THINGS have been quiet on GWS Watch lately.
This time last year, rumours abounded about Gold Coast and the astronomical amounts of cash it was dangling under players' noses. Many of the same player names kept coming up time and time again and, as we now know, many of these rumours were on the money.
But apart from persistent talk of Greater Western Sydney chasing Collingwood trio Dane Swan (since re-signed by the Magpies), Scott Pendlebury (re-signed until the end of 2012) and Dale Thomas, the Giants have been going about their business more quietly.
Western Bulldog youngster Callan Ward is another player who's been linked to the Giants.
Wednesday's Herald Sun revealed just how keen the Giants are on the talented and courageous midfielder. Ward's manager, Paul Connors, told the tabloid GWS were offering him in excess of $400,000 a season more than he's getting at the Bulldogs.
Given the Giants have reportedly offered Ward a five-year deal, if he stays at the Bulldogs he stands to pass up more than $2 million over that period. That's serious coin.
Still, Connors said Ward would "love" to stay at the Bulldogs.
With his player-agent hat firmly on, Connors mused about the strong tradition of player loyalty that has been long been part of our competition.
"I can't believe we're debating that players will probably stay at their clubs even though there's a $500,000 per annum difference," Connors said.
"It wouldn't happen in rugby league, but it happens in … AFL."
Connors is right. But, equally, the AFL-concession-boosted chequebooks the Suns wielded last year, and the Giants will wield until the end of next season, are testing that loyalty like never before.
However, the free rein the Suns and Giants were given to poach out-of-contract stars was finite, so was never going to test player loyalty in the long term.
What it may do, however, is pave the way for a more liberal attitude to player movement when free agency kicks in at the end of next season.
If stars switching clubs, such as Ron Barassi (from Melbourne to Carlton) and Chris Judd (from West Coast to Carlton), has been the exception that's proved the rule, it may soon become the rule.
Connors made it clear other players' loyalty was being tested by GWS. He named clients Thomas, Brisbane Lion Daniel Rich and said he thought Adelaide Crow Taylor Walker was already a signed-up Giant and Fremantle's Rhys Palmer was likely to follow him.
United stand against racists
No one in the AFL is prepared to put up with racism any more. The racist abuse Lance Franklin and Majak Daw copped from spectators recently is the product of a by-gone era, one the vast majority of us have moved on from.
Both Franklin and Daw had the courage to speak out about their vilification. As uncomfortable as they may have been stepping into the limelight, they knew they had to take a stand, to let others know such behaviour was no longer acceptable - in any forum.
Now Franklin's and Daw's fellow players have joined them in the fight against racism, launching the 'Pride, not Prejudice' initiative.
The AFL Players' Association initiative calls for people who racially abuse players to be named, shamed and banned from attending games. Its central message is: "Our team is made up of many colours. Wear them with pride, not prejudice."
Melbourne vice-captain Aaron Davey told the Herald Sun spectators who racially abused players should be singled out, identified in newspapers and embarrassed.
Collingwood player and AFLPA vice-president Luke Ball said offenders should go through a compulsory education course before they were allowed to return to games, while North Melbourne players Andrew Swallow and Matt Campbell said Daw would change people's perceptions of Melbourne's Sudanese community when he started playing senior AFL games.
No sensible person can argue with any of this. And the view spectators pay their hard-earned to go along to the footy and, as such, have the right to say whatever they want, to whoever they want, in the confines of the outer no longer carries any weight.
It's as redundant as a well-worn footy saying formerly used to condone on-field racist abuse: 'What's said on the field, stays on the field'.
As Ball said: "It's the easiest thing … to hide in a crowd of 50,000 and yell out abuse and not be accountable for it."
Hopefully, this is about to change.
Two Swallows make a stir
North Melbourne midfielder Andrew Swallow has been in the news this week. Thirty-nine possessions, including 17 in the first quarter, tends to shine the media spotlight in your direction.
But as impressive as Swallow was against Adelaide on Sunday, and as good as he's been for the past three seasons, he's already sharing the limelight with younger brother, David.
While Andrew, who turned 24 last week, was passed over when he first nominated for the NAB AFL Draft, David, 18, was snapped up by Gold Coast at No. 1 in last year's Draft.
In this way, the brothers represent the different paths players can take into the AFL.
Although he captained Western Australia's under-18 side in his final junior year, concerns about Andrew's pace and kicking meant he had to go back to East Fremantle and perform in the WAFL to earn a second chance at the following year's Draft.
He did and North granted him that chance, picking him in the third round of the 2005 Draft at pick No. 43 overall.
David, however, was identified as the best junior player in the land a year before he was eligible to be drafted. With Gold Coast having the first three picks in that Draft, he was invited to join the club a year early. He did so, playing well enough with the Suns in the VFL last year to finish fourth in the J.J. Liston Trophy - the VFL's equivalent of the Brownlow Medal.
This season, David has played all nine of the Suns' AFL games and averaged 19 possessions. Although he may have been overshadowed by other first-year players such as Essendon's Dyson Heppell and West Coast's Jack Darling, David has looked at home in the AFL.
This Saturday night at Metricon Stadium, the Swallow brothers clash for the first time, when Andrew and his North teammates travel to take on the Suns for the first time.
Despite their vastly different paths to the AFL, their father, Ian, told The Age's Emma Quayle they share a fierce competitive drive.
Asked by Quayle who would prevail if a loose ball fell between them, like any good father, Mr Swallow could not pick one over the other.
"They both love to compete," Mr Swallow said.
"They'll both be wanting it; they'll both be desperate for it.
"Their mother's already told (Suns coach) Guy McKenna to please not let them play on each other."
We suspect the rest of the football world will be hoping for the exact opposite. There's always added spice when siblings do battle. Especially ones, who despite their different journeys, loom as potentially elite midfielders.
In short
Hawthorn ruckman Max Bailey says his recent return to the field after his third knee construction remains a "work in progress", the Herald Sun reports. Bailey has played the Hawks' past three games but told the tabloid: "I kind of expected to just roll out and be able to do the things I used to be able to (but) I think I'm still a fair way off."
The issue of AFL player agents and their various conflicts of interests will be on the agenda at next month's accredited agents conference, The Age's chief football writer Caroline Wilson reports. Wilson said the issue of player agents working in the media and at AFL clubs continued to frustrate some in the football industry.
TT-Line was unveiled as the financial backer that had helped clinch the deal in which North Melbourne will play two games a year at Hobart's Bellerive Oval from next season, The Mercury reports. TT-Line is the Tasmanian Government-owned parent company of the Spirit of Tasmania ferries.
Peel Thunder president John Ditchburn has launched a stinging attack on the proposal to expand the WAFL to include West Coast and Fremantle reserves teams, saying the guaranteed $63,800 offered to the existing nine WAFL clubs under the proposal is "dismal", The West Australian reports.
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
