AFL slaps trade ban on Swans

[dimelb]

Jon Ralph repeating on SEN that the Swans agreed to the ban to avoid them immediately losing the COLA which would have caused them to have to discard players to stay under the cap. He said he was told by an official "high up in the AFL" and said the AFL acknowledged that the COLA was rorted to get players. He said the AFL can only be criticised for its appalling handling of the announcement. He said the AFL can't believe the angst the Swans feel when they knew about it for weeks and themselves put it up as an alternative to immediately losing the COLA. ...

I wonder if he means Eddie.

[S.S. Bleeder]

I can't access the Hun but I saw that Jon Ralph says that not being able to trade was part of the deal with the Swans to phase out the COLA rather than stop it immediately, and that the Swans were aware of that at the time. Perhaps someone with access to the paper can find the small item in a column he shares with another writer.

I find it hard to believe that the Swans would be either so negligent or so disingenuous.

It's also hard to imagine that the AFL would cut the COLA WITHOUT ANY PRIOR NOTICE (but nothing the AFL does would surprise me now). What's even more difficult to believe is that the Swans would agree to not trade any players in for two years.

If the AFL did make this threat I can only suspect that it was a bluff on the AFL's behalf. That would clearly be a penalizing us for doing nothing wrong.

Had this occurred the only options for the Swans would have been to;
1) Immediately cut the COLA payments and breach the players contracts, or
2) pay the COLA in accordance with their players contracts and breach the salary cap.

I would in fact doubt that it would be legally possible for the AFL to do this. Placing an entity under duress to breach a contract/s would expose the AFL to liability. I think it's called "Tortious Interference".

Any solicitors out there with an opinion on this?

[barry]

"Rorting the COLA" does sound like a crime that has been made up to justify a punishment (no trading in).

The AFL has lost a lot of respect over this.

[Ampersand]

How could it even be possible to rort a system the AFL administers?

I've come to the conclusion that the Swans had no genuine intention of trading in players this year. If they need to trade next year they'll do it anyway and take the matter to court in a position to survive 2016 without the $600k COLA payment if unsuccessful. I think that's one of the reasons they let Malceski go.

It would be silly to play hardball now without a reason. If at the end of next season a player requests a trade to the Swans we'll have an effective (rather than theoretical) restriction of trade and employment on which to mount a legal challenge. Furthermore, we'll be in a good PR position to put a name and face to the unfairness of the restriction.

[Ludwig]

The COLA beatup is really getting ridiculous. The offending matter of the Buddy Franklin signing was scrutinized and approved by the AFL. If it was a rort, then the AFL could have and should have disapproved the transaction. Simple as that. So the headline should read :

"AFL approve Swans' COLA rort."

There are these kinds of 'hard to believe' transactions almost every year:

Hawks go back to back, yet sign big name FA - SYSTEM RORT
Mal Michael retires from Brisbane Oct. 2006, unretires and signs with Essendon Nov. 2006 -SYSTEM RORT
Luke Ball quits St Kilda and names Collingwood as club of choice, then miraculously slips to pick 30, Collingwood's first live pick - SYSTEM RORT
Mitch Clark too ill to play for Melbourne, but well enough to play for Geelong in miracle recovery - SYSTEM RORT
GWS use AFL to bankroll Mumford contract and give peanuts to Swans as compensation - SYSTEM RORT
GSW fail to deal to with Swans for Jed Lamb, rather using #1 position in PSD to him for free - SYSTEM RORT

There are always a number of transactions that don't look quite kosher under scrutiny, or at least taking advantage of a particular favourable situation. These are just a few of the one's that come to mind. But they were deemed to be legal under AFL rules and passed without penalty.

That is except 1 !!!

[i'm-uninformed2]

That sock puppet Ralph must have been standing when he did the interview, because it would have been doubly uncomfortable sitting with Eddie's hand up his backside

[JPK12]

That sock puppet Ralph must have been standing when he did the interview, because it would have been doubly uncomfortable sitting with Eddie's hand up his backside

Its amazing the massive COI one finds with a little research.

[JPK12]

Well after a chat with the misers we have decided that we are abandoning the code all together. No more swans no more AFL. We are going to box everything up and put it in storage. We are not renewing all 3 memberships next year and AFL is now a dirty word in our house. I have also emailed the club telling them the reasons why they will be 3 memberships short. I have heard of a few people doing the same.

Does it punish the club? Yeah but if the AFL is going to run the comp like a bunch of country league officials and if the swans are going to be silent on this, then there is no need for me to waste mine and my families time with a code that acts the way it is. I am not supporting a corrupt and compromised league that has a habit of engineering outcomes to suit their budgets.

[barry]

Weve had a few come our way using the PSD as a leveraging technique.

I dont mind Hawks getting FA after back to back. Thats free agency. What is not fair, is excluding us from the same sort of deal. Thats a rort above all rorts.

[Faunac8]

Interesting viewpoint which identifys some possible challenging scenarios for the AFL in its battle with the NRL moving forward


Is the AFL out of touch with NSW and Queensland? | The Roar

[dimelb]

Thanks Faunac8, that's an interesting article.

I've raised the same issue in a post on Footy Almanac. When Murdoch interfered with the ARL (as they then were) it seriously disrupted the rugby league clubs and supporters. The AFL made hay while the sun shone, and with decent management (take a bow Andrew Demetriou) grew the AFL in the northern states; they looked like the pros, capitalising on the bumbling amateurs.

The shoe is now firmly on the other foot. After abolishing Brisbane's retention allowance and now this trading farce, it's the AFL who look like the bumbling amateurs and the NRL is riding high. And what will that do to Australia's Game?

[Mel_C]

Well after a chat with the misers we have decided that we are abandoning the code all together. No more swans no more AFL. We are going to box everything up and put it in storage. We are not renewing all 3 memberships next year and AFL is now a dirty word in our house. I have also emailed the club telling them the reasons why they will be 3 memberships short. I have heard of a few people doing the same.

Does it punish the club? Yeah but if the AFL is going to run the comp like a bunch of country league officials and if the swans are going to be silent on this, then there is no need for me to waste mine and my families time with a code that acts the way it is. I am not supporting a corrupt and compromised league that has a habit of engineering outcomes to suit their budgets.

Don't agree with this as you are punishing the club, but it is your choice. We are all disenchanted at the moment.

[baskin]

" He said he was told by an official "high up in the AFL" and said the AFL acknowledged that the COLA was rorted to get players."

I wonder if Sydney knows that Jon Ralph has made this claim. This is as maddening to me as the trading restrictions are.
I know journalists don't disclose their scources however, the AFL & the Swans surely would want to know if someone was making claims of this nature.

If I had more hours in the day free to me I would be making a trip down to AFL headquarters and requesting some answers myself. I'm generally a fairly passive person but this rot is getting me angry.

[JPK12]

Don't agree with this as you are punishing the club, but it is your choice. We are all disenchanted at the moment.

I might be but I have had enough of the way this code is run. I follow a lot of other codes both here and OS and i have never ever experienced what i am with the AFL. They do it because they know how much of a stranglehold it has on nearly every Victorian and they know regardless people will still come back and watch. Well i am not and it will take the AFL to apoligise to the club and for those with massive COI to be given the flick and as long as one Eddie McGuire is involved as both an official and a journo then there is little choice i the matter.

[tasmania60]

Can not believe that Sydney's leaders are being led to the slaughterhouse without a bleat . Having real reservations about supporting a team i have loved for 40 years, so unlike them something smells foul !