Dr Sean Gorman - Duff and the Doctor (07.10.2026)

Mark Duffield (0:07)

I don't care how many time I hear it, every time I hear it, my head starts bobbing along to it.

Doctor, Doctor, it's time for Duff and the Doctor. Doctor Sean Gorman joins me in the studio. I'm going to say hello to you in a minute, Sean. But before I do, just a quick news update. Jordan Ridley to the Geelong Cats, the deal is done. So he is now a Geelong player. So Geelong gives up their 2027 first round pick, their 2028 second round pick and Jack Bows, and they get Ridley and pick 60, and the 2028 fourth round pick. So giving a lot for Jordan Ridley, they obviously rate him very highly. Going to be interesting to see what, if any impact that has on Grian Myers and whether or not he gets anywhere near West Coast. Also very interesting to see what happens in terms of their pursuit for Rowan Marshall as well. Having said all that, Dr. Sean Gorman, welcome.

Sean Gorman (1:10)

G'day Duff, g'day listeners. Well, so another roll of the dice in the epic narrative that is the AFL history, isn't it really? In terms of that, that's a lot to give up. They obviously got a lot riding on him, yeah.

Mark Duffield (1:24)

Well, I think they're looking at it and they're thinking, well, we can maybe pinch another one in the next two to three years.

It's probably more like the next one to two years, given the ages of Cameron Dangerfield, Blitzarves and obviously Toby Green, who is joining them as well. Those guys won't be much chop after 2027, I would have thought. So yeah, they're probably taken a shot at it.

Jordan Riddle has obviously had a checkered run with injury, but if they can stand him up, he is a very good player. So that'll be one to watch and we continue to watch their pursuit of Rowan Marshall as well. Just linked to that, James Gallagher, the AFLPA Chief Executive has come out and he hinted that free agency will be a big part of the next CBA agreement and that the players want it freed up more. And something he said that caught my eye and that I completely disagree with, he says that it's had no effect on the AFL's competitive balance. So if we just look at this year, Toby Green free agent goes to Geelong, Ben King free agent goes to Hawthorne, Lockie Neal out of contract goes to Collingwood, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Long before Toby Green, there was Jeremy Cameron going to Geelong. To me, Zach Butters, who has gone to the Clubby Barrack for as a kid, the Western Bulldogs, he is the exception rather than the rule. To me, this is a major threat to competitive balance in the competition. And if James Gallagher says, there is no evidence that it's affected competitive balance, he's been living under a rock.

Sean Gorman (3:12)

Yeah. Well, the thing about this, and it's such a, again, we talk about the Jordan Ridley Roll of the Dice, the situation with this whole arrangement, the dance that the AFL does with the PA, all comes down to the EBA, right? So you've got this amazing kind of pull me, push you type of energy going on in that regard. And I've seen it happen too many times before and been in, obviously, the AFL, been in the HQ when those arrangements and those negotiations have been underway. And it's quite interesting to see how the closer the deadline looms, how much tension does actually rise in terms of these sorts of things. So my feeling, and it is just a feeling, and some of the experiences that I've had, is that a lot of the times when players want something, and that comes through the committee, the player committee that are part of the board in terms of those sorts of things, the advisory panel, you know, whatever they want, then the union gets its skates on and starts to agitate and move towards these sorts of things. I think the claim that Gallagher makes is, I'll say, interesting in parentheses.

Mark Duffield (4:31)

Well, how about we call it what it is? It's bulldust.

Sean Gorman (4:33)

It's totally bulldust. But the way that these things play out, again, it's the way this elite sport in terms of football in Australia works. A lot of it is bulldust. But this EBA piece and how they're going to see if they can wedge the AFL in terms of it will be fascinating to see. Because I know that when Gil McLaughlin, he loved the art of the deal making.

That's where the juice was for Gil. It'll be very interesting to see how Andrew Dillon then plays this and cuts the cake in terms of things. So this will be fascinating over the next, over the next duration to see how this all plays out. And, and if, how strident James Gallagher and the Players Association become in terms of this whole, you know, I suppose, perspective of the, the agency, the free agency of players playing out the ways that he's seeing it now, which as you say is be bullshit.