As Patrick Dangerfield heads home to Geelong, Chris Judd says leaving mates behind is tough
CARLTON great Chris Judd warns the guilt of a protracted club exit is a heavy cross to bear, as Patrick Dangerfield’s exit puts the duplicitous mechanics of AFL free agency under the spotlight.
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CARLTON great Chris Judd warns the guilt of a protracted club exit is a heavy cross to bear as Patrick Dangerfield’s Geelong move highlights the dark mechanics of AFL free agency.
Dangerfield has finally ended a torturous charade over his restricted free agency move from Adelaide to Geelong.
Judd still recalls the qualms he carried before and after his move from West Coast in 2007 to Carlton — a shift engineered by master player manager Paul Connors, who also represents Dangerfield.
Both Judd and Dangerfield embody professionalism on and off field but leaving a club after eight years is a gut-wrenching process, warns the retired dual Brownlow Medallist.
“I found the whole process pretty difficult for a number of reasons,” says Judd, whose career ended after an innocuous collision with Dangerfield at the MCG in round 10.
“ I always felt an underlying level of guilt for leaving my mates which rationally is stupid.” However Judd says Dangerfield should be satisfied with the service given to the Crows in an industry where players are increasingly viewed as commodities.
Dangerfield won a third All-Australian selection and was voted most valuable player by Crows fans in 2015 to cap a stellar 154-game stint with Adelaide.
He may yet add to that at the Brownlow Medal count and when the Crows’ best and fairest is named.
“The club has you to serve them; there is no disloyalty in wanting to be close to family. I think Patrick would have found the last six to 12 months quite challenging,” says Judd.
Dangerfield could finish as All Australian, Malcolm Blight and Brownlow Medallist in six heady days before joining Geelong in a deal that will deliver an estimated, annual $800,000 per season until 2020.
Adelaide is under immense pressure to become the first club to match a free agency offer, gain its pound of flesh in compensation for Dangerfield and drag Geelong to the trade table.
Adelaide will want two first round draft picks but could get nothing if Dangerfield calls its bluff and enters the national draft.
The cloak-and dagger moves that have become a feature of free agency have caused consternation for fans who feel they are being duped by a duplicitous system.
There is a widespread view in the football industry that Dangerfield’s trade was sealed long ago with the AFL positioned to broker a deal between Adelaide and Geelong.
Asked last week if he knew where Dangerfield was playing next year, AFL chief Gillon McLachlan remained noncommittal.
“There’s a whole series of things that I know at various points that are not appropriate to talk about,” McLachlan said.
Judd believes clubs should receive compensation for losing elite talent but is concerned by any restraint of trade.
Dangerfield’s Adelaide journey
“There’s not many work places in the world where you don’t give employees some freedom in where they want to work,” Judd told Triple M.
“It’s only right after a player has served his club for a period of time that he gets some freedom over where he wants to apply his trade.”
However, future tweaking of the free agency rule could see top-four powerhouses prevented from swooping on free agents from bottom rung clubs.
“There should be some compensation. Whether you make it a bit more restrictive for the top four clubs. I think we are seeing things a bit skewed,” said Judd.