Free agents, loyalty and legacy

By Paul Frederickson

December 8, 2010 a former Ohio high school basketball phenom spent 75 minutes explaining to his adoring home fans that he was leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers to join what would become an all-star triumvirate at the Miami Heat. Cue despair, anger and tears as well as the requisite burning of Lebron James Cavs jerseys as his once adoring fans felt betrayed, like a scorned lover their anger knew no bounds. The Cleveland sports radio airwaves were filled with indignation and derision from fans who were just as upset with the way the message was conveyed as the message itself.

For Lebron James, his management and the wider sporting world it was a lesson in the delivery of a message. It was a mistake of enormous proportions at the time and an unbelievable miscalculation of public sentiment and understanding. Of a greater concern is the fact that James has a bevy of advisors who either gave bad advice or were ignored.

Make no mistake, Lebron James is a brilliant advocate for social awareness, development and philanthropy. The Lebron James Family Foundation  has generated and provided millions of dollars towards education programs putting hundreds of young adults through a university education and providing hope in many communities. And whilst this should be the legacy he will be known for it is his sporting achievements and legacies that the wider community will be aware of. But his contract is coming to an end and he wants to win more than his three NBA Championship titles. His next move is being widely debated across the world. Will he depart his hometown team once more, or will he build on the hometown hero persona? It will be great drama to watch!

In Australia the market for sports stars is generally far shallower than that of many stars from more populous countries, therefore the career choices need to be very carefully navigated. Take Tim Cahill, one of the great Socceroos of any era, and his football journey. Cahill first came to prominence playing in the 2004 FA Cup Final against the might of Manchester United for the much smaller Millwall FC a then struggling First Division team. He then became a star at Everton playing 278 games in his first stint scoring 68 goals.

Tim Cahill is the all time leading scorer for the Socceroos with 50 goals and three FIFA World Cup appearances thus far. His standing as a Socceroo will stand the test of time and when his career does end it will be these efforts that he may well be best known for. Why? The standing and respect of performances of international performances for one. Secondly his club career, like may before him, may be diluted by the amount of clubs that he has ended up playing for. Thus far Cahill has played for Millwall FC, Everton FC, New York Red Bulls, Shanghai Shenhua, Hangzhou Greenland, Melbourne City and has currently returned to Everton FC in the hopes of returning to the World Cup for the fourth time. A great player no doubt and he will be forever in the hearts of Millwall and Everton Fans, but not as a one club player.

The choice of being a one club player and club legend for any sportsperson is becoming less of a reality. In many cases the player has far less say in their career path than ever before. Most sports have tight salary caps, which include marquee and guaranteed salary provisions at set points of their playing careers.  Along with the greater provision of drafts in a number of sports the turnover of players is becoming more and more the norm. Where some sports, such as the world game of football, have transfer fees; a team, player and their agent can profit from more than one move throughout the player's career.

In sports such as the AFL where there is no transfer fee a player moving, the player movement is for more opportunity, more money or by the team choosing to swap players or draft picks. High profile player movements or even the rumour of a move are speculated on by the media and football community for months at a time. Some of the moves result in the player being a legend at more than one club. Tony Lockett and Lance Franklin being recent successful examples but it is more often than not a successful transition. The player and their agent must carefully consider how they will be remembered and how that will be received as it will effect financial opportunities in future years. The fans still talk of player loyalty but it must be balanced out with the realities of the modern sporting landscape.

As fans we talk about player loyalty, but due to the huge finances involved in most major sports the sportspeople themselves are commodities of the club. The club's decisions to trade, draft and move on players is often beyond the player's control. Clubs are highly hypocritical when they use the 'loyalty card' during contract negotiations. This is often a ploy to garner fan support and put pressure upon the player to stay at the club. The other part of this tactic is to show the supporters that the club is doing 'everything that it can' to keep the player, even if they know they may not be able to. Likewise player agents also espouse loyalty which they use as a leverage point in stalled or difficult negotiations.

We, as fans of our sports, are the most loyal parties in the process. Not many of us will change teams of beloved sports in our lifetime. But before we chop up, burn or throw out our jerseys adorned with a player's number and name let us remember that their careers are finite and often not as long as they would have wanted.

Be loyal, be kind.

Can huge crowds tempt Lynch?

By Paul Frederickson

Who is 199cm tall, has kicked 234 goals for an average at best team and will be a 26 year old free agent at the end of the season? That would be the talented Gold Coast forward Tom Lynch. Richmond will be a major player in the chase for the forward's signature.

Hands up if you want to wear yellow and black in 2019.

Richmond has two memorable, and not necessarily successful, huge free agent targets in recent decades in Ben Cousins and before that the unlucky Nathan Brown. It has been a long time since Richmond has aggressively chased a big name free agent at the start of a new season. Whilst Prestia, Caddy and Nankervis were exceptional recent pick ups only Prestia would match whatever have been considered a biggish name of the three when recruited.

The Gold Coast will be the front runners to secure Lynch as he will be a restricted free agent, much like Dustin Martin in 2017. That means the Gold Coast will have the final option to match whatever rival clubs offer. If he wants to stay he will remain at the Suns for 2019 and beyond.

Why would he leave for Richmond?

His is a Victorian and the lure of coming home may be a factor.

We are in a Premiership window with the third youngest list in the AFL. There will be a lot of competition for spots and success begets success.

The crowds. With the highest attendances of 2017 and already the highest membership numbers in the club's 133 year history Lynch is guaranteed to play in front of bumper, and adoring crowds.

Friendships. Already close friends with Prestia and Caddy he won't be coming to tiger land friendless.

So let's set our targets high and become the club of choice for free agents!

GO TIGES!

Tiger fans come in all different guises

 By Paul Frederickson 

Is any one fan greater than another? Does any one fan support harder, love their club more than anyone else? There are degrees of fandom but great clubs are families and embrace everyone, including their strange uncle or distant cousin. As Richmond embraces an era of success and unprecedented recognition from not only the AFL fraternity but the Australian sporting landscape there will be people who jump on-board the Tiger train. We, as long suffering supporters, need to make sure we all make room on the platforms and carriages.

As 2017 commenced and we started 5-0 many of us started to believe, then the blips occurred as a combination of close losses mixed with some huge losses reminded us of our decades of fragility. There is no way we could have a season that resulted in a long awaited and craved Premiership without there being massive highs and lows. It could never have been a Richmond season without the shadows of doubt. Then September came and we beat all three of our fellow top four competitors by a total of 135 points! Even then it took three fantastic second half performances to gain the ultimate AFL prize! We got more excited and scared as the prize got closer, and many who weren't previously supporters of our club were swept up in the tsunami of fervent support!

     This illustration is typical of many jibes that we have endured over the years.

Yes, we have been Ninthmond, the pretenders, the finals failures. We have been through largely barren periods if not eras. We haven't all been as supportive as we could be in the dark times but who can blame a single supporter from expressing their angst? We have seen supporters dump animal faeces at the door of the club, spit on coaches, throw beers at players, burn memberships in microwaves. These acts are disgraceful and full of anger but it would a huge surprise if, to almost a person, these supporters aren't basking in the feats of our 2017 team triumph. So are these supporters and their misguided anger any less passionate supporters than you and I?

In that same regards, people who are now professing their love for the yellow and black may be new to the club but are they any less worthy than long suffering fans to call themselves fans of the mighty tigers? Although it is almost impossible to quantify it has been suggested that approximately 500,000 people around the country say that they follow Richmond Football Club to some extent. As of mid-February 2018, Richmond has almost 75,000 members as the club strives for, and openly aspires to reach 90,000 members in 2018. Unprecedented numbers for a club with a smaller national base than many of our contemporaries. So we have to be clever in the way we help convert those who say they follow the club to become financial supporters of the club. Long-term supporters can help to meet and exceed the goals.

Tattoo parlours across the country would be making a fortune out of producing Richmond Premiership tattoos.

The club has brilliant community engagement programs and connections whether they be the Bachar Houli Foundation, the Korin Gamadji Institute, school visits programs or the connection to Swinburne University. The club has increased their social media and media reach through brilliant insights into the inner workings of the club. So the club is almost perfect in the way it embraces the community as well as supporters. But it is mid and long-term supporters that will play a major role for the club in the next few years. The only way we can increase the 500,000 supporters and 75,000 members is to be a club that embraces every single person we can whether they have followed the club for 70 years or started in September 2017. It is fellow supporters that play that role by embracing those who are new to the fold.



In the lead up to the ultimate prize of 2017 the crowd numbers and noise that the tiger army increased too was captivating. So many of my friends, who don't follow our mighty club, stated similar sentiments, wishing us the very best, but many secretly hoping that our failures would continue. Then, in the afterglow of our recent success I've seen the most amazing street art, decorated homes and SO MANY tattoos displayed on social media and in the flesh. The outpouring of happiness and shedding of darkness has been palpable, unlike any other I've seen in Australian sport. Who wouldn't want to join our mighty army?

                                                    New generational support!

Let's invite them in, teach our lore and most importantly make them feel as wanted and embraced as any other tiger, no matter how long the passion has been in place! I know I will be. Will you?

Go tiges!

Fans of the beautiful game deserve so much more in Australia

Australian football has amazing participation numbers, a huge amount of local clubs and a diverse volunteer and paid workforce. Yet Australian football remains the poor cousin on a national competition level to the NRL and AFL. On a scarier note the sport's governing body, Football Federation of Australia (FFA) is at odds with it's most important constituents, grassroots football.

Go to any shopping centre in Australia on any given day and you will see children wearing jerseys from the top leagues in Europe. They will outnumber local A-League jerseys on every single occasion. Why? Because the jerseys that people are wearing are from competitions with the world's best players, best marketing and increasing avenues to viewership.

Australia's male and female players strive to play in the world's biggest leagues. The A-League is either a stepping stone or a returning venture for older players.  Destination Europe for men and the United States for women are the preferred career paths. The best AFL and NRL players, for obvious reasons, can ply their trade at home. This gives fans, media and sponsors access to the best players on a daily basis. The best Australian footballers are only accessed when the represent the Socceroos or Matildas, or in the women's case increasingly when they return to play in the W-League. Supporters of many codes, especially the younger brigade associate less with our star footballers from the round ball code than they do with local footballers of the oval versions. This is generalist of course but reads true in many cases.

Additionally the following of NBA basketball by many younger supporters drives the recognition towards the stars of that entertainment league. It would be hard to believe that children couldn't recognise the names from European football and the NBA. Names such as Ronaldo, Messi, James, Harden to name just a few. This would be a much harder task with A-League and W-League players.

With these obvious disadvantages it would be hoped that the FFA would do its  due diligence and look after it's professional league but more importantly the lifeblood of football, grassroots football. It could be argued that is does neither well.

Now the best kept secret in Australian sport has become the worst kept secret in international sport with the FFA at odds with FIFA conventions and advice. And for once FIFA's suggestions seem perfectly reasonable. FIFA has suggested a wider representation from  all levels of Australian football, something the current FFA administration has fallen well short on thus far. Worse case scenario, however unlikely? All Australian teams could be excluded from major competitions in 2018 and beyond. It should never, ever have got to this stage and is a major embarrassment for football in this country.

So, enough of the doom and gloom what are some of the things that should at least be looked at by our sport's governing body? What are the ideals that will bring the game into the new age?

The A-League must expand. Many pundits and supporters are bored of the same teams playing each other year in and year out. Supporters have commentated on and demonstrated A-League fatigue. New teams will bring excitement and a refresh required to reinvigorate the imagination of football supporters in the country. New rivalries, new colour, different ideas will be generated. Existing teams will need to up their game on and off the field.

The expansion cannot be just in Victoria and New South Wales as this will weaken the resolve in other states. Expansion will also allow many younger players a pathway often denied in the A-League. Teams are reluctant to take many chances on youth and there are many current A-League players that are playing at their third or fourth A-League clubs. This is not good enough. Young players will be on show for national selection as well as having the chance to be picked up by bigger clubs overseas. This will also feed down to state league teams who should be able to sell their players to A-League academies, these academies should then be able to

We should not be afraid to revisit locales that have not succeeded in locales that have not worked previously. Some of the failures were due to the ownership and management as much as the area that they were located in. Areas to be considered would be the Gold Coast, North Queensland, Tasmania, Wollongong, Geelong amongst others.

Bringing tradition clubs into fold should be very much considered. The Western Sydney Wanderers are an example of a latent, and previously disenfranchised supporter group who have got behind their local entity. Previous NSL clubs such as South Melbourne have a developed ground, strong supporter culture and money to start their A-League journey. These teams must be given every chance to enter the A-League. Whilst we must learn from mistakes of the past we cannot disregard the successes of the past.

Promotion and relegation must eventually enter the A-League and W-League picture. A second tier for the A-League will allow traditional NSL and state league clubs to develop their professionalism and acclimatise to the demands of the modern football era. It is a mandate of FIFA for national competitions with the USA and Australia holding out at this stage. It will create a new depth of excitement to the lower end of the table come season's end.

The long awaited FFA Cup has been a great success and should be continued to be expanded upon. The draw should be a complete draw without the manipulation of ensuring A-League clubs enter too late into the competition. Additionally the final should be a centre-piece of the season and given the credit it deserves it should be a stand alone match on a Saturday night with the A-League taking a break on that weekend. The week's break would also refresh many of the teams during the season.

We should also learn from the A-League taking so long to implement a cup competition and fast track a women's FFA Cup as soon as possible. The women's game deserves no less.

The clubs should be encouraged and enabled to acquire their own stadiums. Boutique stadiums have been very successful in the MLS and countries such as Sweden have built low-cost and cost effective stadiums. A crowd of 13,000 in a stadium of 18-20,000 would create great atmosphere, look great for television coverage and importantly, create demand and a certain fear of missing out on attending matches.

The FFA should abolish the salary cap for all A-League clubs. This would allow marquees to be obtained and for the best Australian talent to have the choice of staying in Australia. Clubs should still have a restriction on the amount of foreign players in the squad which would allow local talent a pathway to the professional ranks.

The suggestions are not without barriers but we must plan, dream and implement changes to bring the game forward. It is a beautiful game and it deserves every chance to be as beautiful as it can be in Australia. There is too much history and too many dedicated fans to not make this work.

What do you think the FFA needs to do to improve football in Australia? Long live the beautiful game!

The trouble up north

With Ablett's departure will the Suns now build a team culture?

The AFL has had a stellar two seasons culminating in ground-breaking and historic wins by competition stalwarts the Western Bulldogs and Richmond. Yet there still remains the troubled areas north of the AFL heartland. Greater Western Sydney, Brisbane and especially the Gold Coast remain troubled entities that require significant attention.

What about the fans?

The trouble is largely game day based, performances and the lack of crowds. Whilst the GWS are performing well now that's not guaranteed in the long run, Brisbane look like they have the young talent to greatly improve but it's the Gold Coast that have crosses in both columns. Are there solutions or are these entities doomed to fail? Many people say that success will bring crowds but only Brisbane has a proven track record of large crowds when they have been successful.

Brisbane, Gold Coast and GWS crowds are on average 6000 less per game than the next best team.

During the Lions' glory years, 2001-3, they averaged over 30,000 people at their home games. There is a market, and there is a history of attendance that sustained success should rebuild. The Gold Coast has not had a sustained period of success but is in a sporting market where loyalty to teams by fans, owners and organisations has not been evident. The carcasses of teams from football, AFL, basketball and rugby league is self evident. Success may not guarantee crowds, but it cannot hurt them.

The Greater Western Sydney has had success, albeit fledgling at this stage but it's crowds are not evident. In their past two years they have made the preliminary final but have only averaged just over 13,000 per home game. We need to give the franchise time to build but how long can we give them? The answer should be as long as they need.

Why can't we lose them?

The AFL won't want to lose these teams now that the decision, time and resources have been allocated towards them. The AFL needs these teams to succeed based on their geography and competition for other neighbouring teams.

The GWS are located in the largest growth area in metropolitan NSW. They have competition from rugby league and in particular the Western Sydney Wanderers. The AFL has the NSW stalwarts in the Sydney Swans that will help grow GWS by providing annual competition and opposition.

Brisbane and the Gold Coast are in large population areas and are only an hour apart, if the traffic on the M1 is kind! They provide reference points and opposition to each other.

In short, if the AFL is to be a truly national game it cannot afford to lose these teams.

Solutions?

Marquee players are used in other sports to bolster crowds, merchandise sales and most importantly hope. The Gold Coast has tried this experiment and at face value the experiment was a failure. Whilst Gary Ablett Jnr played extremely well when on the field it was his injuries and the loss of young talent to other teams that has meant that the Gold Coast are a long way back from most teams in the competition. Marquees are costly and there is a dearth of available talent at the present moment. This is not to say that future marquee opportunities should not be considered.

The GWS and Gold Coast and, to a lesser extent recently, the Brisbane Lions have received extra draft picks as well as salary cap concessions. Whilst the draft picks would be largely frowned upon by the rest of the competition salary cap concessions, especially to keep younger players taking the lure of the go home factor, should be continued and revisited for the northern franchises.

The administration of all three clubs has great experience and depth, the AFL must remain vigilant and maintain a say in the quality of appointments made by each club for this to continue.

The question asked by many people is can, why and should the three clubs continue? The question should be how can we ensure they do, and more importantly how can we help them thrive?

By Paul Frederickson

Tiger tribe sticks together

By Paul Frederickson


Drew Petrie wrestles Trent Cotchin away from the ball.

For the third year in a row the Richmond Football Club has briefly graced the pantheon of AFL finals football and disappeared into chuckles of mirth from the football community. Their recent nemesis, North Melbourne, was well rested and overran a Richmond team whose leaders went missing again at vital stages of the match.

But this is not about the match report, it's not about dissecting vital decisions or even what Richmond needs to do to move forward. This is about the heart and soul of the club the supporters.

I am a Tiger fanatic and due to work commitments I could only watch parts of the first half. As I entered a flight back home I was content with a hard fought first half lead. But I dreaded turning the phone off flight mode when we landed. I'm a pessimist when it comes to my beloved Tigers. Sure enough the first message that popped up was from my Kangaroo supporting brother, four words that froze my heart, "I told you so!". Being the true masochist I checked the score hoping beyond hope that he was wrong. Alas I was to remain disappointed.

Messages from friends poured in. Conversations with close family and fellow Tiger supporters were muted and not of the anger I'd expected. It was a level of shock and disappointment mixed with the dread of the long post season of ribbing and waiting for the new season.

Then a strange thing happened and I didn't care about rival supporters or the memes and news story of our failed season, I started thinking about the other Tigers supporters that I know. I smiled, I smiled because only they would know what we are collectively feeling. Only they know the indignation of our 35 year wait for a flag, of finishing 9th year after year and of being a joke of the football world. Only they know that our sense of humor gets us through these times.

So I started reminding them why following Richmond is so special, it's the tribe, the roar and the feeling of belonging to something so much bigger than ourselves. We are truly a family and we will be so beyond any results. GO TIGES!

WEEKEND IN SPORT - THE GOOD, THE BAD and THE DOWNRIGHT UGLY

By Paul Frederickson

THE GOOD

MELBOURNE GRAND PRIX

Daniel Ricciardo may have not made the podium in Sunday's Melbourne Grand Prix but his effervescence and constant smile has given the Australian Grand Prix a boost that event recent hero Mark Webber couldn't achieve. Melbourne started talking about 'its' Grand Prix again, something that has become almost taboo in recent years with the amount of state revenue involved for little financial, sporting or morale boost.

Ricciardo saves Melbourne Grand Prix

MANLY WINS AFTER HORROR WEEK

After losing their vaunted halves for next season and with months of reported disharmony Manly opened up a massive first half lead against the Melbourne Storm before holding on for an emotional win.

Manly survive Storm scare

JANKO'S RECORDING SCORING SPREE

After a slow start to the season Sydney FC's Mark Janko has broken the A-League record scoring in seven consecutive games, propelling Sydney into Premiers' Plate contention.

Janko destroys A-League records

THE BAD

AFL EXTENDED PRE-SEASON

At a time when the other football codes are now well into their grooves the AFL persists with an extended and meaningless pre-season. Scrap the pre-season and extend the season for purposes of draw fairness at the very least.

THE REDS START TO THE SEASON

The Queensland Reds' season was hijacked by the drug allegations leveled at star signing Karmichael Hunt. After a fiery and hard fought win in round run of the Super Rugby season their season already looks to be one that will be less than fruitful. In a competitive Brisbane market the Reds cannot afford to let another season slide, especially this early into a season.

THE DOWNRIGHT UGLY

A tie between the EPL's Sunderland who not only were thrashed 4 nil at home by fellow strugglers Aston Villa but had the ignominious state of a half empty stadium just before half time and the potential career ending drug scandal surrounding Fremantle Docker's Ryan Crowley.

 

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS? WHAT WERE YOUR GOOD, BAD AND DOWNRIGHT UGLY OF THE WEEKEND'S SPORT?