Geelong coach Chris Scott has launched an extraordinary attack on the AFL's free agency system, saying he and the club don't support it.
The Cats were victims of the most high-profile defection since free agency's introduction when Brownlow medallist Gary Ablett left for Gold Coast.
Several raiding attempts later - from the chief executive to the chef - it's clear the Cats are no fan of the system, and Scott believes he isn't alone.
"I don't think there are many people, maybe apart from some of the players, that like free agency," Scott said.
"The easiest solution is to abolish free agency.
"The AFL is working really hard with the clubs and all stakeholders to equalise the competition and give everyone a fair chance ... (and) free agency flies squarely in the face of that."
Declaring free agency part of "the era that we live in", Scott was clear in his disdain for what the system has done for Geelong.
"Geelong's been attacked pretty hard not just at a player level but with its coaches, with its administrators, with its chef at one point," he said.
"We've lived through it with (Gary) Ablett.
"We've lived through it with (Harry) Taylor), we've lived through it with (administrators and football staff) Brian Cook and Neil Balme and Steven Hocking and Stephen Wells.."
"We aren't in favour of it but we understand that's the reality so we're trying to take a mature approach."
That has extended to making their own moves in the market, with successful moves for Josh Caddy and Jared Rivers, and an unsuccessful attempt to secure Port Adelaide captain Travis Boak.
The Cats are rumoured to be in the mix for wantaway Melbourne key forward James Frawley but Scott declined to discuss the issue, calling it distasteful and disrespectful.
Frawley's coach Paul Roos had his own thoughts on the system on Tuesday morning, saying he saw the system morphing to give clubs more rights in the future.
"Down the track, you may see players not coming out of contract, or being traded the year before," Roos said.
"At some point it may get taken out of the player's hands.
"That's the trend (overseas) but we're not at that point now."
Adelaide forward Tex Walker declared himself no fan of the free agency system on the weekend, and Scott agreed its removal would help club culture.
"My simplistic view of it, without free agency we'd have more loyalty," Scott said.
"Most players, most really good players given a choice would play at one club their entire career."
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