AFL Equalisation Question

[Sanctorum]

Can someone please explain to me how it was that Richmond was able to recruit Tom Lynch (a FA) from the Gold Coast Suns in last years trade period but was not required to give up anything whatsoever in return - sure GCS was awarded a compensation pick for Lynch - which then demoted all of the following club picks one spot down the order. As far as I know Richmond were able to hang on to both their 1st and 2nd round picks regardless.....

Surely if the AFL is serious about equalising the competition, then this process has quite the opposite effect because it in effect makes the rich clubs richer because a gun player like Lynch is hardly going to want to come to one of the weaker clubs.

Maybe I've missed something but I just don't get it!

[chook23]

Can someone please explain to me how it was that Richmond was able to recruit Tom Lynch (a FA) from the Gold Coast Suns in last years trade period but was not required to give up anything whatsoever in return - sure GCS was awarded a compensation pick for Lynch - which then demoted all of the following club picks one spot down the order. As far as I know Richmond were able to hang on to both their 1st and 2nd round picks regardless.....

Surely if the AFL is serious about equalising the competition, then this process has quite the opposite effect because it in effect makes the rich clubs richer because a gun player like Lynch is hardly going to want to come to one of the weaker clubs.

Maybe I've missed something but I just don't get it!

You are only 12 months late with the rant re Lynch....plenty on here complained......

a problem with FA

another factor amongst many other afl rules that make the draft compromised

[Enrico_Misso]

At the GF when they handed out the medals I applauded each Richmond player except Lynch.

That Richmond recruited him was a disgrace.
It made a mockery of free agency.

The whole concept as explained by the AFL was that the "poor" clubs would benefit from free agency as the top clubs wouldn't have the salary cap capacity to bid for free agents so it would work as an equalisation factor.
In fact the opposite has occurred.

Free agents want to go to the top clubs.
And they get there because they and other players in the top clubs take salary reductions but are then "compensated" with top up payments for "promotions" etc.

The rich get richer, and ...

[saintspremiers]

Sadly Gil is too retarded to understand this and after 7 years of Free Agency hasn’t fixed this loophole.

What an idiot.

[SaintPav]

Free agency is a broken and the AFL need to fix it.

[longtimesaint]

Surely it can’t be that hard to make the team receiving the free agent pay a draft pick based on the size of the contract.
In the case of Lynch it would have been Richmonds first round pick.
It would help but still wouldn’t stop free agents going to the top clubs.

[ausfatcat]

ban top 8 teams from gaining free agency?

[barneyboyz]

Surely it can’t be that hard to make the team receiving the free agent pay a draft pick based on the size of the contract.
In the case of Lynch it would have been Richmonds first round pick.
It would help but still wouldn’t stop free agents going to the top clubs.

This is what I would expect to be correct and 'right'. Why should it be any different than any other trade? other than the player gets to choose where they go. Surely the club receiving that player pays market value, or in the case of say Lynch, Richmond cough-up their first pick.

Players can go to wherever they want now, take Hill, he has two years on a current contract. All the AFL needs to do is make the facilitation a little easier

[Jacks Back]

ban top 8 teams from gaining free agency?

Then it wouldn't be free agency.

[B.M]

It seems a pretty simple solution. You should have to give up something to gain something

[prwilkinson]

Slightly off topic but, has anyone else gotten a call from the club asking to donate money to the football department?

[Saint 58]

I think it should work like this:

Any player who wants to be an FA has to officially register within a 24 hour window
All registered FA players are processed in order of registration
Each FA player nominates a STATE not a TEAM
The 18th team in that state gets first crack
If they can't accomodate, don't want, then the 17th team gets a go, etc.

Once a team gets an FA, they're out of play until all teams in that state have n FA
Once all teams in that state have an FA then all teams can take another FA as stated previously

I've probably missed something or created a loop hole or two
But you get the idea

[Spinner]

At the GF when they handed out the medals I applauded each Richmond player except Lynch.

That Richmond recruited him was a disgrace.
It made a mockery of free agency.

The whole concept as explained by the AFL was that the "poor" clubs would benefit from free agency as the top clubs wouldn't have the salary cap capacity to bid for free agents so it would work as an equalisation factor.
In fact the opposite has occurred.

Free agents want to go to the top clubs.
And they get there because they and other players in the top clubs take salary reductions but are then "compensated" with top up payments for "promotions" etc.

The rich get richer, and ...

This post makes no sense at all.

Free agents and free agents. Free. Not sure how it makes a mockery of it.

[Sanctorum]

This post makes no sense at all.

Free agents and free agents. Free. Not sure how it makes a mockery of it.

Point taken Spinner that free agents will always have a right to choose where they want to go, all I'm arguing is that the club that they want to go to should have to give up at the very least a draft pick in return commensurate with the rating of the free agent concerned - in the case of Tom Lynch, that would obviously be a first round pick.

The effect of the destination club having to forfeit a draft pick would to some extent offset the extra draft pick handed to the FA's club as compensation, in terms of maintaining the original draft pecking order

In principle this should not contravene free agency because the player concerned will obviously work things out with his destination club well in advance of the deal being struck, as has occurred with all of these movements in recent years.

Unless the AFL recognises that the current system has this anomaly, then it can't be serious about their equalisation policy!

[ace]

It seems a pretty simple solution. You should have to give up something to gain something

But then RIchmond would not have got a freebie valued at pick 3 by the AFL.

[minneapolis]

Slightly off topic but, has anyone else gotten a call from the club asking to donate money to the football department?

Did they ask you to put the money in the St Kilda FC bank account in Nigeria?

[prwilkinson]

Slightly off topic but, has anyone else gotten a call from the club asking to donate money to the football department?

Did they ask you to put the money in the St Kilda FC bank account in Nigeria?

Haha no, I did suss it out though just in case and got them to email me some information after the call. Some sort of raffle where they’re selling limited tickets to try and raise another $250,000 or so just for the footy department.