Carlton chief Stephen Trigg believes players will soon be making NRL-style mid-season trade announcementsJon Ralph
Herald-Sun
February 07, 2015 CARLTON chief executive Stephen Trigg believes players will soon make NRL-style mid-season announcements about their plans to play with rivals the following year.
Trigg said clubs continued to be disadvantaged by stars making post-season moves when it was had been an open secret for months that they would leave.
He says it will take only one or two players informing their clubs of their determination to move to open the floodgates.
Adelaide will have to wait all season for a decision on free agent Patrick Dangerfield but could make plans to lure a rival star if he told them ahead of time.
Hawthorn played the entire 2013 season with the distraction of Lance Franklin’s contract when he had already decided he would move to Sydney the previous off-season.
Trigg said it was time for a maturation of the player movement market despite many objections to the NRL-style midyear announcements.
“It only takes one or two to break the mould. It is probably against our culture but it’s quite likely that at some stage in the future that is the way it will go,’’ he said.
“I have been in some scenarios where it’s very difficult to plan when it’s completely unknown what is going on. Adelaide at the moment, and it is not my issue, but the lack of certainty with what is happening with Patrick makes it very difficult to plan in terms of their list management.’’
It is against AFL rules to sign a contract with a rival mid-season but many players privately agree to terms to move elsewhere.
The AFL could change its rules or players could state their wish to move to a specific club midyear without signing a binding deal.
Richmond chief executive Brendon Gale said on SEN Radio he would go further than Trigg’s proposal.
“I probably would (like to know) for certainty. It’s not a distraction for us internally but to know from list management and planning (would be preferable),’’ he said.
“The one thing I would be keen to see and it might be controversial but to allow clubs to manage lists going forward, I am not sure that clubs should still require the consent of players to trade.
“We had a situation a couple of years ago where five or six Brisbane kids wanted to walk out and then held the club to ransom by saying they wanted to go to Perth.
“The club was powerless. They should be able to trade without consent at all, to a club that meets their needs and allows them to manage their list as well.”http://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/carlton-chief-stephen-trigg-believes-players-will-soon-be-making-nrl-style-mid-season-trade-announcements/story-fndv8f7j-1227210852647
