There are several things that don't make sense about a Gaff recruitment.
- Why would he go to the Swans when he already has a good deal on the table from WC, reported to be 900k. Why not just stay at WC if you're not going home.
- We are unlikely to offer any more money than WCE, except perhaps a very long contract, like 7 years.
- It's hard to know what the attraction is.
- As a RFA, WC could match the offer from a club that was offering around the same compo package as they were. The AFL compo pick to WC will be around pick 20, not so good for such a player.
But there is one that does click:
The Swans approached Hannebery some time ago about the possibility of moving to another club, so this move has been in the works probably from mid-season. As a free agent, Gaff was effectively known to be available for the entire year, so there was plenty of time to lay the groundwork for a deal of this magnitude, i.e. clearing the cap space with the Hannebery trade at an early date so negotiations could go ahead for Gaff. There's no trade required, so no need to negotiate with the club. All the other possible players, especially Wingard, all being contracted, would have been unknown or uncertain to move mid-season, when I suspect a lot of this planning took place. It would seem unlikely that we would go so far as pushing Hanners out the door when the other side of the equation was so uncertain, as all would have to be negotiated with the club, as to both the releasing of the player from his commitment to the club and the compensation required in return.
Hard to get a read on it. There are some missing pieces to this puzzle.
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