Crows fans, understandably, will be feeling angry with Nathan Bock. As a talent who progressed through the ranks of the Crows and was thoroughly supported when he was arrested in 2009, many fans feel he has betrayed the club.
However, don’t blame him.
You spend a long time retired and the money and terms the Gold Coast offered were just too good. This allows him to set himself up for life after football.
Instead blame the AFL for letting this get out hand on three fronts.
Firstly, in its good interests to make the side competitive quickly, the AFL has created a smelly culture of fear and distrust. By not allowing disclosure of who has signed for the Gold Coast, clubs and players are being frustratingly kept in the dark about future of the team.
It seems ridiculous that AFL coaches this season had to play players in the knowledge or non knowledge that they would not be there in 2011.
The AFL has tried so hard to differentiate itself from the NRL in player transfer arrangements by not allowing players to play in the knowledge they would not be in their club. This Gold Coast GWS episode will see this reputation disappear.
My second gripe with the AFL is the concessions allowed to be given to the Gold Coast and GWS. I do support concessions for the new clubs as they are in difficult territory.
I don’t want them to end up like the Brisbane Bears or Sydney in the 80s stuck in enemy territory with no support.
However, the amount of support given to the expansion clubs is ludicrous. Both expansion clubs get an extra $1 million in their salary cap and the best young talent in the competition for the next five years.
The clubs should only get one of these concessions. It is not fair that they get extra money and the best draft picks while the other struggling clubs are left to pick up the scraps at the AFL dinner table.
My final gripe is the lack of compensation that is provided to AFL clubs while their best players are plundered. For losing Nathan Bock, the Crows get pick 26. If Geelong likely lose Gary Ablett Jnr., Geelong get pick 16.
This is an insult to the clubs, which have not seen this type of plundering since the Vikings terrorised Europe. Clubs deserve better draft concessions and maybe financial rewards for allowing entities with superior financial resources to plunder their talent.
The AFL has a lot to answer for letting this building the club revolution get out of hand.
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