The Gary Ablett Junior-Gold Coast saga continues to produce headlines in AFL circles, with the most recent emanating from the poster printed in a Gold Coast newspaper displaying Gary Ablett ‘photoshopped’ in Gold Coast colours.
The poster has added another level of intrigue to the story.
But with all the excitement surrounding his future, I feel the recruitment of Ablett from Geelong is a not a wise move for the AFL’s newest club.
The simple reason behind this thought is that they are throwing way too much money at one player.
The Gold Coast group are showing great intent on gaining the services of the champion midfielder by offering a reported $1.5 million a year, with some reports suggesting it may be more than that.
And some might offer that he’s already signed with them through the AFL’s baffling and dangerous loophole allowing contracted players to sign with the new franchise before their contract has expired.
There is no doubting that Ablett is the best player in the AFL at present. His addition to any side would be extremely valuable.
He also would be a great marketing tool which is difficult for them to ignore. Gold Coast are going to need some massive drawcards early on – why else did they spend so much money on Karmichael Hunt?
However, as important as Ablett’s marketing and on-field value is, these values have the potential to be negatively offset by Gold Coast’s inability to build a decent football team through the resulting lack of funds.
Sure the AFL are granting massive draft pick and salary cap concessions, but Ablett’s signing will certainly make an enormous dent in their salary cap.
Instead of throwing exorbitant amounts of cash at Ablett, they would best be served by recruiting three, possibly four, or even five very, very good players with the same amount of money.
We all know one player does not make an Aussie Rules side. His brilliance is accentuated by having an exemplary team around him in Geelong. As good as he is, he won’t be able to influence a below-par team that greatly.
Gary Ablett is not a quarterback and this is not American Football.
Furthermore, without Ablett’s signature there would be more money to share around for the rest of the team, most pointedly, the high draft picks they’ll be able to recruit at the end of 2010.
Minimum salary payments are acceptable for young players starting out, though when they hit their straps they’ll be putting their hand out like any other half decent footballer, leading to a situation where the club won’t be able keep them.
It’s understandable to get fed up when you are a talented player slogging your guts out and knowing the guy playing next to you gets more than you in a week than you do in a year. It’s human nature.
Young Gold Coast recruit David Swallow is an excellent example of this possible scenario.
The word is that he has the makings of becoming a champion footballer. If the Gold Coast doesn’t have the money to pay him when he begins to excel, he could be requesting a swift return to his native Western Australia, or a transfer to another suitable club who are able to satisfy his pay demands.
With the sparse funds available to other players, I envisage another Brisbane Bears situation occurring where the team is largely made up of mediocre and fringe players that aren’t good enough to make the grade with other clubs.
They have already recruited such a player in Daniel Harris and there’ll plenty more of these players looking for a second chance.
They would accept any sort of fee to continue playing at the highest level.
I didn’t want to use this cliché but there’s no better way to emphasise this fact – if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.
The Bears suffered through many years of mediocrity before they were able to reach the finals for the first time in 1995. And in that year they just scraped in.
The Gold Coast club and the AFL cannot afford the same poor run experienced by the Bears in what is, realistically, a non-AFL market.
The recruitment of the likes of Ablett and Hunt will draw the crowds for the first year or two, but the critical key to the success of this expansion is sustainable competitiveness.
And this will be compromised if Ablett’s multi-million signing were to eventuate.
One more thought to ponder: regarding the photoshopped poster of Ablett, has anyone thought that maybe the AFL themselves were behind its printing?
It makes sense, doesn’t it?
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