There was a time when long-term offers were needed to lure a player to a club. They are now required to retain talent.
A leading player agent predicts it will be harder for rivals to prise marquee players out of their clubs amid the explosion of mega long-term contracts.
This year Sydney young gun Nick Blakey signed a seven-year deal keeping him in the red and the white until 2031, while Fremantle backman Brennan Cox, who has not won a best and fairest or been named All-Australian, pledged his future in the purple to 2030. They returned after the introduction of free agency and the entries of Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney into the league but have exploded in recent seasons.
“I love Kane Cornes, but he can never be a list manager because he’d lose a million players,” the agent said. “You won’t keep Aaron Naughton because you won’t give him those years, and he’ll go to Sydney.” “You might have to move one year to fit something else in. You might move 200 back or spread it elsewhere. When you have two-year contracts, you can’t do it. You move it from one year, and it hits you the next.”
“Then there’s the obvious one of the club can’t get out of it , and when you do, it devalues what the player is worth, and you never get market rate for them.But he said Nick Daicos and Jason Horne-Francis, who have both finished their second seasons, were the exceptions given their age and considerable talent.
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