Free agency. It will inflate player salaries and squeeze out the middle class athletes.
It will widen the gulf between the big powerful clubs and the smaller, less financially resourced clubs and create what Mick Malthouse contends will be a ‘two tiered competition.’
It would be fair to say that the AFL’s move to free agency has had its fair share of detractors.
Since the announcement that free agency, a staple among sporting leagues around the world, would be introduced into our game, statements similar to Malthouse’s have flooded our newspapers and airwaves.
Such fears are completely unfounded. They speak of nothing but an aversion to change.
It is important to be clear on the actual rules surrounding free agency in the AFL. Players who have been at a club for at least eight years and are in the top 25 per cent of highest paid players at their club have the right to become a restricted free agent.
This means that they are free to negotiate with other teams, but their original clubs have the right to match any offers they receive. As a result, the majority of big-name free agents will be restricted.
Once a player who is in the top 25 per cent of earners at his club comes out of contract, he can become an unrestricted free agent, as long as he has been at the same club for at least 10 years.
Any club which suffers a net loss through free agency – that is, losing more players than it gains – will be compensated with draft picks.
Put simply, the guidelines for an AFL player actually qualifying for free agency are extremely limiting.
LeBron James’ recent foray into free agency has left the NBA and the entire sporting world in flux. All NBA offseason activity has ground to a virtual halt, as Lebron decides which team he wants to play for.
This situation has sparked unwarranted panic among some AFL observers, who claim that the fact that the NBA’s best players are free to change teams so easily is bad for the game, and that we would be loathe to see such an occurrence in the AFL.
It is important to remember that the NBA and the AFL operate in two completely different worlds and cannot even remotely be compared. We will never see a LeBron circumstance in the AFL, as our form of free agency is as watered down as a beer you get at the footy.
It would require an absolute shift in philosophy in the AFL for this to even be a distant possibility.
Free agency has been a part of the AFL for two years now, and for all the controversy that it has generated, only nine restricted free agents have changed clubs. The vast majority of players have re-signed with their clubs before even getting the chance to become a free agent.
In the past month or so, Bryce Gibbs and David Mundy, the two most prominent potential free agents at the end of this season, have re-signed with the Blues and Dockers respectively, electing not to even test the market.
Saints fans may argue against free agency, as they have lost two club stalwarts, Brendon Goddard and Nick Dal Santo.
Goddard’s move to Essendon came about because St Kilda decided not to match the Bombers’ offer. For their troubles, the Saints received pick 13 in the 2012 draft as compensation, which was then traded to the Suns in exchange for young ruckman Tom Hickey.
Sure, Goddard left a battling club in favour of a financially superior club, but it is no coincidence that the Bombers currently lack the list depth to be a serious contender. The money used to pry Goddard from the Saints could have potentially been allocated towards an extra two or three players, which would have given Essendon the depth required to challenge the top teams.
One might even argue that St Kilda will be better off as a result of this transaction, due to the fact that the Bombers are no closer to winning a premiership than they were before Goddard arrived. Furthermore, Hickey has shown promise for the Saints over the last two seasons as a developing ruckman.
What is often lost among naysayers is the fact that free agency has proven to be a boon for the AFL’s middling players. It has allowed players such as Xavier Ellis and Jeremy Laidler to resurrect their careers with the Eagles and Swans, respectively.
There is nothing to be concerned about when it comes to free agency in the AFL. For all the hoopla, very few big name players are changing clubs, and the compensation system is so generous that losing a free agent does not harm clubs as much as one suspects.
For those who say free agency is just another example of the AFL becoming Americanised, an American sports fan would hardly recognise our version of free agency. There is nothing to be afraid of.
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