Collingwood legend Dane Swan says players only need managers when ‘sh*t happens’
Magpie legend Dane Swan has questioned the value of wheeling and dealing AFL managers — saying they often only earn their cut for top tier players when “negative sh-t happens”. Here’s why.
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Magpie legendDane Swan has questioned the value of wheeling-and-dealing AFL player managers, saying only superstar players or troublemakers need full-time representation.
Swan weighed robustly into the debate about the need for management, off the back of Jordan De Goey conducting his own contract negotiations with Collingwood.
“Managers are good for when the negative s--t happens. They are better at handling the crisis or bad news,” Swan (above) told the Swanny And Friends podcast from his bed.
“They are not great when they are taking 20 per cent of your deals and 4 per cent of your contract, and everything is going smoothly.
“When you are going smoothly you don’t want to leave the club (and) you can pretty much manage yourself.
“It is when you actually want to leave; if you are getting squeezed out, that is when you probably need a manager because they have good relationships with people from other clubs.
“If you are just your run-of-the-mill decent player, who most of them are, just get a game (and) don’t have any marketing deals or anything, the need for one is pretty minimal. You could probably outsource one and give them a one-off fee to do your contract.”
Swan, who has had his fair share of rascal moments, said managers were handy when a player was in trouble or faced a difficult negotiation.
“Footy clubs always say, ‘you can come to us with everything’. But you can’t because they will judge you at contract time,” he said. “As soon as you sign a deal you are their (the club’s) best mate but when it comes time to negotiate they bring up all the s..t you have ever done wrong.”