List changes and trade bait

[Untamed Snark]

If we could satisfy Geelong with a trade for Christensen, I'd be pretty happy; but can't see how we would do it.

I have not heard anything about Jake Lloyd being permanently upgraded to the senior list. I'm surprised there has been no announcement about Lloyd when there has been one about X Richards.

Is there an issue there to be concerned about?

This post is just my speculation.

Pretty certain Lloyd was upgraded in April

Just my recollection

[The Big Cat]

I think there is a bit of truth to the rumour of some players not being really happy not only about the Buddy deal but also the Tippett deal. I think they are senior players and this rumour Reg is not happy with his pay packet reinforces it for me. The problem with bringing in high profile talent to a workmanlike team is egos get put out of joint. just when they had won a premiership and were starting to think of themselves as stars they then have a couple of blow ins who get paid four times what they do. Must grate a bit. I also think that Sammy is not sure of his role in this forward set up.

Then why did half the team re-sign this year? When Swans supporters start giving credence to destabilising clap trap what chance do we have.

[Mug Punter]

I thought I had read the most ridiculous suggestions elsewhere in this thread, but no, there is always one that can take insanity to new heights. If you looked at the B&F voting Sam Reid was a vote-getter in most games and was carrying injury in many. The coaches know his value and it is huge and will grow with time. He is a premiership CHF (at the age of 20). Blokes like this are as scarce as rocking horse droppings. A Sam Reid is worth half a dozen above average mid fielders! Why do you think other clubs want him?

Have you actually seen this bloke's games this season?

Reid has been a massive disappointment this season and next season is without doubt a make or break season.

He swans about (no pun intended) wherever he feels like going, looks entirely disinterested most of the time, has a nasty habit of dropping chest marks and completely trousers himself when on anyone of any size.....

He has got to be the most over-rated $500,000 a year player in the comp. If he doesn't produce next year, and I hope he does because he clearly has some talent, then we'll be shipping him out for sure....

[Matt79]

- Brisbane then hand Collingwood a pick 5 in exchange for a player. Maybe Jesse White who wants to go to Queensland.
.

I know this time of year is often speculation but why on earth would White ask to be traded to Collingwood and Victoria 12 months ago only to turn around now and say he wants to go to QLD?

[Matt80]

I know this time of year is often speculation but why on earth would White ask to be traded to Collingwood and Victoria 12 months ago only to turn around now and say he wants to go to QLD?

Jesse was just a hypothetical with basis of fact.

[Cardinal]

I expect Reid to end up as overrated as Tommy Hawkins.

This time of year is always hilarious on RWO. Even better after finishing minor premiers and losing a grand final (albeit a smashing). If only the Swans could bottle the mental and physical toughness of us armchair experts and mix it with our tactical and strategic footy nous - we would be unstoppable.

For laughs we should start up a thread which summarises both everyones' predictions for next season and also what posters think should have happened in trading and drafting. Now can someone find me that thread about Horse needing to be sacked and bump it up.

[RogueSwan]

...This time of year is always hilarious on RWO. Even better after finishing minor premiers and losing a grand final (albeit a smashing). If only the Swans could bottle the mental and physical toughness of us armchair experts and mix it with our tactical and strategic footy nous - we would be unstoppable.

For laughs we should start up a thread which summarises both everyones' predictions for next season and also what posters think should have happened in trading and drafting...

Quick and dirty:

Kizza - is only good on his left - a Captain should be ambidextrous.
Macca - only ever gives directions, never ever steps up and kicks clutch goals.
Shaw - too old, holding back our next generation
Hanners - we've seen his best, time to trade while he still has value, no "electric" pace
Mitchell - hates being in Sydney, desperate to go to Melbourne/Hawthorn, no "electric" pace
Cunningham - needs to be a fwd only, no good as a tagger, just ask Boomer.
Tippo - using too much salary cap, we can't pay Reg enough, no "electric" pace
Jones - the next Malceski
Laidler - slow and poor disposal, no "electric" pace
Bird - does not have "electric" pace. Worth something this year, worthless next year.
Rohan - goes missing and when he does get it has sus disposal
TomD - RWO whipping boy, no "electric" pace
Reid - goes missing, hasn't improved, can only survive at the Swans by becoming a Back. no "electric" pace
Rampe - hopeless, should be able to play on forwards bigger and more experienced than him, no "electric" pace
Teddy - too old, no "electric" pace
Parker - has to be Captain, no "electric" pace
Jets - needs to go back to his one-dimensional best of 2012
BJ - getting by on name only
Goodesy - it is obvious to the whole world he has gone on one year too many. Has cost us the best mid-sized fwd going around.no "electric" pace
Pyke - can't ruck, can't kick.no "electric" pace
Reg - the worst skills in the league, he has not really been a key component of one of the best defenses in the league over the last couple of years. We have plenty of options to play on resting ruckmen. no "electric" pace
Smooch - no "electric" pace

[ernie koala]

Has anyone read the article on the solution that the Dons and Port are dreaming up for Ryder. It is thoroughly idiotic.

This is what Collingwood and Brisbane can do under this precedent.

- Get Beams and Collingwood void his contract so he becomes a free agent.
- Collingwood get the 1st round after Darcy Moore as compensation pick 8.
- Brisbane then hand Collingwood a pick 5 in exchange for a player. Maybe Jesse White who wants to go to Queensland.

This is effectively wrangling the system to get two first round picks. Collingwoods gets a lot more and Brisbane does not need to give up a 2nd round pick.

I hope the Port deal is thoroughly rejected.

I doubt it will be rejected...Which is ridiculous in the extreme.

StKilda and North did the same manipulation last year to get the Dal Santo deal done.
(his contract was terminated, so he became a free agent, Saints got a first round pick as compo, then North gave them KPD Delany(sp)who is worth about a 2nd or third rounder, for a 5th round pick which they didn't end up using)

It beggars belief that the AFL can sit back and let this kind of blatant abuse of free agency compensation happen...But they do.

[Jewels]

Quick and dirty:

Kizza - is only good on his left - a Captain should be ambidextrous.
Macca - only ever gives directions, never ever steps up and kicks clutch goals.
Shaw - too old, holding back our next generation
Hanners - we've seen his best, time to trade while he still has value, no "electric" pace
Mitchell - hates being in Sydney, desperate to go to Melbourne/Hawthorn, no "electric" pace
Cunningham - needs to be a fwd only, no good as a tagger, just ask Boomer.
Tippo - using too much salary cap, we can't pay Reg enough, no "electric" pace
Jones - the next Malceski
Laidler - slow and poor disposal, no "electric" pace
Bird - does not have "electric" pace. Worth something this year, worthless next year.
Rohan - goes missing and when he does get it has sus disposal
TomD - RWO whipping boy, no "electric" pace
Reid - goes missing, hasn't improved, can only survive at the Swans by becoming a Back. no "electric" pace
Rampe - hopeless, should be able to play on forwards bigger and more experienced than him, no "electric" pace
Teddy - too old, no "electric" pace
Parker - has to be Captain, no "electric" pace
Jets - needs to go back to his one-dimensional best of 2012
BJ - getting by on name only
Goodesy - it is obvious to the whole world he has gone on one year too many. Has cost us the best mid-sized fwd going around.no "electric" pace
Pyke - can't ruck, can't kick.no "electric" pace
Reg - the worst skills in the league, he has not really been a key component of one of the best defenses in the league over the last couple of years. We have plenty of options to play on resting ruckmen. no "electric" pace
Smooch - no "electric" pace

Perfect summation Rogue, I reckon you've covered everything there!

[Meg]

I thought the COLA was being phased out over the next 2 years, but I don't recall any details on the phases. I think the vets allowance is also going out in a couple of years. LRT ROK and Mal would all have been on the allowance as well as Goodes and Macca. Reg should come onto the vets list next year and Ted and KJ the year after if it's still in place in 2016.

The following is copied from AFL posts:

1. COLA will be transitioned down in 2015 and 2016 to take into account existing contractual obligations. The new system means a fixed accommodation subsidy introduced for newly contracted players from 2015 below a salary threshold that is still to be determined.

As I understand this, COLA will continue to be paid (and funded by the AFL) to those players who have contracts in place for 2015 and 2016. For contracts which extend beyond this (e.g. Buddy's) to the extent that COLA is built into the contract, the Swans will have to pay it and it will be counted as part of the salary cap.

For new contracts written to start from 2015 or later, there will be no COLA (so in trying to put together a competitive contract for Malceski for example, the Swans would have had no access to COLA as they had for his previous contracts). There will be an accommodation allowance (paid directly by the AFL) which should assist in paying the three Academy recruits, for example.

2. The veterans allowance will be retained at $118,000 per eligible player in 2015 and 2016 before being removed from 2017.

This would have hurt the Swans if removed earlier but with many of our long serving players leaving (LRT, ROK, Mal) or on the cusp of leaving (Goodes) perhaps this is not too bad for us in the immediate term, but will make retention of players at high salaries more difficult going forward.

3. The on-field salary cap will be upped to $10.07m in 2015 (from $9.632m in 2014) and $10.37m in 2015.

This helps all clubs.

4. There will also be the introduction of a 'banking mechanism' whereby clubs can spend more than 100% of the combined total of the salary cap and additional service agreements limit, if they spent less than 100% in the previous two years.

My head hurts every time I try to understand the effect of this in practice. I assume the accountants are putting very many scenarios through their spreadsheets and we will never be able to understand the outcomes!

[Ludwig]

My head hurts every time I try to understand the effect of this in practice. I assume the accountants are putting very many scenarios through their spreadsheets and we will never be able to understand the outcomes!

There are 6 employees in the accounting department alone:

From Swans' website

Finance:
Chief Financial Officer: Tim Laing
Finance Manager: Lesley McGrath
Accounts: Paul O?Connor
Payroll Officer: Susan Mills
Assistant Accountant: Erica Travers
Accounts Assistant: Helena Thoma

Now if I were running the website I would have titles like: Assistance COLA reshuffling manager and Franklin Department Payroll Officer just to annoy Eddie McGuire.

[chalbilto]

Quick and dirty:

Kizza - is only good on his left - a Captain should be ambidextrous.
Macca - only ever gives directions, never ever steps up and kicks clutch goals.
Shaw - too old, holding back our next generation
Hanners - we've seen his best, time to trade while he still has value, no "electric" pace
Mitchell - hates being in Sydney, desperate to go to Melbourne/Hawthorn, no "electric" pace
Cunningham - needs to be a fwd only, no good as a tagger, just ask Boomer.
Tippo - using too much salary cap, we can't pay Reg enough, no "electric" pace
Jones - the next Malceski
Laidler - slow and poor disposal, no "electric" pace
Bird - does not have "electric" pace. Worth something this year, worthless next year.
Rohan - goes missing and when he does get it has sus disposal
TomD - RWO whipping boy, no "electric" pace
Reid - goes missing, hasn't improved, can only survive at the Swans by becoming a Back. no "electric" pace
Rampe - hopeless, should be able to play on forwards bigger and more experienced than him, no "electric" pace
Teddy - too old, no "electric" pace
Parker - has to be Captain, no "electric" pace
Jets - needs to go back to his one-dimensional best of 2012
BJ - getting by on name only
Goodesy - it is obvious to the whole world he has gone on one year too many. Has cost us the best mid-sized fwd going around.no "electric" pace
Pyke - can't ruck, can't kick.no "electric" pace
Reg - the worst skills in the league, he has not really been a key component of one of the best defenses in the league over the last couple of years. We have plenty of options to play on resting ruckmen. no "electric" pace
Smooch - no "electric" pace

[Meg]

There are 6 employees in the accounting department alone:

From Swans' website



Now if I were running the website I would have titles like: Assistance COLA reshuffling manager and Franklin Department Payroll Officer just to annoy Eddie McGuire.

Clap, clap!

And now thinking more about it, I assume the abolition of the vets allowance from 2017 was the final straw in making it impossible for the Swans to keep Mal with a competitive three year contract (as offered by the Suns).

[Ludwig]

This Post-season is looking like a watershed moment for the AFL. Contractual obligations, free agency and the draft are all being seriously compromised. It's becoming a free for all.

Hats off the the Swans' management team on 2 accounts:

1. We got to rort the system with the Tippett deal before such things became common practice. 2 years ahead of the times.
2. We are building a localised team culture and loyalty through the academy system and not worrying too much about the draft, because a player and his contract derived via the draft is worthless. It is not to say that this too is likely to become degraded with time, but at least we are staying ahead of the curve.

[Ludwig]

And now thinking more about it, I assume the abolition of the vets allowance from 2017 was the final straw in making it impossible for the Swans to keep Mal with a competitive three year contract (as offered by the Suns).

We may have been able to mitigate the salary cap issue to the tune of $236,000 over 2 years, but I think the Suns are still on a bunch of financial goodies from the AFL and like the Giants are pretty hard to compete with financially.