Lance Franklin to become a Swan

[Meg]

May I also point out something which hasn't been raised yet? Its only the Victorian clubs that are venting bile. Dont believe we have heard from Qld, S.A or W.A.?

Primmy, the Crows and Port Adelaide have already complained bitterly and so has the Qld press on behalf of. Brisbane (Brisbane Board is in too much turmoil to make any comment I suspect). Not sure about WA clubs but they won't be far behind I'm sure. There is certainly plenty of comment about the COL in Perth.

[bondy]

As a club we have lost a bit of respect over this throughout the AFL. I have always liked how we went about things and most of the AFL world respected the Swans way of clever recruiting and good development of young players. I liked that we were respected and I thought that was important.

Swans are perhaps more respected now after this move, and it clearly demonstrates that the Swans is an attractive destination for players.

It's important to remember that Buddy is out of contract and chose us. We tabled an offer that anyone else had the opportunity to do as well. We have made smart decisions about our resources which has allowed us to be in a position to make this move.

[Melbournehammer]

I've no doubt buddy is an X factor and could be for up to four more years. How it will work in 2019 going forwards perplexes me

[Meg]

Swans are perhaps more respected now after this move, and it clearly demonstrates that the Swans is an attractive destination for players.

It's important to remember that Buddy is out of contract and chose us. We tabled an offer that anyone else had the opportunity to do as well. We have made smart decisions about our resources which has allowed us to be in a position to make this move.

Are these smart decisions about our resources when it is a multi-million dollar contract over NINE years??

[Meg]

I've no doubt buddy is an X factor and could be for up to four more years. How it will work in 2019 going forwards perplexes me

I totally agree. Had it been a four year contract (as with Tippett) I would have had some reservations about Franklin's fit with the Swans' culture but would have also seen the X factor positives. But the financial risk of a nine year contract is huge. What if Franklin has serious knee problems ? We know how easily and randomly they occur (Goodes, Johnson, LRT, Shaw, all in one season).

[Matt80]

I think their will be huge opportunities in the future for clubs like GWS, Swans, Lions and the Gold Coast to capitalise on the simple fact that AFL players in Victoria, SA and WA are getting sick of the fish bowl experiences in those states! Their lives are being constantly interrupted by people recognising them, asking for Photos and gossiping about their every move on Twitter! I've seen Swans players in nightclubs over the years and they are almost surprised if you recognise them and have a chat!

Players will keep making the move away from AFL dominated states for a better lifestyle, and the Swans along with the Gold Coast Suns offer have the location to offer the best low key lifestyle for players!

[Meg]

I think their will be huge opportunities in the future for clubs like GWS, Swans, Lions and the Gold Coast to capitalise on the simple fact that AFL players in Victoria, SA and WA are getting sick of the fish bowl experiences in those states! Their lives are being constantly interrupted by people recognising them, asking for Photos and gossiping about their every move on Twitter! I've seen Swans players in nightclubs over the years and they are almost surprised if you recognise them and have a chat!

Players will keep making the move away from AFL dominated states for a better lifestyle, and the Swans along with the Gold Coast Suns offer have the location to offer the best low key lifestyle for players!

If you are right (and I tend to agree) then we don't need the COLA to attract & retain players. But I think the COLA, at least in its current form, is certainly gone after the Franklin announcement.

[Auntie.Gerald]

Ladies and gents

I think we have fallen into a little bit of a media trap. What happened with Kurt and Buddy is a once in a lifetime situation. The odds of two superior key players wanting to move to sydney, move to a great club like the Swans in back to back years is quite frankly unbelievable !

Gary Abblett Jnr is completely different as he moved for $2mill pa and primarily for the money. If Kurt and Buddy really wanted to stay like TRavis Cloke at the Pies they would have been offered something similar and accepted that offer !

This is in my opinion is a circumstance of a perfect storm.......as I mentioned a once in a lifetime. It also not over yet, as the Hawks in my opinion still have plenty to match the deal offered by Sydney.

Let me play this out.......Im Buddy Franklin and I love the Hawks and I love Melb. My family is in melb and my partner is in melb, my fiends are in melb, i love my house, my street, my cafes on the wknd, my fruit shop, my bakery, my village etc etc....... - the hawks offer me $1.3m pa for 9yrs. Sydney offer me $1.4m pa for 9yrs. Where will he go ? nowhere !.........he stays at the Hawks.

Same for Kurt Tippett.

The reality is the the above example is no where near the circumstances, in fact it is completely the opposite !


1. Buddy and Kurt they didnt have much in the way of family in Melb or Adelaide !

2. They both wanted to leave the clubs that they were at more for a total lifestyle change then just the money. ie they could get more money at a lesser or mid club and or similar if they stayed.

3. For Kurt an incredible opportunity occurred where we didnt need to trade and similar it appears for Buddy under Free Agency. So for Buddy it is all about we are truly in the new world and we as AFL supporters havent quite caught up with the times until this week !!!

4. They both genuinely wanted to live in a city where they are rarely identified just like Dermie, Williams, Hall and Plugger and they have observed this working brilliantly for the above players and for the likes of Goodes as well

5. The Swans went down a path of being extremely frugal in the years prior to the draft 2012. They didnt even spend all their cap so we all feel that this is a dramatic change in strategy and therefore a lot of us eel uncomfortable by significant change ! But reality is that we had 3 AA players in 2012 and the likes of the Cats had 7 or so and same with Hawks from memory !!!......now we are catching up and may have 5 next year so still not to the level of a Cats team !

6. If you are moving to sydney and you want to live near your home oval SCG then you do need to spend 10% more on your house, shopping then any other city etc.......truth be known it is 15%

7. You have achieved a lot at your clubs and money is less of a motivator.........lifestyle, city culture, beaches, autonomy, mastery, new challenge are now more important in your life.

8. For buddy i also believe his connection of Goodes, Jetts and Micky O working with giving back to the community was also a strong point. Sydney does have a strong % of indinegnous kids in the city and our lads know and relish in being great role models !

9. Last but not least who would want to join the Swans.......its brand and reputation proceeds it self these days........The Bloods culture is huge !

10. The Swans can make this happen because we have a stack of players ageing and our stars are coming to the ends of their careers. We have genuinely have the cap space and we are the beneficiaries of making some brilliant purchases !

Mummy, White and Grundy will move on in my opinion !

There is no way we need to let Reid go unless he doesnt want to play in the backs

Grundy must be on $350k pa and Reid I believe is on $400k pa - and there is a world apart in their abilities !

[magic.merkin]

Great interview with Ireland on SEN this morning. Explaining the contract is heavily front loaded and a larger part part of it is lumped in the marketing cap (COLA doesn't apply to this amount) as opposed to the TPP cap. He also said no 3rd party deals were factored in. (Good old Eddie winding up the masses on 360 last night "confusing" Cordy's comments to have come from Ireland.)

He went on to say that they were approached at the same time as Tippet deal was occurring. But denied him based on Tippet. Then as the year rolled on and our list shaped up (Mummy and White I supposed) and Buddy approached them again, they started to put a deal together.

He also said COLA is only a problem when we are winning and when we are aggressive for quality players. We are cheered and no one bats an eye when we turn scraps from other clubs into gold or are mediocre.

I feel slightly better about it all.

Could care less about the other clubs whinging. They signed off on it, and i'd love to have the entire equalisation structure reviewed. I just can't stand us being called cheats. We are operating within our rules, we are just good at it.

- - - Updated - - -

Oh and He said Buddy wanted out of Melbourne above all else (fish bowl, car accident), loved Hawthorn and was said he had to leave.

I guess the club will use Goodes/ROK/LRT wages when they retire to cover re-contract negotiations. Then as that runs out Buddy's contracts major $'s will be thinning out to his back end.

[Matt80]

If you are right (and I tend to agree) then we don't need the COLA to attract & retain players. But I think the COLA, at least in its current form, is certainly gone after the Franklin announcement.

The Sydney Real estate market in booming at the moment. I don't want any Swans players feeling like they have to walk more than 5 minutes to dip their toe in the water of an Eastern Sydney Beach.

We need the COLA as its getting more and more expensive to live within 5 minutes of the beach and they should not have to suffer the housing market squeezing them!

[Sandridge]

[QUOTE=MightyBloods;626238]Oh Eddie...the robin hood of the competition so long that it doesn't impact Collingwood.
Lets talk equalisation Eddie. How many home games at the MCG do you get a year? The revenue that you and the AFL get from these games helped fund your Westpac Centre. Do you give free lease to your Westpac facilities to the more down trodden Melb clubs? or donate towards the other clubs facilities?
How are those third party agreements going Eddie? You know, the ones where you had to distance yourself from Mcguire Media for some of your Pie players? You know, the Cloke one with the Footy Show, the Swan one with The Footy Show and MMM and also a guy called Dale Thomas who interestingly just recently has had his 3rd party arrangements put on hold.

So right! In the interests of "equalisation", will Eddie give up guaranteed blockbusters that Collingwood "own" like ANZAC Day and Queen's Birthday Monday? How about he suggests that the Western Bulldogs play North on ANZAC Day? Wouldn't those two clubs love the opportunity to have that special occasion? For true equalisation, Collingwood needs to give up the numerous advantages it's size and power bring.

[Go Swannies]

There are two, no three, points here:
1. On field - I have faith in our coaching staff. And Goodes playing time is limited so we need another star.
2. Off field - Buddy will give us a 10x return in terms of PR and membership. And, if we can curb his partying, we have another star to take over from Goodes here, too.

and, best of all, 3. The Swans are always regarded as the white-bread nice guys. If you listen to the outrage around Australia it's fair to say that the Swans are finally up front as the ultimate competitors. I love the fury. We didn't cheat but we certainly have played hard ball. The move, on top of Tippett is so audacious it's amazing. And the fact we kept it quiet for 12 months (with Pickering as Clarkson's agent!) is incredible.

This time last year people were talking about the Swans winning a brilliant GF. Who won this year? I've forgotten as all I see are pages of newsprint filled with the Swannies.

The B&F on Friday is going to be fun!

[Primmy]

Here is another factor. The coaches are obviously happy with the kiddies we garnered in 2013, so we are quite solid with the succession of players. We already have them in place. this is not the usual state of affairs, delisting only one for this season. We are not going to have to go mad at the draft table this year.

Kudos to the management that's all I can say.

The BIG thing that leaps out at me is the fear in Victoria. They have come to the conclusion at last that they are no longer the centre of the AFL universe, and they are hopping mad about it.

[erica]

Geez I love this club. That's all.

[dimelb]

I'm still conflicted about this. Here's a couple of other thoughts:

* GWS also have the COLA however as far as I can see it only has become an issue (this year) as we seem to have won the bidding war?

* I do see Buddy as a replacement for Goodes. Does this mean Buddy's pay could be at a lower level for the years Goodsey plays on, then jumps to take into account Goodsey's retirement?

* Could this force Goodsey's early retirement?

* Buddy was earmarked for ambassadorial payments if he went to GWS - does he still get/deserve them if he's a Swan?

* From the club's perspective, communication is the key in my eyes. As a fan I would like the club to communicate what is going on and why. I'm a fan - I deserve it.

* Is this an early sound in the death-knell of GWS? Seems like big name players are not keen to go there, and I can't blame them.

* As a club we have lost a bit of respect over this throughout the AFL. I have always liked how we went about things and most of the AFL world respected the Swans way of clever recruiting and good development of young players. I liked that we were respected and I thought that was important.

* I'm bracing myself to lose another player or two as a result of all this and I don't see that as a good thing. Mummy was always looking elsewhere, Jesse deservedly was looking to leave too, but I hope we don't lose anyone else of note.

Jono, members got an e-mail yesterday.