Paul Roos doesn’t want AFL free agents following NRL path
FREE agency will be the biggest issue facing the game this year, according to Paul Roos, as the futures of Rory Sloane and Tom Lynch are set to be debated throughout the season.
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FREE agency will be the biggest issue facing the game this year, according to former player and coach Paul Roos, who is desperate not to see AFL fall into rugby league habits.
Soon-to-be free agents in Victorian duo Rory Sloane and Tom Lynch are set to be front and centre as their future is debated this season, with both at the centre of speculation before the season has even started.
In the NRL, players have regularly announced mid-season they are on the move, before playing out the season with their soon-to-be-former outfit.
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Having lived in Sydney while playing for and coaching the Swans between 1995 and 2010, it’s something Roos doesn’t want to see in AFL.
“Probably if you look at the last two or three years — and it’s already started — the impact of free agency (is the biggest issue),” Roos said.
It is often said that NRL is more mature in dealing with such scenarios, but Roos said that was “a bit of a myth that exists in Melbourne”.
“Having lived in Sydney for so long, they actually don’t take it well at all,” he said.
“It’s funny because talking to rugby league people, they hate it. They’re mature because they put up with it, but I don’t think they like it.
“I would hate to think we’re going to go down that path.
“It’s just diabolical, some of the things that happen up there, and I know that they’re uncomfortable.”
Roos, who will this year rejoin Fox Footy’s On The Couch, said “once you unleash the beast” of players announcing they are leaving mid-season, it can be a dangerous path to tread.
“That’s why I think we’ve got to be careful with people that are pushing for (and saying) ‘Rory (Sloane) should come out and tell us’,” he said.
“Be careful what you wish for, because it changes the landscape dramatically when you have a player in a press conference with a Brisbane Broncos jersey and that night he goes and trains with St George-Illawarra.
“Do we want that to happen? I don’t, personally, absolutely.
“I think the contracts are worded correctly — up until the 31st of October, and there’s plenty of time for a player at the end of the season to make a decision on his future, and that’s the way it should continue to be.”
Fellow On The Couch panellist Jonathon Brown agreed players should not be talking to other clubs mid-season and said the league should look at tightening the rules.
“It’s not a good perception for supporters to have for players from their own club,” he said.
“The AFL may need to look closely at maybe the anti-tampering laws like the NFL has, where free agency is a huge part of their game, but the penalties for tampering with players from other clubs during the season is huge.”
Brown said he considered congestion to be a major issue in the game.
Originally published as Paul Roos doesn’t want AFL free agents following NRL path
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