In all seriousness though I have no doubt that the reporting that he recommitted for $1-1.1 million per season, with a ratchet clause that puts it up around $1.3-1.4 million, is correct, but the idea that he’s the only player on big big money who has such a clause is a bit fanciful.
But by the same token it was definitely too much for a player who we knew had durability issues (the concussion stuff really ramped up afterwards but the proneness to soft tissue injuries definitely should have been grounds to wipe a couple hundred g’s off his price).
Guarantee a few guys (Cleary, Teddy, DCE etc) still make more than him, but everyone who makes more obviously should. Where it’s kind of hard to take when you see the valuation of some other guys.
Cody Walker, arguably the best club level five-eighth of the past 5 years or so, still doesn’t make more than $700K from what I’ve heard. I guess that ‘mature age debutant’ stink never washes off, James Maloney always got paid like he was Chad Townsend too.
Scott Drinkwater, Nicho Hynes and Reece Walsh all around $600K I think?
If he does have to medically retire, I do hope that signals a bit of a change in how the club uses the cap. We remain trapped in the mindset of finding the next Joey (Mullen has confirmed his salary was $800K/season when he got busted, which is an even bigger chunk of the cap at that time than what we’re giving KP now… insanity) and obviously struggle to manage the roster around that… that’s how we ended up never being able to address the lack of a five-eighth when we were dropping a million each on Pearce and Ponga. But the chances of another Joey coming along are just so low, and even if he did, he probably doesn’t end up with us unless like Joey he’s also born nearby and too dumb to realise how much better off he’d be elsewhere.
And then even if we do line up the next guy in the lineage of all time great halfbacks like Johns, Thurston… I do reckon the game has changed a bit and you’re actually better off with four 7-9/10 spine players than 1-2 all time greats and then whoever you can get for the other spots. I really do question whether Sean Rudder at five-eighth would be enough nowadays
Promising signs so far at least from Brailey, Hastings, Gamble and Miller that they can play at a respectable enough standard that we can take our time with Hodgson (who’s really starting to look like something special) and other prospects like Pryce and Rivett. No more paying guys out of desperation though - there’s definite signs now that Hodgson is in that Reece Walsh class, and I’d be delighted for him to get that Reece Walsh salary once he’s also carving first grade.
