Swans vs Bulldogs AFL Grand Final preview.., page-178

Havingfun firstly as you would know you will never get an argument from me that Kurt Tippett is just a hugely over rated player - I have been saying it for-ever even when he was at the Crows. But I'm sure Sydney thinks/thought - different and maybe still does I'm going to put my guns down for just a little while so we can get maybe a better understanding of what is happening and the AFL rulings of the salary capes etc.

Sydney would feel Buddy and Kurt are keys - you and I don't rate Kurt but are we confusing the $'s with basics. Sure he's not worth whatever he gets paid in our opinion but without him the Swans would argue they would miss a top-notch ruckman who can kick goals - he's a key to their game plan. And Buddy may not be playing like a multi-million dollar full-forward but he's a key, without which, it doesn't add up to cogent, potent team.....People don't seem to appreciate how the salary cap works - if your cap is $15m p.a. then you MUST spend something like 90% of it. So Buddy and Kurt soak up funds that they HAVE to spend. It wouldn't make sense to go around to each of the other 38 players on the list and offer them a 10% rise simply to soak up the cap to 90% or beyond and not attract key and/or marquee players. It also means you have to work really hard to build a team from the rest of your list without breaching the cap. And, importantly, it's not a great idea to pay millions for a key/marquee if you don't have a team able to work in with them to ensure success and reap reward from your investment. Geelong supporters won't agree with me I'm sure - But they may repeat MAY now be in a situation where they have an out and out champion (read Brownlow winner into that) and nobody able to capitalise on his great work (read pretty boy Tom Hawkins) and begin to languish outside the top 8. Danger will have to rack up 100 disposals a match for them to be able to sing the club song after each game.

Happy to be corrected anyone ?