Footy’s famous last words: What the stars said before they changed clubs
HISTORY shows when an AFL superstar puts contract talks on hold, it’s bad news. What did stars like Chris Judd, Lance Franklin and Adam Treloar say before their big money moves?
AFL
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
HISTORY shows when an AFL superstar puts contract talks on hold, it’s bad news.
So what did stars like Chris Judd, Lance Franklin and Adam Treloar say before their big money moves in comparison to the likes of Dustin Martin and Josh Kelly this year?
Off the field, Martin has struggled to deal with the media storm around his future at Richmond, the star midfielder walking out on a press conference earlier this season after reporters asked him about his future.
DID WE MISS ANY? READ OUR LIST AND SCROLL DOWN TO COMMENT
MOST WANTED: THE AFL’S 17 MOST WANTED PLAYERS
“That’s just between (my manager) Ralph (Carr) and the club to sort out,” Martin said.
The Tigers are confident he will stay, but reported Godfather offers from North Melbourne and Essendon will have him thinking hard.
Greater Western Sydney star Josh Kelly might just be the most in demand out-of-contract player available, owing to his age and remarkable form in 2017.
But he says he loves the club — even if he’s not thinking contract right now.
“I love the club,” Kelly said last month
“I love playing footy here and I love my teammates.
“This is my fourth year at the Giants and there will be a bunch of things I will take into consideration but I love it here.”
North appear to be in for every free agent, with a rumoured $9 million, nine-year contract on the table for Kelly.
Fremantle jet Nat Fyfe says he will consider his free agency options and take into account the Dockers’ on-field direction as he makes his decision.
“I see my future is at Freo, and I was always going to wait until a time during the year to sign a contract,” Fyfe said last month.
“Wins and losses aren’t going to have any effect on that.”
After some indifferent form to start the season, St Kilda has pulled out of the race for his signature, enhancing the chances of him staying out west.
Big Joe Daniher has been tearing it up for the Bombers, and says he wants to stay at the club.
“Yeah (I want to stay), as I said, it’s a process that has gone on for a long period of time — I’ve been here since I was a 15-year-old kid — I’ll let them (his management) do their job and I’ll concentrate on playing football,” Daniher said.
Gold Coast co-captain Steven May said in January a new deal with the Suns was a “formality”, but last month said he would wait on the AFL’s new salary cap before signing a new contract.
WHAT THE STARS SAID, BEFORE AND AFTER
CHRIS JUDD
Brownlow Medallist and premiership star Chris Judd was seen as one of, if not the, best player in the competition when he went through an “incredibly difficult season” in 2007, putting contract talks on hold in March of that year.
“All contract negotiations are on hold until the end of the season,” then-West Coast Eagles chairman Dalton Gooding said during the season.
Judd deflected questions about his future, before eventually telling the Eagles he wanted to go home to Melbourne.
It sparked one of the most frenzied recruiting drives in AFL history.
Every club wanted a piece of Juddy, but he chose Carlton, who received pick 46 (Denis Armfield) in exchange for future dual Coleman Medallist Josh Kennedy and picks 3 and 20 (Chris Masten and Tony Notte).
“I didn’t have huge doubts that the deal would get done,” Judd said after the trade.
Judd said he chose Carlton because he thought they were a “powerful Melbourne club” that was going places.
“They have got a young and exciting list,” Judd said.
“I could be part of something from the ground up, that was the exciting part of it for me.”
Team success would desert Judd at the Blues, but he would win a second Brownlow and the debate still rages over which club actually won the trade.
GARY ABLETT
Gary Ablett and future speculation seem to go hand-in-hand.
In 2010, the heat was on the Geelong premiership star, but he managed to avoid speaking much about it, with master manager Liam Pickering fronting in June to put talks on hold.
“We’re trying to take some heat off the whole situation, we’re being continually asked (about it), so speaking to Gary, speaking to Brian (Cook, the Geelong CEO) today, it’s probably the best course of action,” Pickering told FoxSports at the time.
“The time frame of him doing his contracts should be his own, not the one of everybody else, because everyone wants a decision.
“That’s what we felt was the best thing to do for Gary ... and it takes a bit of heat off the club as well.”
Of course, the money was too good to refuse for Ablett, and he signed a multi-million dollar five-year deal with the Gold Coast Suns.
“This is all about the challenge of joining a new team and a new and unique opportunity to be part of something special in football.”
Last off-season, Ablett requested a trade back to the Cats, which didn’t get done and now speculation is rife that he will be going home to Geelong at the end of the season.
Where he ends up next year is anyone’s guess, but it will be interesting to see if he can make it home, given how well he is playing. The Cats won’t want to pay up for him, but the Suns will want plenty.
LANCE FRANKLIN
The biggest contract in AFL history saw Hawthorn premiership star Lance Franklin head north for Sydney.
Big Lance made all the right noises, saying he had “no intentions of leaving” the Hawks, but when contract talks were put on hold, you just knew the brown and gold were in trouble.
“It (putting talks on hold) was my decision. It was something I wanted to do and I wanted to leave it until the end of the season.
“I know there’s going to be a lot of speculation about what I’m going to be doing at the end of the season.
“I’ve got no intentions of leaving the football club, but it is what it is — I just want to play footy.”
Lance would win the Grand Final with Hawthorn and then jet off for Sydney on a $10 million deal over nine years, losing the decider in 2014 to his old club.
“Sydney are a great football club and I just wanted a different opportunity and a new start and Sydney were able to come to the table and I was lucky enough to come to such a great football club.”
PATRICK DANGERFIELD
As soon as the 2014 season closed, Patrick Dangerfield’s future at Adelaide was red hot.
He continually deflected questions throughout 2015, saying throughout the season a new contract was “the last thing on my mind”, but also saying he was torn between the Crows and his family back home in Moggs Creek, near Geelong.
“That’s been the situation all along, that hasn’t changed since the start of the season,” Dangerfield said.
“It’s one family versus another almost — that’s what the Adelaide footy club has become over the last eight years.
“That hasn’t changed, my feeling towards the club hasn’t changed.
“I still love the place.
“But I just haven’t made a decision because it just hasn’t been of huge importance for me recently basically.”
Dangerfield eventually forced a trade from the Crows who also sent pick 50 to the Cats in exchange for youngster Dean Gore, pick 9 and 28.
He’s still among the premier players in the competition.
TOM SCULLY
Melbourne 2009 No. 1 draft pick Tom Scully’s multi-million dollar move from the Demons to expansion club Greater Western Sydney was one of the biggest stories of 2011.
At one point, Scully had to deal with claims from Collingwood president Eddie McGuire that the deal was already done for him to make the move in 2012 — before the 2011 season had even started.
Scully denied an approach had even been made by GWS and gave the Dees the “I love the club” death knell, saying he wanted to be a one-club player.
“I feel that I should come out and say something and this is my stance,” he said in March 2009.
“I love the club, I love all my teammates and I just want to be a part of the future at the footy club.”
Of course, Scully would finish the season at Melbourne and then his future became GWS when he signed a reported $5 million, five-year deal. The Demons are going OK, but the Giants are among the premiership favourites and he said last year that vindicated his decision.
“I’m absolutely delighted to be in Sydney here today ... no doubt money was a factor, but I saw an opportunity to be part of a brand new football club.”
ADAM TRELOAR
Adam Treloar’s future at GWS always looked shaky, with rumour that he wanted to come back to Victoria to be closer to his family in Noble Park.
Richmond and North Melbourne offered massive deals, as did GWS and Collingwood.
The quiet kid who apparently disliked the speculation around his contract chose the Pies, but did himself no favours, famously bashing Richmond’s list and getting secret surgery in Tasmania.
“A lot of people might think I’m silly because Richmond have a lot of good players,” Treloar said.
“But I think Collingwood have a better list, and a younger list, who in a couple of years’ time can hopefully win a premiership.”
It hasn’t quite worked out for Treloar so far. GWS is on top of the ladder and a premiership favourite and the Tigers are in the top four.
Collingwood hasn’t played finals since 2013 and don’t look like doing it this year either.
BRENDON GODDARD
St Kilda favourite son Brendon Goddard told Saints fans in July 2012 that “I’m happy where I am”.
“As I’ve said all along, we’ve been in constant talks with the footy club and they are the discussions we’re having at the minute and I think it’s pretty clear what my intentions are,” Goddard said.
“I’ve said all along I’m happy where I am.”
Goddard was made a life member by the Saints in September 2012, before packing his bags for Essendon one month later.
“It (was) something that a lot of thought went into,” Goddard said.
“I was actually on the golf course (at the time). You can do a lot of thinking and there was a process where we did our due diligence.
“That decision wasn’t made until late in the piece, (it was) after the season when it was probably crunch time to make the decision.”
DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN YOUR FAVOURITE PLAYER LEFT YOUR CLUB? TELL US BELOW
Full rankings: AFL Draft’s top 60 prospects rated and scouted
The 2024 AFL Draft is just over a month away, and to get you ready for the arrival of footy’s next generation, our draft experts CHRIS CAVANAGH and DAN BATTEN rank every prospect.
Daniel’s future in the balance, who will blink in Smith standoff?
As Geelong and the Bulldogs stand firm on Bailey Smith’s trade value, premiership Dog Caleb Daniel is weighing up a lucrative offer from the Kangaroos.