Rule change favours AFL veterans Jon Ralph
From: Herald Sun
October 22, 2012AGEING stars like Collingwood's Ben Johnson and St Kilda's Jason Blake, who hang on for a final season next year, could actually make their clubs' salary cap room because of new list rules for veterans.
The old veterans' list rules allowed clubs to put half a player's wage outside the salary cap, but teams can next year decide to exclude $112,000 from the cap per veteran.
So a player like Collingwood's Ben Johnson can effectively be paid nothing in the salary cap next year, with every cent of his base outside the cap.
His match payments would be inside the cap, but he would effectively be cheaper to retain than even a first-year player on $50,000 to $70,000 if they played a similar number of games.
It will be a key factor for clubs with tight salary caps considering whether to retain veteran players.
Even if a player is on a modest base of $200,000, the ability to shift most of that outside the salary cap will appeal.
Blake has had to wait to find out his fate, but at a club like St Kilda, the rules could hand him a crucial edge.
Essendon has offered veterans David Hille and Nathan Lovett-Murray new contracts.
Johnson will be at Collingwood, but has not yet been given details.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/rule-change-favours-afl-veterans/story-e6frf7jo-1226500267932
