Player managers are great aren't they ... 
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Young men thrive in AFL deals
JOHN TOWNSEND
There is no doubt who is the most powerful man in WA footy at the moment.
It’s not West Coast boss Trevor Nisbett or his Fremantle counterpart Steve Rosich.
And it’s not rival coaches John Worsfold and Mark Harvey.
It’s not even WA football director Grant Dorrington, who has a finger in most pies involving the game.
No, the person with the most power is player manager Colin Young whose influence is at its peak at this time of year when clubs and players are considering their options.
Young has designed the deal that is likely to see Fremantle ruckman Rob Warnock set sail for Carlton next year.
The contracts may not have been signed yet but you can punt plenty on pen being put to paper before too long.
Like all the other powerful football managers, Young answers to no one but his client.
And even then he may be playing a convoluted game like the ones savoured by manager Paul Connors in which a priority client such as Chris Judd gets the cream while other lesser players are pawns in the deal.
Clubs have to keep sweet with Young and his ilk to make sure they can deal with players.
Sometimes this means recruiting players they don’t particularly want in order to get the big fish.
The Judd deal saw Josh Kennedy come to the Eagles but it also saw Brisbane’s injury-prone Richard Hadley go to Carlton.
Hadley is a Connors client. The former East Fremantle player had little future at the Lions but the manager needed him to be accommodated and used the goodwill he had gained over the Judd coup to seal the deal with Carlton.
There were few losers in that deal. Carlton picked up a star, Brisbane got rid of a player they didn’t want and the manager kept two clients happy.
The Blues may have got a player they didn’t want or need but every club has a dud or two on their books and realise that is the price they have to play to negotiate with the game’s real powerbrokers.
Young also acts for Daniel Kerr, who has a year to go on his West Coast contract but is clearly tradeable for the right deal.
That means just one thing – Young’s phone will come close to meltdown in coming weeks as clubs play suitor to him as part of a potential Kerr deal.
http://blogs.thewest.com.au/general/john-townsend-young-men-thrive-in-afl-deals/
