#17,#11 Dayne Beams

[Rd10.1998_11.1#36]

[Ads7]

Lengthy article written by Jon Ralph in Herald Sun below.

He mentioned that a financial settlement is in the works and analysed the potential short and long term effects of trading Beams back. Some valid points IMO but as always with these articles, I am cautious and have taken parts with a grain of salt.

Also, some details are included that I wasn't aware of (e.g. Club was willing to trade Philips during last trade period). I didn't think this was the case. Who knows though.

Like others have alluded to, I too am hoping for a sensible, respectful, and swift conclusion.



How much will the Dayne Beams deal cost the Pies or can they break even despite his exit?

"On September 1 2018, Dayne Beams stood in front of the Brisbane faithful and declared his love for the club and his future within it.

That connection was the “driving factor” in him wanting to honour his contract. Beams’s final message was: “I love you boys.”

But in the hours after that best-and-fairest second placing the Lions reconciled themselves to his eventual departure.

During a long and emotional late-night discussion with club powerbrokers, Beams railed against his second placing to Dayne Zorko, adamant he would have been a worthy winner.

It would take the better part of two months for Brisbane to trade Beams back to Collingwood, yet by the end of that night the Lions knew they would trade him if the right deal was presented.

As one Lions insider said, a captain who should be the most low-maintenance figure at a football club had instead become its most high-maintenance.

Despite its public position to the contrary, Brisbane had reconciled itself to trading its star midfielder.

Beams is now a Collingwood player in name only as his management and the club work on a financial settlement that could still be months in the making.

But to present this as a case of Collingwood bungling a $2 million deal with reckless disregard for Beams’s issues is unfair, too.

Collingwood knew that Beams’s mental ill health was multifaceted and borne out of more than grief for his father’s death.

The club that once hired a private investigator and spoke to chief commissioner Christine Nixon about the risk profile of Ben Cousins will have its own thoughts on its levels of due diligence.

But it shared the view of Brisbane’s mental health experts: that like many players in football, Beams would need help and guidance to maximise his mental health, but could be effectively managed.

To go into those details helps no party given Beams remains away from the game consulting experts about his mental health.

But Beams was the last deal done in trade week — half an hour before deadline — and the Lions weren’t desperate to retain Beams (having just traded for Lachie Neale). They would have done so without a quality trade.

If Collingwood cannot get salary cap relief from the AFL for Beams’s extraordinary circumstances — and why wouldn’t it ask — it will be on the hook for whatever it eventually settles for with Beams.

The Pies know more than anyone premierships are won and lost on fine margins, privately aware they wouldn’t have done the deal if they hadn’t been so close against West Coast a month before.

Only time will tell whether those selections and cap space cost them the players that might have been the difference when the next opportunity comes around.

The $2 million salary handed to Beams might be more problematic long term than the two first-round picks Collingwood handed up for the midfielder.

When the Magpies traded for Beams he was fresh off the All-Australian squad after averaging 29 disposals and 5.6 clearances. The Pies had just lost a Grand Final by a kick.

He had the backing of good mate Steele Sidebottom and met with coach Nathan Buckley to repair an at-times frosty previous relationship.

Collingwood, having secured Jordan De Goey and Jack Crisp in its initial trade with Brisbane for Beams, gave up picks 18 and 56 and its 2019 first-rounder, and got back Beams plus picks 41 and 44.

It immediately parlayed those picks into academy selection Isaac Quaynor (pick 13), and father-son Will Kelly (29), also securing academy kid Atu Bosenavulagi (77).

Last November as a result of handing its first-rounder to Brisbane, its first pick was midfielder Jay Rantall at pick 40, then Trent Bianco at 45 and Trey Ruscoe at 55.

If you want to kick the Pies you can say they handed over picks that in 2018 gave the Lions exciting midfielder Ely Smith and the Power in 2019 likely Round 1 debutant Mitch Georgiades (Port swapped picks with the Lions).

The Pies took Beams knowing they had a trio of father-son and academy picks coming up.

Quaynor is now exciting the Magpies after a huge pre-season while late pick Bosenavulagi is also showing promise.

Rantall hasn’t missed a beat all summer and he, too, might make an early debut.

If Quaynor turns into an elite half-back and former basketballer Tom Wilson can fire after a strong pre-season as a Category B rookie, it’s not the lost first-round selections that will hurt.

The sum total of their gains and losses from the two-year period might be a break-even.

It’s the salary cap effect that potentially hurts.

Last year’s sleeper trade that never happened was of wingman Tom Phillips, who the Pies were willing to move on despite a new contract signed in early 2019 and his 572-possession year.

Geelong was a suitor given it needed outside run and might have offered a long-term deal, but Phillips simply wasn’t interested. Fair enough, given his new deal.

If Phillips hits the markers for his performance clauses he can make a lucrative sum this season, which will put even more pressure on the Pies’ salary cap.

He runs all day, rarely misses a game and is the kind of mid-priced player a tight cap could squeeze out.

Brodie Grundy’s seven-year deal actually gives the Pies flexibility to defer some of his money to later years.

If Darcy Moore puts together a solid season he will be paid accordingly, but the wildcard is the unpredictable De Goey, soon to be with his third management group.

But the Pies will feel the fallout from Beams’s salary if Phillips is tipped out or De Goey accepts a mega-deal elsewhere that the Pies could have matched with that lost salary cap space."

[watt price tully]

^ Thanks for that.

[Cool Gold Win]

I love Beams but I'm hearing other things. <snip> Please try to avoid the defamatory speculation - the Mods. We will look after him, that's the culture.

[Rd10.1998_11.1#36]

Not that Jon Ralph, or anyone in the media, is necessarily right, but worth noting a few points from the article Ads reposted:

[Wonka]

[PyreneesPie]

Many thanks for posting this Ads7. An interesting read for sure and one which again shows how complex the Dayne Beams situation is, both for him

[Rd10.1998_11.1#36]

[Pies2016]

[Abdul The Bull]

When Beams decided to 'fresh air' the Copeland in his last season with us that would have been it for me. No chance he would have been back in Black & White if I had a say in proceedings.
He nailed his colours to the mast that night!

[Rd10.1998_11.1#36]

[Wonka]

[Pies4shaw]

^ Count me as the last person to support the decision to bring Beams back but we gave up pick 30 for Ball, which was unders (he would have been cheap at pick 1, given what he brought to the Club) and IIRC we gave up 14 for Jolly (having previously given up about 18 to get Cam Wood). There's no problem with topping up to have a crack at a flag - the problem is what you top up with. Beams was hardly Shaun Burgoyne.

[Rd10.1998_11.1#36]

The point is not what we paid for Ball or Jolly, or even Beams.

The strategy was clearly to bring in a player who the decision makers at the club felt could help get us over the line after a narrow miss in 2018. You can say that was the wrong strategy, or Beams was the wrong player, and those are valid opinions. Obviously the strategy didn't work in the short term, whether and how much it hurts us in the mid-long term remains to be seen. But keeping the 2 picks would not have helped us win a flag in 2019 or 2020

[Abdul The Bull]