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Inside Football : March 10th 2010
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Views Inside opinions INSIDE FOOTBALL WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10, 2010 that every time a club has had such an advantage, it eventually translates into premierships. How else can the established clubs fight back? So anyway, the Judd and Ablett deals -- and 112 like them -- have the AFL's approval. Perhaps we haven't heard about the AFL investigations manager Ken Wood knocking others back because his decision is never made public. Maybe knock-backs happen all the time. Surely there haven't been 114 applications and 114 approvals ... have there? Wood has proven himself an uncompromising investigator on other matters, but how does he decide these deals are OK? When he can't prove that a club official organised them? Bottom line is, this practice is a dagger to the integrity of the competition because it undermines the salary cap -- the sole pillar standing between the AFL and the unregulated chaos of free agency. Plenty of people in the past week have been pointing out the problem before adding that they have no answer. But I believe there is at least a partial solution, and the always considered evening presenter Mark Fine articulated it on radio station SEN last week. It's not going to be particularly palatable to the parties involved, but it's this: Lay all the cards on the table. Make every player's payment details, internal and external, public property. As Fine says, they are now very much part of the game. Give supporters and members access to the full story of football. Let them see how their clubs -- in which they are financial stakeholders -- are managing their businesses and Phone: (03) 9532 5845 Fax: (03) 9553 0858 EDITOR Russell Holmesby ASSISTANT EDITOR Ben Casanelia CHIEF SUB EDITOR Mick Ellis GRAPHIC ARTIST Jason Crowe RESIDENT IRRITANT Jim Main STATSMAN Brett Anderson PUBLISHER Les Banner NATIONAL ADVERTISING Danny Adamson 0412 874 330 Grant Manson 0417 052 819 Adriana Manson 0402 527 503 Cameron Damon Media, 23 Station St, Oakleigh, Vic 3166 Ph: (03) 9530 9990 SUBSCRIPTIONS One year Australia --- $A170 incl GST Rest of world -- $A280 incl GST NZ/Pacific/Asia --- $A250 Other countries by arrangement SUBSCRIPTION INQUIRIES For any inquiries, please call 1800 809 233 Overseas callers: +61 8 9362 4134 or email: subscriptions@ipgonline.cc We don't have facilities to accept foreign currency. Material contained in INSIDE FOOTBALL is protected under the Commonwealth Copyright Act 1968. No material may be reproduced in part or in whole without written consent from the copyright holders. INSIDE FOOTBALL is published by International Publishing Group Australia Pty Ltd. ABN: 17078421628 GPO Box 107 Sydney NSW 2001 Ph: (02) 9327 1266 Fax: (02) 9362 3035 Printed by Westonprint Marketing Pty Ltd. Distributed by NDD Distribution Pty Ltd. © 2007 International Publishing Group Australia Pty Ltd. All rights reserved. Published under licence from ACP Publishing Pty Ltd WE WELCOME YOUR THOUGHTS: insidefootball@ipgonline.cc the Guts SINNER VS SAINTS! Bad boy turned Bulldog saviour Barry Hall – the fallen Saint and Swan – looms as the man between St Kilda and the pre-season pre- miership. Ben Casanelia previews the game: Page 20-21. Cover Is anyone else in the football world still flabbergasted by the news that 114 players have extra employment deals outside the salary cap? And that these deals are OK by the AFL as long as clubs can demonstrate that their officials had nothing to do with making them? These deals were all made between third parties and player agents, right? All 114 of them. Nothing to do with the clubs. Right. So that deal between Chris Judd and Visy -- to cite the highest profile -- had nothing to do with any Carlton official, even though the Blues' late president Dick Pratt was chairman of Visy? Visy just happened to have a vacancy for an "environmental ambassador" right at the time Judd was looking for a club in Melbourne. Judd is not unqualified for that sort of job, even at his astronomical hourly rate (although how many companies pay a part-time environmental ambassador upwards of $200,000?). So presumably Visy would still have employed Judd had he chosen to go to Richmond rather than Carlton. Just as Frank Costa's property development business would continue to give Gary Ablett promotional "work" if he played elsewhere. Do you think? But naturally Pratt, being a Carlton board member, had nothing to do with the Judd deal, since it was against AFL rules for him to do so. He wouldn't have so much as passed on Judd's number to his Visy management, or suggested a convenient time for his CEO to catch up with the star footballer. Course not. We're such cynics. And look, if a player wants to take a second job, do some promotional work in their limited spare time, why not? Some professions restrict members from taking second jobs, but clearly football is reluctant to prevent players from maximising their earnings. Restraint of trade and all that. Last week Gold Coast's Guy McKenna made a point of saying his recruiters would act ethically and refrain from organising outside deals for players. In effect, he was pointing out that the practice is not ethical. Damn right, it's not. Actually, it looks a lot like cheating. I can't see much difference between these arrangements and giving players cash in brown paper bags to augment their official salaries. If I supported one of the few clubs apparently not involved in this I would be furious. Peversely, many fans support Geelong's efforts to find another external backer for Ablett, because Gold Coast is operating with an unfair salary cap advantage. History shows TRANSPARENCY THE WAY TO WAGE WAR ON DEALS By MICK ELLIS DEAL OR NO DEAL: More than one in six AFL players has extra income. n The Fevola/ Bingle picture scandal reeks of publicity seeking on Bingle’s behalf. n Football support- ers can be a tough lot – just ask St Kilda debutant Paul Cahill. n Brisbane’s lawyer should curb his derisory comments about Fitzroy people wanting to keep the old logo. n West Coast has already had enough problems with South American products. n Fremantle doesn’t have the runs on the board to snub Grand Finals in any competition. n Brendon Gale is delusional. n Essendon’s deci- sion to let Adam McPhee walk with- out a fight looks to be a wise move. n Wayde Skipper will never get a better chance to prove himself than over the next three months. n Port’s Robbie Gray should be atop each Victorian clubs wish list come years end. n Five years is a long time to wait for a No.1 draft pick. n All the Bulldogs’ “premiership eggs” are settling into the Barry Hall basket. n Could a week go by without a Brendan Fevola controversy of some kind? n The media in all shapes and forms like to concentrate on negatives. Who cares about Fevola and Lara Bingle? n Despite reports to the contrary, big players have never been more important due to the way footy is being played. n The more practice games you play, the greater the chance of injuries. n DreamTeamers now know that Port and Freo have the best collection of rookies. n Chad Cornes might be the last maverick footballer in the AFL. (Oh, hang on … Fev.) n The very talented Justin Koschitzke can kick a football using multiple body parts. RUSSELL HOLMESBY BEN CASANELIA BRETT ANDERSON LAUREN WOOD CRACKERS KEENAN MICK ELLIS THREE THINGS WE LEARNT THIS WEEK ... balancing their lists. Let's see who is on extra deals and who isn't. Let's see which football departments are doing a good job and which are trailing behind. I'm tipping the clubs would love to have that information about their rivals even if they hate giving it up about themselves. And it might even help clubs on occasion. If Luke Ball was indeed the second- highest paid player at St Kilda, and that was a major factor in his departure, let's have that as public knowledge rather than innuendo and gossip. In the age of fantasy football, where managing the salary cap is an integral part of the game, in the age of trade week, the drafts and limited free agency, following the AFL is about far more than what happens on the field. The "game" is equally about what happens in the inner sanctums. Fans understand that completely. The fortunes of the teams they follow rest with the competence of the list managers and recruiters in footy departments. But supporters are allowed to see only half the game -- the half that takes place on the ground. As Fine argues, why not fling back the doors and let fans see the whole game. For starters, football would suddenly get a whole lot more intriguing. More importantly, light would shine into many of the game's murky corners. Unless the AFL does this, supporters like us, left in the dark, will continue to assume the worst -- that some clubs are cheating more than others.
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