Still a good deal. But cats should have done 18 for henry first chance they got. Future 1st for bruhn and then forced gc into taking a 2nd and pretty much delivers clark to the cats.
They were never missing out on bowes. At the end of the sun's needed to get rid of him. If the cats moved this years first like I'm suggesting...it's sorry sun's but all we've got is a future second
Andrew Mackie...
Too long, didn't read.'It's technically within the rules, so how could it be unfair?'
I created this BigFooty account to respond to comments like this.
I'm sick and tired of Geelong supporters pretending like no one is allowed to criticise the grotesque injustice of this situation. Yes, your club is AMAZING at looting a busted system. Now, can we talk about how busted the system is?
Nobody wants to punish Geelong specifically, you myopic manatee. No club (including Hawthorn), should be able to abuse the AFL system to this extent. Geelong just won the premiership, so obviously this coup is particularly egregious - but this Bowes trade is really just the most recent of a long line of abject fleecing that the AFL has been either too docile, or too idiotic to intervene on. For all their 'equalisation' measures, teams like Geelong are making a mockery of out their league under their very noses.
The 'player empowerment era' means that once a player (contracted or not, it really doesn't matter) nominates his club of choice (almost always a rich, contending club), the club is held utterly hostage. So while you may be benefitting from it now, can you not see how perilous it is for the long-term health of the game?
GWS and GCS have been drafting and developing elite young talent for Years just for them to eventually request a trade to a wealthy Victorian club - hence, GWS and GCS are forced to trade them for a bag of chips (as they have 0 bargaining power) or hold them to their contract just to watch them walk away for free.
But why is this particularly scenario so terrible for the welfare of the game? Well, the shambolic Gold Coast front office - throwing away a former top 10 pick and pick 7, not even to the highest bidder, but to the former premier, just because Bowes says so? Not trading for established talent,or future picks, or even just offering Bowes and 2nd... and rich, established, contending clubs capitalising on their incompotence. Bowes is getting paid 1.6 million to be a VFL player, and yet, Gold Coast will let him choose where he wants to go, instead of seeking the best deal for him and pick 7? How can this possibly be allowed?
And Geelong being allowed to restructure a 1.6 2 year deal over 4 years - thereby completely shattering the integrity of a salary dump. I don't care whether the shifting of Bowes' contract aligns with the rulebook - it's a disgrace that Geelong don't have to cop the financial reprecusions of a SALARY-DUMP until well down the track.
Geelong fans, spare me: young, highly-talented contracted players like Bruhn chasing premierships at Geelong is not necessarily a reflection of a 'well run club'. It's more of a 'right place, right time' kind of thing. You just won a premiership, so obviously, you're a destination club. Which makes you more likely to win another premiership, which makes you more of a destination club. And what's GWS supposed to do? Any ex-Geelong area player (Danger, Cameron, the list goes on) can claim 'homesickness' (yeah, I don't buy it) and extort a trade from the inter-state clubs they were drafted to. Gold Coast and GWS fatten young prospects up, just for them to be poached by the likes of Geelong or Richmond at the first available opportunity. We've seen it time and time again, and it's clearly not getting any better. Ironically, even if Gold Coast or some other inter-state had taken Jhye Clark with that very same Pick 7, he probably would've requested a trade back to Geelong anyway.
The same goes for clubs in trouble like North Melbourne with Jason Horne-Francis. If he was really 'homesick', he would wager for any sort of return to SA. But of course, he wants PORT. He wants to play for a CONTENDER. Adelaide may have more to offer North, but because JHF chose Port, North have no bargaining power. They will either have to either ship away the former Number 1 pick for unders, or have to deal with a disgruntled JHF till he can leave of his own volition. They too fall victim to the 'player empowerment era'.
Current/future example: GWS landed a star in Taranto for pick 2. They developed him. He wanted to leave to Richmond. Richmond gave them pick 12 and 19. Hyopthetically, GWS lands a star in pick 12. They develop him. He wants to leave to Hawthorn. Hawthorn give them pick 16. Etc etc. Do you not see the vicious cycle unfolding here? GWS and Gold Coast are rendered mere nursing homes, because the current system gives them no power. Draft picks are meaningless to these clubs at the moment, so giving them more draft picks won't help, it'll just give the powerhouses more chances to establish dynasties.
Yes, anyone would've snatched the Bowes deal if they had a chance, Hawthorn included. That's not the point. The system is fundementally broken. I'm sick of Bowes, of Cameron, of Dangerfield, of Hopper, of Lynch, of Prestia snaking their way to premiership clubs, who aren't punished in salary for making the acquisition. Think Bowes and Pick 7 as Kevin Durant to the Warriors - when will a club like Geelong ever have to rebuild, when dysfunctional clubs like Gold Coast are jumping up and down to hand them prize draft picks, and all their players are looking to end up there anyway?
The former premiers shouldn't be allowed to acquire Bowes and Pick 7 for scraps, but they will, so that's that. Now it's up to the AFL to make sure it can't happen again. Restrictions on top 2/4/8 teams from acquiring talent? Reconstruction of the free agency / trade period system? Considerably greater salary cap for GCS and GWS? Longer rookie contracts? Just anything to restore some semblance of power to clubs, because literally anything is better than what we have right now.
This is bigger than any individual club. AFL is a SHAMBLES right now, and I'm afraid without decisive action, it'll only get worse.
If they hand the first over for bowes...not sure how they get henry and bruhn without splitting 7
Don't blame Geelong for taking advantage of a situation Gold Coast created.
1. Expand free agency to get more players of prime age competing on the open market, with a system that allows restricted free agents to stay at their existing clubs or to be properly expensive (in trade and contract). Possibly even add a salary discount to the cap for players that stay with their original club post free agency (which kicks in at 4/6 years not 8).
Wasn't the whole idea to draft clark at 7
They can’t hear you..
I don't think he suits us any more- too old and his form has dropped unless he is coming with a high draft pick of course
AFL will probably invistigate on salary dumps+picks
