AFL Players Push To Be Allowed To Sign Midseason Deals With Rival Clubs

There is a "concerted push" from Australian Football League players to "allow free agents to sign a contract with another club during a season to provide them with greater security," according to Jake Niall of THE AGE. In recent discussions between the AFL Players Association and the AFL, the players have proposed that free agents "should be allowed to sign a confidential contract with another club during the season." If accepted, it would mean players "in a position similar to former Hawthorn star Lance Franklin -- who was really pledged to Sydney long before the 2013 season ended -- would be able to sign that deal in secret, without any concern that an injury would lead to the offer being taken off the table, or revised." Under a proposal to revise free agency, the free agent could "receive an offer and sign it in secret if he wished." He would be "free to inform his current club that he had a deal with another club and would be leaving at the end of the season" (THE AGE, 7/29).