I actually agree with you here. For heaven's sake, we were trying to trade our two picks for Dustin Martin, who anyone can see would be trouble. All clubs have a 'No DH' policy, it's just that we advertise ours.

[Number 43]

That's not what I said.
I said that getting sucked into believing a no dickhead policy really exists makes you a sheep.
every club ideally recruits great, mature, well balanced players.
In the end unless a player has repeatedly infringed (eg: Fevola) he will be drafted.
No club drafted Fevola, so they can all claim a no dickhead policy if they like.

Don't even get me started on "Bloods Culture"
Please explain to me what this is.
Explain the culture of the team from the early century and why we are considered to be living it now.
Kirk should be in marketing

For Melbourne supporters the team has always been known as the Bloods. I went to the footy at the Lakeside Oval in the 70's and this is what people would call them. 'Go Bloods'. I reckon the 'bloods' culture was about the Sydney players embracing the full history of the club and trying to give substance to a team that were just considered some AFL funded joke. I'll never forget Darryn Creswell grabbing his jumper and mouthing those very words 'Go Bloods' as he ran around the oval after we defeated Port Adelaide in that final in 03. I love the way the players refer to themselves as the 'bloods' now. I reckon the 'Bloods' culture is a good thing. When you see Ryan O'keefe and Bob Skilton being interviewed together on the ground after the Grand Final with their arms around each other then i reckon that 'bloods' culture and sense of history is working. I know there is more to the culture than what I've said here but for a Melbourne supporter it confirms my continued faith in the team for the last 30 years. Well done to the players for embracing it. I reckon Kurt will as well.