Wednesday, March 12, 2014: Lawyers who choose where they work

Deep inside a brown paper bag, through a voice-changer and a distorted phone line, the insider issues his orders. On the other end of the phone is a reporter, at arms length from his corporate employer, listening intently and tapping away on a laptop. Mass kidnappings, human's being trafficked across Australia, not only in broad daylight but with a billion dollar of corporate funding the operation.

This mystery insider, whose identity remains a secret, contacted AFL Media this week to lash out against the crazed libertarian idea that AFL players should have the right to choose where they play. "We're seeing with free agency that the star players who leave are generally joining the stronger clubs" said Mr. X, "during trade time clubs lose most of their bargaining power when a player nominates his preferred new club. They're forced to either do a deal with that club or let the player go for nothing."





There are some, likely in the region of Arden Street or Footscray, who would argue that this is a logical step toward equality. We, safe in the knowledge that the Westpac Centre will almost certainly be the best football facility in the history of sport, think it's preposterous. Giving an employer the right to force an employee to move to another company, based anywhere from Geelong to Perth, or lose the right to work in that industry is a recipe for some very, very, rich lawyers. Lawyers who choose where they work.

Another Mr. X, at a different club, gets our support for taking a logical stance. "I don't think you should ever be able to trade a player without his consent – and it won't happen in our lifetime either... I don't think a club would want to take on a player who doesn't want to be there either, especially if that player is being asked to move interstate." Bravo, Mr. X-2.

In the news...
Collingwood's tall trouble has continued with Ben Reid and Jesse White set to miss round one. Click here for lots of speculation on who might replace them. Adelaide and Gold Coast are also slightly height deficient.

The Brisbane Lions have found themselves in the thick yellow middle of a chicken-egg situation as a result of asking for extra salary cap room to retain players. The club, which suffered from a remarkable bout of homesickness last year, has been told by Andrew Demetriou that if they want to keep players, they need to start winning. How they win without players has not been answered.