Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett has criticised the AFL's decision to introduce free agency in late 2012, arguing that the current draft and trade systems were 'not bad' and that the new one could lead to restraint of trade claims from players.
Kennett wrote a letter to Hawks fans that has been posted on the club's website on Wednesday, a day after the AFL announced that varying forms of free agency will apply to players who have served eight years at one club.
Unhappy that the system outlined by the AFL is not subject to approval from the clubs, 'in short a fait accompli', Kennett said he believes there was already enough options open to players to move clubs if they wanted to.
Using his own club as an example, Kennett pointed out that both Josh Kennedy and Ben McGlynn had been traded to Sydney last October while at the same time Hawthorn traded for Josh Gibson from North Melbourne and Shaun Burgoyne from Port Adelaide.
According to Kennett, who says he is 'not fearful of change', there was no reason in the first place for the AFL to introduce free agency, which he says was done purely to try and 'buy peace' with the AFL Players' Association and avoid a potential court challenge of the salary cap or draft procedures.
"If you are going to change something that is not broken, what you put in its place has got to, in my opinion, be demonstratively better," Kennett wrote. "I doubt that is the case."
"In fact, the new free agency arrangement is not free except in one case - delisted players."
"Free agency rules will add more restrictions, not reduce them."
"In short unless goodwill applies, as has happened to date, a challenge to our rules has more grounds on which to be based and succeed."
Kennett is most frustrated by the fact that players not in the top 25 percent of earners at any club will be unrestricted free agents when they come out of contract having already served eight years at their club.
He is also concerned that clubs could act irresponsibly in terms of offers made to the players that are the top earners at their club, either by a team that makes an offer to the player or by his current club trying to retain his services.
And according to Kennett the potential for free agency to result in far more players changing clubs in future will not only upset fans but also lead to the strong clubs getting stronger and the poorer ones getting weaker.
"The AFL's proposal fails to appreciate that our game depends on the club loyalty of members and in particular certain players," Kennett added.
"The AFL's proposal encourages the movement of players, it goes against the emotion of club members and supporters who keep clubs alive and in turn keep the competition alive, so that the media pays huge fees to buy the rights to the game."
"The stronger clubs will survive these changes, I suspect they will grow stronger, but I fear for those clubs in the bottom half of the ladder from 2012."
"The competition will end up with a two-tiered structure, and in particular a second tier with reducing membership and less commercial success."