2016 trading and drafting (merged thread)

[0918330512]

For all the money flowing at the higher end of the payscale the likes of Towers, BJ and Xav would be on pretty modest salaries (I would think a base of not much more than $100,000) . Under the CBA players also get close to $4,000 match payments per game so for these guys playing regularly is the difference between a decent salary and a good one. Yes they get to play sport for a living but most of the guys end up washed up at 25-26 looking for an alternative career when all their mates are well on their path

I would have hated to have been on 100k PA in my early/mid-20s. Hell, it'd really suck to be on that now. For chasing a ball.
No offence but if you make relatively good money early in your career and it ends at 25-26, you're not in a bad position. How many people work then decide to start again in another field? Plenty of people study law, medicine & teaching after working several years - often in far less glamorous or well playing careers (likely earning less than $100K. They start at the bottom again and take years to get established in their new career.

[Industrial Fan]

I don't understand the fuss over the Vickery deal. If the Hawks have the cap space and money and want to spend it on Vickery then they are welcome to in my book. Vickery takes the chance they'll offer him peanuts in two years, they take the chance he'll spud it up and then walk.

If the AFL are unhappy with the.compensation pick then they should change their stupid formula, or better yet, abolish it.

the problem I have with free agency is not that there is a pick that goes to the tigers, its that every club has paid for Richmond losing Vickery. I am all for the players moving if they want but the club drafting the player should have to pay a draft points value relative to the contract.

The fact we got buddy without paying anything is stupid. the afl has perverted their own system imo.

[Mug Punter]

I would have hated to have been on 100k PA in my early/mid-20s. Hell, it'd really suck to be on that now. For chasing a ball.
No offence but if you make relatively good money early in your career and it ends at 25-26, you're not in a bad position. How many people work then decide to start again in another field? Plenty of people study law, medicine & teaching after working several years - often in far less glamorous or well playing careers (likely earning less than $100K. They start at the bottom again and take years to get established in their new career.

Nobody is saying that they don't get a good deal and I'm sure none of these players who finish up at 25-26 would do it any other way.

All my point was making is that for many of the players the life as an AFL player is a lot less glamorous and lucrative than we may assume. A player like Xav, he's been on the rookie list for two years where he was on about $55,000 a year ($56,275 for 2015 based on the CBA) and then last year he was on a base of $82,035 with $84,465 plus $3,660 for each game he played.

A comfortable lifestyle for a bloke in his early 20s but he is hardly set for life, at best he probably has a nice car and a little nest egg but not much else. And it's probably not far behind (if at all) elite graduates into their third year in the workforce. And these peers don't work in an environment where a ruptured testicle is an occupational hazard.

A lot if these kids, and I suspect Xav does not fall into this category, also throw all their eggs in the pro football basket (and the associated lack of life skill development that comes with the highly coddled environment they live in) and then end up having to start again 5-6 years behind their peers in getting a "real job".

So, if Xav gets a chance to earn some decent money then I think he should go for it

[crackedactor]

disapponited

Nobody is saying that they don't get a good deal and I'm sure none of these players who finish up at 25-26 would do it any other way.

All my point was making is that for many of the players the life as an AFL player is a lot less glamorous and lucrative than we may assume. A player like Xav, he's been on the rookie list for two years where he was on about $55,000 a year ($56,275 for 2015 based on the CBA) and then last year he was on a base of $82,035 with $84,465 plus $3,660 for each game he played.

A comfortable lifestyle for a bloke in his early 20s but he is hardly set for life, at best he probably has a nice car and a little nest egg but not much else. And it's probably not far behind (if at all) elite graduates into their third year in the workforce. And these peers don't work in an environment where a ruptured testicle is an occupational hazard.

A lot if these kids, and I suspect Xav does not fall into this category, also throw all their eggs in the pro football basket (and the associated lack of life skill development that comes with the highly coddled environment they live in) and then end up having to start again 5-6 years behind their peers in getting a "real job".

So, if Xav gets a chance to earn some decent money then I think he should go for it

I am surprised people don't value XR more. I know he was work in progress, but I really thought he showed promising signs. I for one am sorry to see him go, especially with Mitchell and Nankervis already gone.

[Swansinger]

xav richards is basically another craig bird did some good things and in reality is probly in some teams 22 but i wont miss any sleep if he went

+1

My immediate reaction to this news was "Meh".
The only bloke I'm upset about losing is Mitchell.

[Maltopia]

Re Richards, I am more disappointed re his request than Mitchell's. Mitchell is a star and can command big dollars elsewhere.

Richards has not shown us the goods for so long, and had to get some real tough love from Shaw and the NEAFL coaches to remould him into a forward and give him a chance at salvaging his AFL career. I think he owed us more than Mitchell did as he would have likely succeeded elsewhere if we did not pick him up as a F/S selection, whereas Richards was on the way out until we helped him turn it around.

[SeanM]

Good luck to him.

I think with Reid coming back, he is not in the best 22. So there was a risk he could be on the fringes of the team for the next two years. He is 23 so now is a good time to take a chance to establish himself at one of the Melbourne clubs.

Reading the article, I think there are money issues for interstate players on the bottom of the list. So good luck to him if he wants to move back to Melbourne and live with his family especially if Ted also goes back.

[MattW]

I was surprised by this news, in particular the premise that a club would trade him. But I am also not particularly disappointed by it, he was mostly poor in the finals and won't have too much opportunity to develop in the seniors if Reid is fit. I am not sure he has the temperament for it.

His (selection and) departure does highlight the dearth in tall forward stocks. It will be hard to cover Reid if he is injured again next year. Richards aside, there were no listed tall forwards playing reserves this year (unless you count Rose).

[Mug Punter]

Re Richards, I am more disappointed re his request than Mitchell's. Mitchell is a star and can command big dollars elsewhere.

Richards has not shown us the goods for so long, and had to get some real tough love from Shaw and the NEAFL coaches to remould him into a forward and give him a chance at salvaging his AFL career. I think he owed us more than Mitchell did as he would have likely succeeded elsewhere if we did not pick him up as a F/S selection, whereas Richards was on the way out until we helped him turn it around.

Xav has been busting his gut on minimum AFL wage for the last four years, I really don't think he owes us anything to be honest.

I'm disappointed as it was a "Good News Story" for me but if he has been offered a deal that is well below what he can get elsewhere, and you'd have to suspect that this is the case, then he'd be mad to not leave. I'm sure his preference all things being equal would have been to stay It's a short career so he should cash in when his stocks are highest and realistically I think he would have struggled next year getting a game with Reid back anyway.

[Ludwig]

Sydney's cost of living sends Richards packing

No Cookies | Herald Sun

I really don't blame him given the kind of conditions our lower paid players have to endure. You get so little for $2000 a week these days.

phillipines-poverty-getty_custom-d5226f5c5935c900468fba917eaec33e1d6f70e6-s900-c85.jpg

I think our players should put up a tent city on Mike Fitzpatrick's lawn.


Why can't we have a COLA supplement added to our membership fees which could be used to rent houses for our players to live in. Surely charity packages from the fans wouldn't be included in TPP since it would effectively come from outside the club.

There's a real risk of losing Aliir to the Go Home factor. It would be a huge embarrassment to the PM if he went back to a Kenyan refuge camp just to improve his living conditions.

[Plugger46]

In AFL terms, surely the COL isn't about whether they can make ends meet. It's about whether they can live far more comfortably on the same amount in one of the other states. All of the evidence suggests that that's the case.

People comparing their wage to Office workers and the like is ridiculous in my view.

[Industrial Fan]

In AFL terms, surely the COL isn't about whether they can make ends meet. It's about whether they can live far more comfortably on the same amount in one of the other states. All of the evidence suggests that that's the case.

People comparing their wage to Office workers and the like is ridiculous in my view.

Irrespective of what the salary cap allows for the external income of players based in Melbourne would be much higher with other media and promotional opportunities. You could make an argument that that only covers the top 5-10% of players but if definitely keeps players anchored in Melbourne if that's what they want. We are also the beneficiary of the odd deal to 'escape the fishbowl' but the whole COLA discussion was based on memes and monosyllabic arguments.

[Doctor]

I would have hated to have been on 100k PA in my early/mid-20s. Hell, it'd really suck to be on that now. For chasing a ball.
No offence but if you make relatively good money early in your career and it ends at 25-26, you're not in a bad position. How many people work then decide to start again in another field? Plenty of people study law, medicine & teaching after working several years - often in far less glamorous or well playing careers (likely earning less than $100K. They start at the bottom again and take years to get established in their new career.

All fair points, but it's not enough to set you up for long and if you can get 100K and live with your folks, you're going to be able to save a hell of a lot more.

[Doctor]

I really don't blame him given the kind of conditions our lower paid players have to endure. You get so little for $2000 a week these days.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1705[/ATTACH]

I think our players should put up a tent city on Mike Fitzpatrick's lawn.


Why can't we have a COLA supplement added to our membership fees which could be used to rent houses for our players to live in. Surely charity packages from the fans wouldn't be included in TPP since it would effectively come from outside the club.

There's a real risk of losing Aliir to the Go Home factor. It would be a huge embarrassment to the PM if he went back to a Kenyan refuge camp just to improve his living conditions.

I don't think your posted image or your last paragraph are the slightest bit funny. Based on your general posting history I think it's just an error of judgement though. Not trying to come across as gatekeeper here, but I found it offensive.

[dejavoodoo44]

From what I've heard, and I'm sure you'll all enjoy the irony of this, he's requested the trade because he believes he can't afford to live in Sydney on what the Swans are offering him.

Yes, didn't we have some sort of scheme to guard against that? COKE? Something like that?