Loyalty in a sportsperson is a highly admirable quality. We love our clubs long-term servants; the ones who have stuck by team club through thick and thin. They are often described as the heart and soul of the organization.

But when it comes time to securing your future, buying a house, a car, even putting food on the table, loyalty is of no use whatsoever.

Now you may say that a person’s reputation means everything, especially to a sportsperson. Your legacy is what you carry around forever once you have retired. Once upon a time if that legacy involved loyalty then it has been a career well spent.

However in reality, you can’t use loyalty as collateral when talking to a bank manager. They are not impressed that you stuck by your team through good and bad times. In the real world, sports loyalty doesn’t get you anywhere.

The simple facts are, the easiest way to set yourself up, not necessarily for life, but for a decent period of time after you finish playing, is to be disloyal. And that means moving clubs.

It’s like this, if you have an employee who you know is not going anywhere you have no reason to entice him to stay. And if you want to poach an employee from a competitor you had better pay him more than he gets now. Same rules apply in the AFL.

Nobody ever moves for less money. At worst your current club ups their offer to match the one from the suitor. Again you are the winner.

Over my 20 years playing and coaching at the Saints I saw this scenario time and time again. Every year we traded in players who would immediately leap up into the top echelon of player payments.  The vast majority of the time without having the runs on the board to justify the salary. Frankly it was annoying.

On the other hand I watched champions like Stewart Loewe, Robert Harvey and earlier on Trevor Barker be seduced by the club motto of Fortius Quo Fidelius – Strength Through Loyalty and reject very significant offers from rival clubs. The fictional advantage of being called a one-club player swayed them to stay.

Am I glad they did, you bet. These men were the best teammates a man could ask for. Are Stewart and Robert glad they stayed? I’m not sure; you would have to as them.

What I do know is that if they had chosen to move on in their twilight years and not be ‘one club’ players, the Saints fans would love them no less. The same way they love Nicky Winmar who took off to the Bulldogs, the same way Bulldogs fans love Dougie Hawkins despite his years at Fitzroy. Even the same way Hawthorn fans love Dermott Brereton despite his stints in Sydney and heaven forbid Collingwood. I can go on, Paul Roos, Steve Johnson, James Kelly, Chris Judd, Nathan Buckley, Barry Hall, Jason Akermanis and the king of them all Tony Lockett. Lets not count out Travis Cloke or Brent Harvey just yet.

The fact is being a one-club player is nice and nothing more. It doesn’t enhance your reputation any; and you don’t get anything special for it. In fact, as we have seen above, it can cost you in the long run.

If in fact loyalty is something we do actually revere, and want to hang on to then we have to do something about it. The AFL tried some time back by introducing the veterans list where 2 players over 30 years of age and with 10 years service had only 50% of their salary counted in the cap. It was designed to incentivize clubs to keep older players around longer.

The fact is being a one-club player is nice and nothing more.

Facts show it had little effect on the number of veterans as throughout the whole league only 49 veterans were listed in 2016. Brent Harvey has been listed as a veteran since 2008, I kid you not.

Some clubs, like St Kilda, chose not to invoke the 50% rule on their many veterans, as they needed the added money to ensure they paid the minimum percentage of the total salary cap required by the AFL.

In 2017 the AFL have revamped the system and you no longer have to be 30 years of age to qualify. The league will add an average amount to ‘each’ clubs total player payments based on the total number of veterans across the competition. So now clubs even without veterans will reap the benefits of the veterans by ‘all’ clubs getting an increase in salary cap.

Therefore in 2017 there will be no veteran’s list, only an increase in salary cap designed to entice clubs to hang onto players longer.

This my friends, could very well spell the end of loyalty as we know it.

Clubs no longer have an incentive apart from ‘supporter happiness’ to keep a veteran player on their list. Harsh decisions like Nth Melbourne just made will become common. And because the players are unlikely to be kept around for their salary cap relief benefits, they will seek greener pastures elsewhere far earlier.  Simply, if their longevity in the game is compromised they will be forced to make hay whilst the sun shines and move.

The result – players will be keener to move, and clubs keener to move them on.

The perfect storm for the death of loyalty.

Perhaps this is just the way of modern sport. The quicker we come to terms with it the better and easier it will be for everyone. If we did then maybe North supporters could’ve saved the tears they recently shed for a real catastrophe.

Do I rue not taking the bigger bucks on offer back in the mid 90’s? No. For me I’m proud that I can put my head on the pillow each night knowing that I gave my all for just one club, amazingly it means something deep down.

Unfortunately I doubt retired players in 10 years will know this feeling.

This week in SEN Inside Football…

  • The removal of the veterans list will make decisions like the one made by North Melbourne, far more common according to Nathan Burke.
  • Collingwood premiership player Leigh Brown explains why this emerging Western Bulldogs outfit has many of the attributes of the great Geelong sides.
  • The game will lose its iconic accompanying voice when the final siren sounds on Dennis Cometti’s career. We chat to one of the great sports broadcasters ahead of his swansong.
  • We reveal which Victorian club has emerged as a potential landing spot for out-of-contract Adelaide midfielder Jarryd Lyons.
  • Former Adelaide and Fitzroy coach, and now Brighton Grammar mentor, Robert Shaw provides an insight into the myths and reality of private school football.
  • A triple premiership rover for Carlton Football Club, Ken ‘Bomba’ Sheldon also laid the foundations for St Kilda’s resurgence when he took over as coach. David Rhys-Jones sits down for a chat with his former teammate.
  • With the TAC Cup season all but over, our draft analyst Brett Anderson lists his top 25 draft prospects with his third Big Board of 2016.

Check out www.aflplayerratings.com.au The absolute form guide to every AFL player. If you want to check out the form of someone likely to be traded to your club or suss out your Brownlow pick this is the website for you.