Tuesday seemed to be the start of a new era down at Whitten Oval with the Western Bulldogs unveiling their new logo and launching their 2015 campaign #BeMoreBulldog.
It’s hard to believe that was only five days ago, given what has happened since then.
Days later captain Ryan Griffen dropped a bombshell, requesting a trade to Greater Western Sydney, where former Bulldogs assistant coach Leon Cameron is at the helm, which forced the club to hold emergency meetings.
Those meetings culminated in a press conference on Friday morning to announce the resignation of coach Brendan McCartney, despite having two years left to run on his contract.
Despite president Peter Gordon stating it was not a crisis and the players did not run the club, recent actions would state otherwise.
For a captain of the club to say there was a breakdown in communication between the players and coach is one thing. But for the captain himself to take a full season to inform the appropriate people that he wasn’t comfortable with the captaincy points to a communication problem at both ends of the stick.
According to reports, both Griffen and McCartney agreed that there were things to work on but that things would be put in place to help. Both parties walked out in agreement that it could still work.
Move forward a couple of weeks, and before McCartney even has a chance to prove himself he is under the pump after Griffen announces his intention to be traded.
My first thought was it may be an intentional trade, as the Bulldogs have been rather vocal in their attempt to upgrade their first round pick to hopefully grab that somewhat elusive key forward they’ve never had.
Later on, it’s become apparent that it was just a ploy, as it has now been reported GWS had approached Ryan during the season regarding a potential move to the expansion club.
So why wouldn’t Ryan just approach the club and ask for a trade? Only Ryan knows that, but considering he is single-handedly responsible for the coach’s resignation, one has to consider what his motivation really was.
Either way, despite the Bulldogs stating they fully expect Ryan Griffen to see out the final year of his contract, surely the bridge has been burnt and it is now up to the Bulldogs to get the best trade they can for him.
Who knows, they may get that elusive key position forward out of the trade. But for that to happen the Bulldogs must swallow their pride, something captain Griffen failed to do.
Axle an the Guru
Guest
That would be stupid of Footscray to pay Boyd that sort of money,what's he achieved in football to warrant that pay packet???
H.E. Pennypacker
Guest
Boyd looks to be a given to be heading to Footscray, 750k a season and a trade for Griffen. GWS is not a great environment for an up and comer, it is no man's land.
Aransan
Guest
Axle, the problem is with free agency. A player with 8 years service can blackmail a club into letting them go or they will be lost anyway in another year or so under free agency. Free agency is also working to the advantage of clubs near their premiership window, hence the stronger get stronger and the weak weaker. Elite players particularly can capitalise on this and given the other constraints it means less for the other players. I am surprised the players are generally in favour of this given that it works against most of them. It might make some sort of sense if there was no salary cap. It especially worries me that clubs are talking with players while they are in contract, and this seems to be fairly general.
Dalgety Carrington
Roar Guru
Players get traded mid-contract all the time Axle.
Axle an the Guru
Guest
Griffen should be made to play for Footscray or sit the rest of his contract out. If a club sacks a player or coach early then the club has to pay them out,what punishment is there when the situation is reversed? Zilch,player gets a new club and don't lose a thing,just gets what he wants for doing the wrong thing.
Dalgety Carrington
Roar Guru
The main thing is that he does have value in terms of trade and/or as an outside chance of keeping him onside and have him playing for you for at least a season more. The destruction angle is really an emotional one and might help someone (especially a supporter) externalise their pain in the very short term, but has little benefits other than that. Even the "make him an example" angle only has limited benefit, as it is much better to have your players wanting to play for you, rather than fear the consequences of leaving.
Winston
Guest
I'm sure it'll play out your way rather than mine, but I'm not convinced that my way can't work. If this was like American baseball where the team is usually owned by some a**ehole billionaire who can do anything he wants, I'm sure he would tell Griffen to get stuffed, let's do a nuclear option, I've got cash to burn, I will just destroy your career if you don't play ball.
Dalgety Carrington
Roar Guru
How did Griffen come to the point of quitting the 'Dogs? I'm not sure it rings true that the Giants instigated it. It's more likely Griffen/his manager went to them after he decided he couldn't work with McCartney anymore. The 'Dogs can play hardball all they like, but that's more than likely some brinkmanship, with a dash of emotion, what I've seen of what they are asking for Griffen seems way off base for what GWS will benefit from the deal.
Paul
Guest
Oh,so the Dogs should just be roadkill and a feeder club to the new franchises. So much incentive. They are complicit in destroying Griffen's career at the Dogs then back away from the deal. All class.
Dalgety Carrington
Roar Guru
Who cares what they "look" like? It's not about backing down, it's about being responsible. If the Bulldogs want to make it unfeasible, then you've got to be able to walk away, otherwise you'll be suckered into being roadkill.
Dalgety Carrington
Roar Guru
How about if he then says "get stuffed, try and pay me different and I'll do you for breach of contract and walk out for nothing tomorrow"? The Bulldogs best bet is to try and get him to be more open about who he goes to. They can then be in a much better bargaining position. If the want to hardball, then they also need to be prepared to pay the price, which means him going for nothing, or that they just burn his wages for next year.
Paul
Guest
How would AFL backed GWS look after trying to poach a struggling team's captain & best player then back down. Other players would think twice before dealing with them.
Winston
Guest
Obviously I can see lots of problems with what I suggested, and the AFLPA would jump all over it as well! But this is more a case of, "you f with me, I f with you!" The threat here is that it will effectively force Griffen into retirement by freezing him out for a year and lower his stocks in the process. Under my suggestion, they would no longer be paying him the highest packet, because the threat here is, "well, right now you're probably worth (say) 800k a year. If I execute my conspiracy theory, next year you'll be worth $50k a year only. So how about we just agree that I own you, and you've blown it, so you'll just accept working for $400k a year from now on?"
Dalgety Carrington
Roar Guru
I don't know if Boyd is anywhere near "just as good" as Cameron. He's proven nothing, whereas Cameron has shown more than plenty.
Dalgety Carrington
Roar Guru
They could, but it probably wouldn't wash all that well with the players, who may be reluctant to go and play for them. They would also effectively be burning the money that is probably the highest pay packet at the club.
Dalgety Carrington
Roar Guru
Would GWS be all that desperate to get Griffen? Surely he would be too old by the time they are competing seriously for a flag. Sydney would be a prime fit for Griffen, but thanks to the AFL that ain't gonna happen. GWS would also be well and truly loathe to trade Boyd now after only one year and with Patton down. They would be better off rolling the dice for a year and see if getting a regular gig, with the first proper preseason under his belt, would change his mind. Plenty have changed their tunes in such a timeframe. All other clubs should be encouraged by Boyd's announcement, however, and get active with throwing offers at him.
Winston
Guest
To play conspiracy theory, I wonder if the Bulldogs have another trick up their sleeves. So far a lot of talk has been that Bulldogs need to let Griffen go because: 1. retaining a disgruntled captain at your club would only hurt the whole club; and 2. if they don't trade him now, he'll come off contract end of next year and he'll go anyway and the club will get nothing for it. But can they turn it around and say this to him instead: "Ryan, you will do as we say and go out and apologise to the club publicly and say you've made some terrible decisions and you will then go back to your box. Because of your bad behaviour you will also sign this new contract I have here which says the club can fire you at any time but you cannot quit the club for the next 4 years. The reason why you will do all that is, if you don't, we will not trade you, we won't play you, we won't offer you training, we won't offer you anything, we effectively freeze you for a year, so by the end of next year you would have been out of the game for a year, totally match unfit, and in the meantime I will go bad mouth you in front of all my friends in the circle, and nobody will take one look at you. Now take the pen and sign here!" Maybe smoothen the edges a bit with the speech, but you get where I'm going with this. Is that something they can do to him??
slane
Guest
I picked Cameron to be the young forward to get traded to the doggies. Boyd is just as good.
Paul
Guest
Tom Boyd come on down. Or picks 4 and 7 then Boyd comes next year. No, it doesn't suck
TomC
Roar Guru
And now apparently the news is that Tom Boyd has requested a trade to the Dogs, so it didn't take long for my theory to get shot down!