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!