Gary Ablett and the end of club loyalty

Mervyn Morris says:

12:28pm | 29/09/10

Ablett would be a total fool to reject all this money, so don’t blame him.  It’s the AFL who have destroyed any remaining notion of club loyalty.  Had Geelong come close to matching the offer, there would have been major resentment among the rest of the players who would have received large pay cuts.  This would have meant open season for other clubs to poach top Geelong players.  No doubt the AFL will consider Geelong well compensated with a mid range draft pick.  And it’s not all over yet, once Gold Coast have what they want, we start again with West Sydney.  It’s irrelevent that no one can work out why we need West Sydney in the competition.

Old Salt says:

12:30pm | 29/09/10

Club loyalty ended years ago, this is nothing new.  Ask yourself this question - would you be loyal to your employee if you were offered better money for the same job somewhere else? You have to look after yourself first because no-one else will.

BMJ says:

12:33pm | 29/09/10

Who is Gary Ablett?

John says:

12:40pm | 29/09/10

Club loyality died about the same time the clubs started sacking and trading players and coaches without a thought of the individuals involved. Dont make it out as the club has been the innocent hurt party here. Good luck Gaz.

stephen says:

12:43pm | 29/09/10

Yeah well he’s gonna get a bit a’ sun too so he’d better put a mop on his head cause elsewise with that new jersey 2 hours under the rays he’s gonna look like a jaffa. (and he’s just gonna get rolled down the isle, circa 1964.)

Ben says:

12:44pm | 29/09/10

Does Gary Ablett really lack integrity, loyalty or commitment? He has been committed to the Cats this year and played like it. They don’t own him, why shouldnt he go with the big money.
You could say he should have declared what he was doing before now, but look at how the Crows treated Bock when he said he was joining the GC team. There would have been the same calls for Ablett to be dropped from Geelong (not that they would have done it!) as a disruptive influence.
In the end fans cheer jumpers not players.

Ian G says:

12:48pm | 29/09/10

Club loyalty is a two way street. Don’t weep the lack of player loyalty to club when the reverse has been buried by most clubs a generation ago.

Vic. Rhodes says:

12:49pm | 29/09/10

Show me the money ...the catchcry of the modern world ...well money doesn,t talk, it swears obscenity.

Paul says:

12:51pm | 29/09/10

Why should players be loyal to clubs when clubs are rarely loyal to players? And why the sudden outrage at the supposed lack of loyatly shown by players? There hasnt been any loyalty in AFL since it became the AFL. There is only perceived loyalty which is shown either by players too old to shift to another club, or a player who doesnt want to change clubs as it will be major disruption to his personal and/or family life

Carl Palmer says:

12:52pm | 29/09/10

Hmm, loyalty is a two way street, clubs are also very quick to trade and delist players as they please.

The unfortunate reality is that these clubs run a business and the business is winning football games. You win your membership rises, you lose it falls. You try and keep the good players and dump the ones that don’t “fit in your game plan”.

As for the Sun, they will need name players to increase membership and the occasional RL player to assist with growing the game.  When entering a new market area, you need to spend a few dollars and the AFL knows that. It did it for Sydney and it will do it for the Sun and the GWS team.  The AFL made a few mistakes with the Sydney move, it won’t do that for any other startup club.

As for the winning feeling – I think been part of a brand new start up team has its upside and there is a ring of excitement in the new venture and as for Gary Jnr, win or lose he will be set up for life and I say good on him and good luck to the Sun.

Brisbane says:

12:53pm | 29/09/10

Suns for 2011 Premiership for sure, and all these players who have signed with the GC have signed their financial security for many years after football too. Good on them all.

Markus says:

12:54pm | 29/09/10

Much like in large sections of the private sector, loyalty in sport is dead.
And is not just because of the players, the clubs are just as much to blame.

For every big media story of a superstar like Ablett changing clubs for a substantial pay rise, there are 10 unreported stories of players taking paycuts or even being cut entirely from a club they have played their whole career for for the sporting equivalent of minimum wage, just so the club has another $20,000 to fit the previously mentioned superstar within their cap.

TheBigMicka says:

12:55pm | 29/09/10

Yeah right.  Players change clubs all the time and have done since the beginnings of the VFL.  Coaches changes clubs and have done since the beginnings of the VFL.  They do it to win premierships, earn more money, get the opportunity to play a preferred position, because they don’t like someone, because they want a new challenge.  From the point of view of players, coaches, committees, there has never been loyalty in sport.

The Geelong group stayed together and accepted less money than they might’ve gotten elsewhere because they wanted ultimate success and were in a position to achieve that.  Nothing to do with loyalty.  Everything to do with holding the Premiership Cup at the end of the year.

The only loyalty in sport comes from us mug supporters.

Luke says:

12:58pm | 29/09/10

Good luck to him, his experience will be invaluable to the new recruits as they will learn how champions prepare themselves for games.

Living in Western Sydney I just hope we attrack a player with as much class and ability next year when it is our turn to build a team.

Notorious says:

01:02pm | 29/09/10

I can’t convince you that there is loyalty in the business of sport, but why should there be just reference to Club Loyalty from players, what about Clubs being loyal to their players. (Take Melbourne dumping Brock Mclean). The other thing is that club loyalty isn’t dead (if it was ever alive). There are pleanty of loyal players in this age take, Robert Harvey, David Neitz, Boomer Harvey and Brad Johnson. Club ‘Disloyalty’ leaving a club who has made you who you are is not a new thing either, of modern and past times examples include Chris Judd, Tony Lockett and Peter Moore. With sounding like a complete twat, I think you’ve missed the mark a little bit. They’re a lots of examples to prove and disprove you’re point, and taking this club loyalty high horse is just a bit farcical.

Alfred Deakin says:

01:03pm | 29/09/10

Loyalty is a two way street.

In a few weeks Geelong will delist some players hae served Geelong loyally, and who want to keep on playing. Will everyone carry on about loyalty then, or will they just say “Geelong was acting for the greater good of the club, and that comes before the good of individuals”?

Laurie says:

01:03pm | 29/09/10

Loyalty died long ago. The highest bidder gets the prize.

Peter Wray says:

01:15pm | 29/09/10

How long does a footballer have at his peak, taking the offer augers well after his time at the top of his game ends.  Good luck to him.

S.L says:

01:16pm | 29/09/10

Gary Ablett is making the right decision for a few reasons. Firstly of course the cash is too good to refuse. Secondly the climate and lifestyle of the Gold Coast and thirdly the one common ground with all AFL players that move north of the Murray, anonymity so they can be themselves without getting hassled every time they walk out their front door.

Peter says:

01:18pm | 29/09/10

Even the Son of “God” has finally deserted Victoria!  For years our best have flocked to the Big V for the big bucks.  So long sunshine! I hope he earns his money!

Peter of Point Cook says:

01:28pm | 29/09/10

Your comment:  At the end of the day,  loyalty doesn’t always pay the bills.  And as for the comment “the end of club loyalty” .. what about the great Ron Barassi ... he was the first to move clubs if I can remember back.

Randal says:

01:29pm | 29/09/10

Julie, surely club loyalty must go both ways, and the reality is that football clubs desperate to improve year to year make decisions to trade and delist players who they believe (whether for reasons of skill, form or age) can no longer contribute to the direction they want to take the club.

It is therefore a bit rich to expect loyalties from players when they know that the club will show none to them once it has been determined that moving them on may be in the better interest of the club.

Just ask James McDonald at Melbourne or Scott West at the Bulldogs what club loyalty got him once their clubs decided that they where better off replaced by youth.

J-dog says:

01:29pm | 29/09/10

“The very core of the cats has been ripped out”. Yet another example of the hysterical media that we have witnessed in relation to Geelong over the past 36 hours. Other examples include “the crumbling of the Cat empire” (The Age) and the club being “rocked to its foundations” (Herald Sun). A message to those who are desperate to dance on Geelong’s grave: Geelong’s foundations are strong. The club has excellent financials and a culture of recent success. A new and very impressive President-to-be has been waiting in the wings for some time, ready to take over from Frank Costa. Plans are in place for further redevelopment of Skilled Stadium, plus potential development of a training facility on Geelong’s outskirts.

russ says:

01:29pm | 29/09/10

name one person who wouldn’t take such a pay rise (200%!) from a competitor organisation. he is doing what anyone would do - looking after his future and his family. its common sense, good on him.

Geoffa says:

01:30pm | 29/09/10

Does anyone remember the Cats shafted Steven King after the 2007 GF and shunted him to St Kilda. Loyalty in AFL died long ago. If it is loyalty you’re after support a local club, where guys do play for the jumper. And the clubs dont shaft the players.

Bob says:

01:32pm | 29/09/10

so what if he left? I would too given what was on the table… no club is going to be loyal to him when his time is up so why shouldn’t look after his own backside- noone else will! Not really comparable to Leigh matthews era, etc as it wasn’t a full professional sport then, in terms of payment anyway/

Gregg says:

01:32pm | 29/09/10

Sure there will always be player trades/buys and especially with the formation of new clubs or even older clubs out for some success.
North Melbourne kind of bought a few premierships starting with the likes of Doug Wade, Barry Davis and Rantall.

Ablett now sets the record for $$$$ paid and there are a few others who have had lucrative deals too, many for staying with existing clubs.
But is it a huge pattern?
Or how about someone run through team lists and see especially with the older original VFL teams just how much nig money is luring players away compared to how many players have played out their career with the one side.

Rodger Kensen says:

01:38pm | 29/09/10

This article is complete tripe - “Club loyalty is a thing of the past” I hear.  How about family loyalty?  Like to his brother Nathan whom he hopes to have an opportunity to once again play with.  Blood is thicker than water.  Should Club loyalty be stronger than family loyalty? 

In total there are I think 6 players that left their clubs, Bock (not so popular after a domestic violence incident), Krakoeur (injured & not been at Port too long) and Brown (left on good terms) are hardly disloyal.  In fact they are taking more money to set up their families - to whom their true loyalty lies.

Then what about the more than 95% of players that signed contracts to ensure they stay at their clubs?  Pavlich at Freo was expected to return to his original home SA but is now a Docker for life.  Sam Jacobs from the Blues wants to return to his family is SA, he just has different loyalties.

If this article was meant to be evidence of a decline in club loyalty, it’s a complete failure.

Pabdog says:

01:42pm | 29/09/10

Loyalty in AFL has long been a one way street. Clubs and supporters will scream for loyalty when it suits them but if a loyal player can be used in a trade to benefit the club, then they have no hesitation in moving them on. The AFL is a cut throat business these days and I dont think anyone can blame Ablett for ensuring his, and his family’s, financial future.

igor says:

01:43pm | 29/09/10

Yes, he’s a great player. Yes, he’ll be sorely missed. But I’d be more worried about losing your coach if I was Cats fan. Your time in the premiership sun may be about to expire. Back to the wilderness where you came from. But don’t worry, the Suns will be there with you.

Richo says:

01:46pm | 29/09/10

Good on him, take the money as you are quickly thrown to the dust bin if you don’t perform. Take a look at all the other players that don’t make it at the highest level, who cares about them? It annoys me when everyone goes on about loyalty to the club. Club? This is big business not a club. Gary is smart enough to know the difference and is getting his pounds worth.

Peter says:

01:47pm | 29/09/10

Loyaly is a two way street. Do clubs go out of their way to keep a declining player who is past his peak? No. They’ll trade him or sack him if they believe it’s in their best interest. And hardly anyone complains. So why should players treat clubs any differently.

As for the cap, half their list is rookie players on cheap money, so they can afford to over pay for stars. As a Swans fan I’m trying not to dance on Geelong’s grave so karma rewards me with GWS not taking any of our key players next year.

Gezza says:

01:49pm | 29/09/10

Not sure that Geelong has necessarily made him the player he is today…he is simply an out and out champion playing in a very good side. Good luck to him. Hopefully the GC Suns won’t be the embarrassment everyone thinks they’ll be and become ligitimate contenders very soon.

AM says:

02:02pm | 29/09/10

The difference between Ablett and Pavlich is that Ablett has premierships, a brownlow and all that other kind of team success. I think Pav would have chased the money if he had that level of success that Ablett has had at Geelong. As a cats supporter myself, I am a little sad to see him go, but I’d make the same decision in the same circumstances. Good luck Gaz.

Elphaba says:

02:05pm | 29/09/10

Fans going up in arms and screaming about how players have ‘betrayed’ the club by leaving it for a better offer need to get a grip.  If you were offered a better deal somewhere else, are you telling me you wouldn’t take it?

I’ve worked for rival companies - why is sport any different?  They have to make as much money as they can in a short period of time, because they’re likely to retire by about 35.  As others have said above, sport is a business, you’re likely to get hurt quite badly, so you have to look out for number 1.  Clubs are happy to trade players, so why can’t he chase the money?  Good luck to Ablett, although I think the $9.5 million reports are a little spurious…

Barney says:

02:22pm | 29/09/10

The notion of Club loyalty is rubbish - surely no one is suggesting that Club’s are loyal to players - go for it Gary

mark novak says:

02:23pm | 29/09/10

probably the worst football article i’ve read all year. “The pursuit of affluence has wiped out core values that gave a playing group the formula to win. Where’s the integrity, commitment and loyalty?”—-> CLICHE GARBAGE. it’s obvious u only like to print what u think ppl may want to read. who are u to question integrity in sport? please provide a list of your experience and credentials… if u know anything about AFL and have been close to it, as i have, u would know that clubs dont give a stuff about players and players should never, ever give a stuff about clubs. period. go take ur fantasis elsewhere. a club will drop u so quickly, and they dont care if ur career is ruined by it. there never has been loyalty u idiot

Haydn says:

02:23pm | 29/09/10

Barrassi killed club loyalty years ago. Then again, what about clubs putting players on the chopping block when it suits them. At the end of the day it is only a game. Players have a limited time in which to earn money and the end can come at any time. I support the jumper [red and blue] and not necessarily the player wearing it.

Justin says:

02:25pm | 29/09/10

I don’t know why this “journalist” is bothering to comment on football when it seems she knows little about it with her ill educated and ill researched comments.

She doesn’t know Gary Ablett so how will she know he won’t like to be part of a rebuilding team and not play finals for 1 or 2 years?

For all you know he could be relishing the the chance to be forge a new history and help shape a young team and take them into September action, maybe even go all the way. (No I’m not a Suns supporter nor will be)

And if you were offered $1M+ to write rubbish opinions for another site, I’m pretty sure your “loyalty” to this site would vanish in a heart beat.

You know what they say about opinions. It’s just sad that they let so many people money out of publishing them and take any opportunity to jump on a big news item that they know little about in order to score a few extra hits. Well done, you got mine. It will be the last time I read any opinion written by you though.

leigh says:

02:35pm | 29/09/10

Don’t for one second think this (dis)loyalty is just a player to club relationship, how about the club’s loyalty to players each and every year during Trade week?  Players such as Jude Bolton for the Sydney Swans being offered up as trade bait is a perfect example of club’s being just as disloyal as the players. The entire landscape of modern football has changed, and it has been this way since the late 90’s. Why should players show loyalty when one mediocre year, they would be on the trade table anyway.

Chris from Cranbourne says:

02:43pm | 29/09/10

Club Loyalty is Dead????  .  .  .  YES, has been dead for years .  .  .  Clubs would be the first to deal a player if it was in their interest .  .  .  There would be more players dumped by their clubs than clubs dumped by players .  .  .  Sport is a profession and if the player does not take their opportunities, then they would not maximise their talent’s worth!!! I have no sympathy for any club

Matt says:

02:45pm | 29/09/10

Has the club ‘made him’ or has his talent helped the club?

Tash says:

02:53pm | 29/09/10

Julie asks…“Would you leave the club that has made you who you are today?” The real question here is “did Geelong make Ablett” or did “Ablett make Geelong” what they are today??? I say good on you Gary! You’ve always behaved with the utmost dignity as well as being a fantastic footballer! A real ambassador of the game.

Ben G says:

03:08pm | 29/09/10

People are loyal to their clubs and vice versa but that doesn’t mean there are practical realities that get in the way. There are limitations to what loyalty can get you.
Ross Glendinning played great footy for North Melbourne, but came home to Perth when the opportunity arose.
No one thinks of Mick Malthouse as disloyal but he’s worked with five separate clubs in his career.
Loyalty cannot and never has trumped things like money, generational change, new opportunities & challenges and so forth.
Loyalty is the reason you can’t lure Matthew Pavlich away from Freo with 5% over what he’s getting. It probably wouldn’t help much if someone offered to double his pay-checque. That’s not a recent thing, it’s a story as old as time.

Justin says:

03:09pm | 29/09/10

All spot on comments regarding it being a two way street. The only loyalty that exists in football is supporters and volunteers. Geelong will certainly not fall as quick as West Coast did after losing Judd and Cousins, but I think Geelong are not top 4 certainties for next year with their gamechanger gone.

Budz says:

03:09pm | 29/09/10

Loyalty? Pfft! Clubs and players make business decisions these days.

Damian says:

03:13pm | 29/09/10

When was the last time a club showed loyalty to a player? Once a player reaches “a certain age”, gets a long term injury or him form drops, the club will drop him like a bad habit. Then they have the cheek to whine about players being disloyal?

Murray Dickson says:

03:26pm | 29/09/10

As a Suns member and still die-hard Fitzroy supporter (not the lousy Brisbane Bear variety) it is fantastic that we can get players like Ablett. And for the rest of the AFL it is actually a good thing too - the sporting landscape has changed dramatically over the last 10 years and now the AFL needs to cover ALL the major population centres especially when wanting to maximise media income.  But we can’t be like the Rugby League who opened and closed teams in Perth, Adelaide, Wollongong, Hunter, North Sydney, Newtown, Gold Coast (twice), Brisbane Crushers (really they are a pathetic joke). So please support what the AFL are doing on the Gold Coast and in Western Sydney - it is for our great games future

CommonSense says:

03:34pm | 29/09/10

Clubs will get rid of players at the blink of an eye…they will not hold onto anyone if they are not in their plans for the future!!...Being a Bombers fan, and seeing how lloyd was pretty much told to retire, i can feel for Geelong, but look what they did with his father?...you think those feelings are not their either? He idolises his dad, and the club deserted him when he needed them the most!!...

rod says:

03:38pm | 29/09/10

Club loyalty has been dead for years where have you been hiding?
Alas it goes both ways too a club will dump you like a hot potato if they get a sniff you are of lesser value to them.

The Badger says:

03:40pm | 29/09/10

“Would you leave the club that has made you what you are today?”

huh?
Do you think Ablett would have been any less a player if he had played at another club?

I suggest you have it the wrong way around. Ablett made the club. Where were they before Ablett showed up?

Kate says:

04:11pm | 29/09/10

For us, footy is a passion and a source of entertainment. For Ablett, it’s a job. There is no way I would turn down a new job with a pay rise of over 100% just because people at my job liked me and wanted me to stay.

As others have said, the issue of declining club loyalty is not purely the fault of players wanting more money. Look at how Brisbane tried to throw Rischitelli and Bradshaw under the bus in their desperation to get Fevola. Players and coaches understand that footy is a business as well as a sport and in order to achieve success, loyalty sometimes has to be discarded.

And for those who get genuinely upset at the thought of players leaving the club that ‘made’ them - cheer up. For every Judd and Ablett there’s a one-club man like Brad Johnson or Boomer Harvey.

Mike T says:

04:16pm | 29/09/10

Interesting comments and i can see it from both sides. I agree that a player will leave for more money (who wouldnt), so loyalty is in a sense dead. But the various leagues should do everything in thier power to encourgae players to stay with a club….why…becasue the fans (who the game is ultimatley about) want to see players come throught the ranks and stay with the club.

So lets replace the word loyalty (becasue its dead) with retention….... The various league’s need to build MORE stratergies to make it much easier for a player to stay with the one club. There is many ways to do this, ie,  a players wage does not go to the salary cap if he has been at the club for more then 5 years etc…... the result of these sort of stratergies is that players stay…. not driven by loyalty, but at the end of the day who cares!!!!  its a win win

Unfrotunately most of the leagues are driven by TV rights and a fasination of spreading the talent, so they dont care if players move every year as long as the teams are equal and they get a higher tv deal. The loser is of course us….we must endure watching journey men turn out one year and leave the next…. it certainly makes it hard to follow yoour club with passion

Peter Scott says:

04:19pm | 29/09/10

Good on ya Gazza!

I would of done the same, you would have to be brain dead not to make the move to GC Suns.

Geelong has had there time for now and Gaz you have had your time as a player with the cats, hence the move..

Smart move!

Fresh start…

Challenge

Good Stuff!

Talking loyalty in footy, there is no such thing.

It’s 2010 not the 1950’s or 60’s

I remember back in 1975 when North Melbourne recruited all the great players from other VFL clubs under Ron Barrasi to buy there 1st premiership.

Think back people…

And

Harden up!

Footy’s a Big game and it is also BIG business…

Good on ya Gaz

I wish you all the very best at your new home…

The GC Suns!

Andrew says:

04:42pm | 29/09/10

To the players and coaches its a business and a livelihood.  To the fans its a passion.  Let’s not confuse the two.

john says:

10:15pm | 29/09/10

“Club loyalty isn’t dying, it’s dead” - Inside Football magazine, 1974.

Steve says:

01:42am | 30/09/10

Gees jules - you certainly don’t remember the great Barassi going from Melbourne to Carlton to North Melbourne to Melbourne. Your commentary lacks a historical context. Pity that some of us don’t excuse your ignorance.  Very poor effort fromn such an inelegant writer.

Peter says:

10:49am | 01/10/10

Since when have clubs been loyal to players? The clubs want it both ways..