We've had enough McGuire!

[mcs]

Melbourne and Carlton have a gazillion high-draft picks and they're rubbish. Likewise Gold Coast. What the Swans have shown is you can build a team out of smart list management, clever recruitment and player development. Good to see the penny is dropping for some of the pundits.

Hit the nail on the head. This is the point the Haters always overlook about the swans. If we didn't get Tippett and Buddy they would open their eyes and realise it, as many did in 2012.

But because of our good list management, we made space for these two and now we are the world's worst as a result. COLA is simply a distraction and an excuse for these people - I would be exceptionally suprised if the additional money that Buddy or Tippett will get under COLA has, for want of a better term , a 'statistically significant' impact on their decision to come to the Swans. I just don't but that its a significant factor at all.

[ernie koala]

Andrew Ireland said they got about $30k between them, in COLA, this year....So totally insignificant this year.

I assume this means in future years this is ramped up, so that by the end of their respective contracts it will add up to 9.8% of their total contract.

Not sure how their contracts are effected (if at all), by the changes instigated by the AFL this year.

It seems we have back ended the COLA to their contracts to relieve salary cap pressure in later years.....

If so, dare I say, it's clever manipulation of the old COLA system.

[R-1]

Andrew Ireland said they got about $30k between them, in COLA, this year....So totally insignificant this year.

I assume this means in future years this is ramped up, so that by the end of their respective contracts it will add up to 9.8% of their total contract.

Not sure how their contracts are effected (if at all), by the changes instigated by the AFL this year.

It seems we have back ended the COLA to their contracts to relieve salary cap pressure in later years.....

If so, dare I say, it's clever manipulation of the old COLA system.

I'd say this means they're getting pretty much all of the 700k Additional Services Allowance as a big chunk of their salaries, which doesn't get COLA loading.

[KTigers]

I would be very surprised if COLA going away has any effect over the Swans' ability to attract players (not that we're short on good ones at the moment). For starters, the government takes half of it in tax anyway. If you are good enough to get into the 22 then you'll usually be playing well into September, and you get to live in Sydney.

[Danzar]

I think the real underlying intent here on McGuire's part is to use the COLA as a whip to bring the AFL back onto Collingwood's terms. Eddie's not stupid. He knows full well that COLA or not, we would have secured Buddy and Kurt with no discernible impact on our list.

Ralph makes an important point here: "Then while others sat on their hands they were bold enough to clear $1 million-plus of salary cap room by trading Shane Mumford, Andrejs Everitt, Jed Lamb and Tony Armstrong."

This underscores what's driving the sour grapes. The likes of Collingwood and the Bulldogs just don't like the fact that we made such a big play. It's that slightly resentful feeling anyone gets when someone other than them beats them to it by taking full advantage of the rules to their own benefit.

All I can say is tough titties Eddie.

[mcs]

I think the real underlying intent here on McGuire's part is to use the COLA as a whip to bring the AFL back onto Collingwood's terms. Eddie's not stupid. He knows full well that COLA or not, we would have secured Buddy and Kurt with no discernible impact on our list.

Ralph makes an important point here: "Then while others sat on their hands they were bold enough to clear $1 million-plus of salary cap room by trading Shane Mumford, Andrejs Everitt, Jed Lamb and Tony Armstrong."

This underscores what's driving the sour grapes. The likes of Collingwood and the Bulldogs just don't like the fact that we made such a big play. It's that slightly resentful feeling anyone gets when someone other than them beats them to it by taking full advantage of the rules to their own benefit.

All I can say is tough titties Eddie.

Spot on Danzar - they know as well as we do that it wasn't COLA that got us Tippett and then got us Franklin - but clever list management, and a willingess to roll the dice to make the big play. We may have lost $1 million worth of talent in Mumford, Everitt, Lamb and Armstrong, but you would argue that Mummy is the only top 22 certainty of the lot (Everitt would be close of course). That is a perfect example of list management - whilst I'm sure we would of loved to keep Mummy, we managed to clear out players that were probably really on overs in comparison to their place in the overall squad.

We took a risk and its paying rich dividends, and people like Eddie just can't take it that we are running our club far better than most out there. They still yearn for the days where Sydney was somewhere that players went to die and a joke of a club - not the powerhouse, elite club we now are.

[Danzar]

The Achilles's heel of any club that places far too much stocks in individual legacy is how it can come back and bite you in the arse come trade time. Take Kennedy for example. The Hawks lost him not because of salary cap issues, but because they already had a developed midfield and still thought Kennedy would be happy to hang around and accept the dud deal they offered him. In the end, we got him because we offered far more than the Hawks both financially and culturally, and we still got him cheap.

[Swansongster]

I think the real underlying intent here on McGuire's part is to use the COLA as a whip to bring the AFL back onto Collingwood's terms. Eddie's not stupid. He knows full well that COLA or not, we would have secured Buddy and Kurt with no discernible impact on our list.

Ralph makes an important point here: "Then while others sat on their hands they were bold enough to clear $1 million-plus of salary cap room by trading Shane Mumford, Andrejs Everitt, Jed Lamb and Tony Armstrong."

This underscores what's driving the sour grapes. The likes of Collingwood and the Bulldogs just don't like the fact that we made such a big play. It's that slightly resentful feeling anyone gets when someone other than them beats them to it by taking full advantage of the rules to their own benefit.

All I can say is tough titties Eddie.

And Jesse. Chuckle. As much as I loved White and Armstrong when they donned the red and white, I have to laugh that they seemed to both go backwards from an inconsistent base at Collingwood. We tried hard to get something out of them but couldn't. Collingwood turned them into spuds.

[mcs]

And Jesse. Chuckle. As much as I loved White and Armstrong when they donned the red and white, I have to laugh that they seemed to both go backwards from an inconsistent base at Collingwood. We tried hard to get something out of them but couldn't. Collingwood turned them into spuds.

Jesse played a couple of ok games for the Pies early in the year,but was pretty pants in the rest of it (when he got a game) - much like the team overall.

[ShockOfHair]

Of all those marginal players let go by the Swans in recent years - TDL, Johnston, Lamb, Jesse, Tony A, Veszpremi, Currie - virtually all have remained marginal at their new clubs. The two exceptions seem to be Gordon, who gave himself a second chance after a year in the SANFL, and Andrejs who actually had a pretty impressive year in his last season. It just reinforces our the effectiveness of our player management system in not only identifying promising talent but also knowing which players have little upside.

[barry]

By the same logic that we offloaded fringe players to pay for Buddy, we may need to offload players like Mitchell who are fringe, and are taking a good slice of salary cap.

Anyway, I wonder who the big scalp is this year. I still like Jake Carlile to swap in for Ted in 2016, once he's served his suspension.

[Go Swannies]

By the same logic that we offloaded fringe players to pay for Buddy, we may need to offload players like Mitchell who are fringe, and are taking a good slice of salary cap.

Anyway, I wonder who the big scalp is this year. I still like Jake Carlile to swap in for Ted in 2016, once he's served his suspension.

I thought trade talk was banned? I think there are probably at least 12 players who will be on the MCG this Saturday that we would trade before Mitchell.

[mcs]

I honestly can't see us chasing a big name this year, I really can't. But I wouldn't know either - for unlike other clubs that court players for months, we just get the deal done and delivered before the heat hits and all of a sudden its 'when did they do that!

It'll be about hanging on to what we've got and clearing off a few youngsters that haven't/unlikely to make it. Unless of course they choose to trade Mitchell, then we might look to use that space to get someone else in. I think it would be foolish to seek to do that, but lets not start that again. Other than that, it'll be pretty much steady as she goes, with a few of the younger guys to go and be replaced with our net intake of youngsters in the draft and hopefully our next superstar in Mr Heeney

[Untamed Snark]

Jesse played a couple of ok games for the Pies early in the year,but was pretty pants in the rest of it (when he got a game) - much like the team overall.

Nothing changed really.
Good for long enough to get your hopes up then fades like a cheap tattoo.

[Doctor]

I think the real underlying intent here on McGuire's part is to use the COLA as a whip to bring the AFL back onto Collingwood's terms. Eddie's not stupid. He knows full well that COLA or not, we would have secured Buddy and Kurt with no discernible impact on our list.

Ralph makes an important point here: "Then while others sat on their hands they were bold enough to clear $1 million-plus of salary cap room by trading Shane Mumford, Andrejs Everitt, Jed Lamb and Tony Armstrong."

This underscores what's driving the sour grapes. The likes of Collingwood and the Bulldogs just don't like the fact that we made such a big play. It's that slightly resentful feeling anyone gets when someone other than them beats them to it by taking full advantage of the rules to their own benefit.

All I can say is tough titties Eddie.

Not that he has much to compare it to, but it's probably the most astute thing Jon Ralph has ever written. It's all well and good saying you need to look after this player and that player and respect tradition etc, but if you want to win things you have to outperform the other clubs, bot on AND off the field.