Sick of it.

[dimelb]

Well said Swanspant, and others.

I think it is beyond some of our members and a great many of other clubs' members to realise that if you want a successful club, you need to have as good a team off the field as you have on it. With people like Richard Colless, Andrew Pridham and Andrew Ireland, plus other board members, we have the combination of business nous and imagination to construct a deal that may well be beyond the capacity of some, if not many, other clubs.

I griped initially and had my doubts, but I've come to think that the Buddy deal makes good sense for us and our short-to-medium term future. I'm sure they have planned for the obvious contingencies (career-ending injuries etc - touches wood) and I'm happy to see how we go; on first sight it's not bad!

Envy is a waste of time, as well as being one of the Seven Deadlies.

[Xie Shan]

Well done, be good to tweet this to Peter Fitzsimmons (SMH) who has been bagging out the Buddy signing ad nauseum in Sydney .
Not sure how to do it.

Just send a message to @Peter_Fitz containing the link to this thread.

[Jewels]

BRILLIANT!

I am sick to death of this crap too. I wrote this piece mostly about the Buddy situation, a few weeks ago on the Footy Almanac website
Buddy: A New Frontier

Funny how quiet all of the critics have been over the past few weeks!

Quite simply, no club in the AFL makes smarter footballing decisions than the Mighty Bloods!

Congrats on your article Joe, a really enjoyable read.

[joemoore12]

Thanks Jewels. I believe the club has more than enough runs on the board to be trusted in their bold decisions.

[jono2707]

We need to get used to the jealous, malice and hatred now coming our way. We are no longer the little team that could. We are no longer the respected battlers who punched above their weight. We are no longer everybody's second favourite team. Due to the brilliant management of our club, and the daring and foresight of those in charge, we are now equally envied and dreaded by the fans of other teams. We are big and scary to them. We can no longer care if people don't say nice things about us, because we ain't nice. We've shown we're here to win, and we'll do what's needed to do that.

[ShockOfHair]

Tom Harley made kind of the same point on Friday night, pointing out that 14 of the 22 came via a 'non-traditional path.'
FWIW - Bird wasn't a rookie, was pick 59 in 2007. Arguably Jetta was also 'non-traditional' as a mature age player coming out of the WAFL.

I think there's plenty of recognition across the league about the Swans' record to managing its list. In our premiership year I recall a lot of experts suddenly discovered our 2009 'super-draft'. To be fair I think Hawthorn and Geelong are as good as the Swans in list management.

The COLA had nothing to do with recruiting Franklin and Tippett. It's a loading on every player's salary paid by the AFL and audited by the AFL and no-one has produced evidence it's been abused.

People are complaining out of fear of what the Swans will do to their team, so take it as a compliment.

[DamY]

COLA looks to be gone and replaced with a "COLA that only applies to rookies/newly-listed/players that aren't getting much" which is fair and most clubs will sign off. The sooner it's clarifies the better the club will be in managing future payments.

[Matt80]

Great read. I think that 2012 Swans flag took more from the Hawks than just consigning them to the runners up medal. It was also the beginning of the end of their association with the AFLs most exciting superstar.

As Buddy sat slumped on the turf, watching our guys receive their medals something must have changed in his mind. He must have thought "I want to be part of that group on the stage". For most of 2013 he and his manager made quiet moves to make that happen.

[bloodsbigot]

Top thread.

We picked a gem in Rampe recently. Unwanted. Played for Williamstown in the VFL. Went and played in Sydney AFL in 2012. Swans recognized his talent and got him cheap.

Laidler. Unwanted by Carlton. Wasn't getting a game. Got him cheap.

Richards. Unwanted by Essendon. Wasn't getting a game. Got him cheap. Soon enough he's an all-Australian.

Kennedy and McGlynn. Weren't getting games at Tassie. Decided it was in their best interest to move.

Adam Goodes. What a bargain. Pick 43.

Cunningham. Rejected by GWS.

Pyke. Canadian rugby player. Enough said.

Etc etc.

Eddie and the other morons can stick it.


On the other hand... the more hated we are the more successful we are. So we should be saying, "thank-you very much," each time we get insulted. We should see it as a badge of honour.

I remember when supporters from other clubs prior to 2005 used to call us their second team. After that I noticed on footy forums that more and more people started turning against us. At that point I realized the full extent of tall people syndrome among humans and how our minds work. People generally do not like success... which is why I tried modifying my attitude towards winners like Tiger Woods and Roger Federer and wasn't so supportive of the underdog.

[Meg]

As Buddy sat slumped on the turf, watching our guys receive their medals something must have changed in his mind. He must have thought "I want to be part of that group on the stage". For most of 2013 he and his manager made quiet moves to make that happen.

Nice try. I think it is far more likely that over the course of 2013 developments in Buddy's personal life caused him to want to move to Sydney once free agency gave him the opportunity.

That meant he had two teams to choose between. A desire to play in a team with a short-term premiership window meant we were his preferred choice if we could make an offer that would not be outbid by GWS nor matched by Hawthorn. Remember Hawthorn had already made him an offer of a 5 year contract reported to worth $1.3 million a year. The rest is history.

Buddy's tears after the Hawks won the 2013 grand final are a fair indication that his association with the Hawks meant a lot to him.

[bloodsbigot]

Nice try. I think it is far more likely that over the course of 2013 developments in Buddy's personal life caused him to want to move to Sydney once free agency gave him the opportunity.

That meant he had two teams to choose between. A desire to play in a team with a short-term premiership window meant we were his preferred choice if we could make an offer that would not be outbid by GWS nor matched by Hawthorn. Remember Hawthorn had already made him an offer of a 5 year contract reported to worth $1.3 million a year. The rest is history.

Buddy's tears after the Hawks won the 2013 grand final are a fair indication that his association with the Hawks meant a lot to him.

Unrealistic... but I still like to think it happened that way.

It's also amusing to tell Hawthorn supporters this and watch them lose it.

[Matt80]

The Swans were very creative with the Buddy deal and won.

The Hawks could possibly been more creative with negotiating with Buddy. If the Hawks knew that all roads for Buddy led to Bondi, why did they not propose an arrangement where Buddy could live in Bondi and fly interstate to play for the Hawks on the weekends. He could have trained during the week at a local Eastern Suburbs club like a UTS Bats a UNSW or a Sydney Uni. They could have Video Conferenced him in for team meetings and game reviews. They could have mobilised medical personal in Sydney to make sure his body was in good nick.

In the mid 90s, Chris Langford worked in Sydney, played for the Hawks on the weekend and trained with the North Shore Club during the week.

If the Hawks had offered Buddy a bit less $ 700,000 - $ 800,000 a season, but allowed him to have a Bondi Fly in Fly Out arrangement, then I think he could have been very tempted to continue at the Hawks.

This would breach modern non-negotiable leadership group protocol, but sometimes you need to find creative arrangements with special players. The Swans proposed the most creative arrangement and won.

[CJK]

The Hawks could possibly been more creative with negotiating with Buddy. If the Hawks knew that all roads for Buddy led to Bondi, why did they not propose an arrangement where Buddy could live in Bondi and fly interstate to play for the Hawks on the weekends. He could have trained during the week at a local Eastern Suburbs club like a UTS Bats a UNSW or a Sydney Uni. They could have Video Conferenced him in for team meetings and game reviews. They could have mobilised medical personal in Sydney to make sure his body was in good nick.

Not sure if serious?

[jono2707]

So this thread is another one degenerating into stuff about Buddy and Bondi? Yawn.

[Matt80]

So this thread is another one degenerating into stuff about Buddy and Bondi? Yawn.

Just substitute Bondi with Sydney and consider my post. Could this have been an option for the Hawks when Buddy was considering a life in Sydney?

The Swans were more creative and won the deal.