Geelong Sliding Doors

[PzBlinky]

We had him signed to us for years under the old “Form 4” regime and came very close.

Would have been as big - or bigger - than Bosustow, Rioli, the Krakouers, or Kernahan in terms of big 1980s interstate recruits had we got him.

From the man himself:

“With his considerable success at WAFL and State level, his profile as one of the best ruckmen in Australia saw VFL clubs keen to lure him east. Geelong were the frontrunners, but for Michael his loyalty was with his family and not necessarily the glory of a VFL contract:"Geelong were very, very close. I went over to Geelong and we went out to some bloke's farm for a BBQ in the middle of winter. He was trying to convince me to come over to Geelong and it was pouring rain. Geelong were good to me but my family was my main thing and sport came second. I just thought it would take mum and dad four hours to fly to Melbourne and it only takes two to drive from Kojonup."

Stephen Michael

OzFooty.net Western Australian Football League, WAFL, AFL and A-league

ozfooty.net

So the whole "show 'em the farm" isn't a new thing after all?

 

[dudusmaximus]

So the whole "show 'em the farm" isn't a new thing after all?

My thoughts exactly! This "Farmacy" (Farm Diplomacy) seems to have been the mainstay of our recruitment for eons..

 

[rapidfire7]

Something which rarely comes up is the incredbly unfair advantage West Coast had when they joined the VFL/AFL in 1987.

From my understanding, they were essentially granted free reign to recruit as many players as they wanted from the WAFL, thus enabling them to build an absolute super team in the early 1990s.

You could almost argue that it was Geelong vs Western Australia in the 1992 & 1994 Grand Finals. How is that fair?

How they were allowed such an enormous leg up is beyond me, especially when you compare them with what the Bears got at the same time, and the Dockers in 1995. Most definitely cost us at least 1 Premiership from this period.

 

[rapidfire7]

Geelong doesn't blow a grand a game on Brian Peake, and can later afford to keep Greg Williams.

Could we really not afford to pay him the extra 5 Grand a year he requested? Or, were we just being a little tight thinking he wouldn't go?

Whatever the exact circumstances, losing Williams really was a disaster for the club.

A disaster, which could have quite possibly made the difference in some of those lost Grand Finals, or in even helping us get there in 1991 or 1993 perhaps. Painful to think about all the what ifs.

 

[iameviljez]

Could we really not afford to pay him the extra 5 Grand a year he requested? Or, were we just being a little tight thinking he wouldn't go?

We were ****ed, and less than a year later, we were completely insolvent, as were another half-dozen clubs, plus the actual VFL itself. If we were a regular company, we would have been wound up.

I suspect that it's not so much that we couldn't afford the $5k as that we couldn't afford the other $45k, either.