Collingwood’s Jordan De Goey needs to start calling other clubs to land a million dollar contract
How can an out of contract star who doesn’t have a manager still land the big dollars? Jason Akermanis did it for his entire career and he has a message for Jordan De Goey – it’s time to pick up the phone and call your biggest rivals.
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Jordan De Goey should pick up the phone and start calling rival clubs if he wants to maximise his next million-dollar contract, according to self-managed AFL Hall of Famer Jason Akermanis.
De Goey will miss the next 6-8 weeks with a finger injury and the out-of-contract superstar can spend that time negotiating after the AFL released the freeze on player contracts.
There is unlikely to be a flood of contracts suddenly lodged because some managers say it would be “irresponsible” to agree to terms before next year’s salary cap is settled.
But the thought of De Goey, 24, directly contacting Collingwood’s fiercest rivals while chasing this year’s premiership would make Magpie supporters feel sick.
But De Goey has not signed with an agent since sacking manager Ben Niall via email in February and Akermanis – the last high-profile player to manage himself – revealed he would call Magpies president Eddie McGuire when he was coming out of contract at Brisbane Lions.
“I would ring (Sydney boss Andrew Ireland) direct and talk to him and I’d ring Eddie direct and talk to Eddie and say, ‘What do you want to do?’” Akermanis, the 2001 Brownlow Medallist, said.
“You’re doing the job of a manager, and you have to because if you don’t you’re never going to find out does anyone else want you?
“Me and Andrew went through it and he said, ‘What do you want?’ so I told him. He said, ‘OK, I’ve got to go back to the board to see what they want to do’.
“Then I went to Sydney and spoke to rookie coach Paul Roos at Andrew’s apartment. We ended up staying in Brisbane but it was pretty close.”
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Akermanis paid agent Ricky Olarenshaw a flat $5000 fee to help broker his trade to the Western Bulldogs, but said: “99 per cent of time I’d do (contracts) myself and have it checked over by my solicitor or lawyer”.
Akermanis would negotiate with the club’s chief executive and was wary when they tried to play the loyalty card to lowball his offer.
“De Goey’s going to have to go in there and sit down with those guys (Collingwood) because that’s his job now,” Akermanis said.
“If he wants to talk to other clubs he has to do that and no one, and I mean no one, from the industry – not Collingwood, not Eddie McGuire, not Nathan Buckley – should bemoan or criticise him.
“He has to talk to others. If it’s just between him and Collingwood that’s fine, they can go back and forth until they’re happy.
“But if they’re not happy and then he has to go and talk to other people.”
Western Bulldogs premiership coach Luke Beveridge also manages himself.
St Kilda contacted Beveridge directly last year, shortly before he signed an extension to remain at Whitten Oval until 2023.
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Akermanis said De Goey would benefit from representing himself.
“Jordan long-term in life will always benefit because they’re handy skills if you can negotiate,” Akermanis said.
“If you can stand the heat it is complete genius. I’m a bit older, in my 40s now, and it comes in very handy to be able to negotiate with people.
“Leigh Matthews, my great coach, was always telling me not to do my own contracts. I said to Leigh, ‘How am I going to learn?’
“Later down the track I could be doing anything in life, what’s the point of leaving the game with no skills?
“You’ll need those skills at some stage. It could be buying a car to know how to haggle and deal and read the fine print and read contracts and make sure you know what you’re doing.
“You could never get enough of that, surely.”
Originally published as Collingwood’s Jordan De Goey needs to start calling other clubs to land a million dollar contract