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Last week, the AFL announced another major plank in its seemingly insatiable desire to renovate and alter the competition.
A mid-season trade period has long been mooted, but has gained serious traction under Gillon McLachlan’s administration, and seems to be rubber-stamped for 2019 entry.
Clearly, the machinations still need to be worked out, and it will have major implications for list management (the subject of another article – stay tuned).
However, one implication that has not received enough attention is the current level of immaturity from the media, officials and fans when discussing player movement, which will only be exacerbated by a mid-season trade period.
Player movement – such as free agency, contract status, trade period etc – is subject to never-ending speculation, because officials and clubs, in their quest to preserve the semblance of loyalty, treat the public as naive.
Officials are told to toe the official club line, and players and their managers are not willing to publicly discuss any possible moves. This leads to speculation from journalists, which in turn leads to speculation by fans, which leads to McLachlan putting the onus on players to call out ‘fake news’ in the footy media, which he did last week.
I have no issue with the idea of loyalty, as it’s one of the things that makes our game unique in this business-focused world, but using it to shut down all sensible and reasoned discussion of player movement ruins the game’s image.
Case in point is Gold Coast admonishing Damien Hardwick for having the temerity to say that Richmond would be interested in Tom Lynch should he decide to leave the Suns.
Tom Lynch of the Suns (Photo by Michael Dodge/Getty Images)
The Tigers coach merely responded in the affirmative to a question, rather than initiating the response, and the answer he gave was honest, refreshing, and very benign. He said nothing to denigrate Gold Coast or imply that Richmond had already spoken to Lynch.
The fact the Suns were so aggrieved about these comments and ordered Hardwick to make a public apology to the club clearly demonstrates just how immature the league is in having these types of conversations.
This may be due to the nature of free agency, which has seen the clubs become over-protective of their intellectual property (in this case, the players), refusing to be drawn into speculation surrounding the future of their free agents.
Fans know that club list managers identify players of interest during the season, and it would be unrealistic to suggest that conversations between interested clubs, player managers and possible trade targets only occur after the grand final is done and dusted.
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Last year, it seemed apparent that Melbourne had approached Jake Lever’s management during the season to discuss what a move to the Demons would look like, and by mid-season it was clear he would be on the move from Adelaide. Yet, we were treated to an entire season of “Jake is certainly a good player, but he’s yet to make his intentions clear” (Melbourne), “As it stands, Jake is a player for the Adelaide Football Club” (manager), and “I’m just trying to focus on playing good footy” (Leaver).
These are obviously not directly attributable quotes, but serve to reinforce the banality of conversation and discussion we are subjected to.
Before a mid-season trade period is introduced, we need to sort out how the league approaches conversations around player movement. I’m not suggesting we go as far as having players definitively state at the beginning of the year that they are leaving their club, but it would be refreshing if out-of-contract players acknowledged that they may wish to explore other options. Likewise, clubs should be free to express their desire for such players to join them.
There would obviously then be more questions regarding loyalty, but we need to realise that footy is a business based on success and money, and players and clubs need to do what is right for themselves financially.
Mid-season trading will increase discussion surrounding the nature of player movement. Players and clubs are within their rights to exercise their options under player movement mechanisms, but we as fans are equally entitled to fair and honest conversations around this issue.
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