THE Priority Signing Period may have put a few noses out joint around the AFLW competition, but it's also incumbent on clubs to create an environment where players want to stay.
That's according to Collingwood midfielder Ruby Schleicher, who this week lost her teammate and good friend Chloe Molloy to Sydney via the new PSP mechanism, which has been introduced to boost the competition's four newest clubs.
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The PSP has been a bit of a vexed conversation. Clubs, particularly those getting raided like Brisbane, are understandably a little grumpy about losing some of their best players.
Under the PSP rules, the Lions can lose up to five players without a trade needing to be struck. The other top-four teams from last season, Melbourne, Adelaide and North Melbourne, could also see five players walk out the door this off-season.
So far, though, only one player (Ashleigh Woodland) has left the Crows, none have fled Arden Street and - strikingly for the rest of the competition - no one has departed the reigning premiers.
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"It would be nice if people went through Melbourne a little bit," Schleicher said with a smile at Fox Footy's season launch this week. "They're sticking pretty bloody fat.
"All of the list managers out there, if you could start getting stuck into Melbourne I'd really appreciate it because they’re very solid."
Keeping their squad together is rather on brand for the Demons, who rarely lose players to rival clubs. Even when Shelley Scott left for Geelong, she did so mainly to be closer to home.
That's not to say Brisbane doesn't have a warm and accommodating environment. In fact, what coach Starcevich has created in Queensland is the envy of most of the competition. But when big offers are being thrown at star players, in a team stacked with star players, some are going to walk.
Em Bates and Greta Bodey were the first to leave the Lions' den and join Bec Goddard's Hawthorn, while it's widely tipped that forward Jesse Wardlaw will become a Saint by the end of trade period.
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"A team like Brisbane who were so close (to the premiership) and were favourites all the way through the season, it's probably surprising to see players of that calibre leaving and going to expansion sides," Schleicher said.
"It's exciting for the comp, but it was surprising for me when I saw it because Brisbane are so close to a premiership."
In the case of Molloy, the lure of being the number one player in a struggling team as well as an unprecedented five-year deal convinced her to move. As much as Schleicher wanted Molloy to stay at the Pies, she can't begrudge her that.
"I think what probably rattled us a little bit was the new rules surrounding the new teams," Schleicher said of the introduction of the PSP, which was announced less than two weeks ago.
"When you're losing a Chloe Molloy, you probably expect to get some renumeration for it. That obviously isn't going to happen.
"I understand why that choice has been made, and it will even up the league a lot more.
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"All you can do is hope that our players make the environment a place where people want to stay. Girls are going to be offered bigger money (elsewhere)."
Schleicher pointed to the strength and depth of the Magpies' list, saying it becomes almost impossible to cater for stars like Bri Davey and Brit Bonnici as well as "future All-Australians" in Jordy Allen and Lauren Butler.
"When you're trying to keep all of them and build a premiership side, you are going to lose a couple along the way," she said.
"It's all just part of sport."
