Matthews backs large pay rise for AFL players
By Caroline Wilson
The Age
March 8, 2006
PREMIERSHIP coach Leigh Matthews has declared that AFL players deserved a payrise of at least 15 per cent or their union should be sacked.
Matthews told The Age that footballers deserved to be the big winners out of the AFL's massive new TV rights agreement worth $780 million over five years.
"The AFL are going to have an extra $50 million a year," said the four-time premiership coach, who is embarking upon his eighth year with the Brisbane Lions. "If the players don't get a third of that then the AFL Players Association should be sacked.
"They should get at least that, we're talking about roughly an extra million dollars per club to fund it and, after all, they're the ones who put on the show. We can do without a lot of things in footy but not them.
"You can argue who deserves the bigger proportion of it, whether rookies and first-year players deserve a bit extra, but if the salary cap goes up $1 million per club then you'll still have about $30 million left."
Matthews' controversial comments came with talks expected to start soon between the competition and the players' union to strike a new collective bargaining agreement due to be signed in June.
His thoughts, however, are bound to displease the majority of AFL clubs, which have pushed for a player wage increase of no more than 10 per cent with several of the view that the players' payrise should be capped at 7 or 8 per cent with the bulk of the extra money to aid financially struggling clubs and game development.
AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou has indicated that the historic collective bargaining agreement of 1998 and subsequent money brought forward from the last broadcast deal saw the players receive too large a percentage of AFL revenue.
Melbourne club president Paul Gardner in January circulated a letter to all club presidents calling for a conservative approach to player pay rises and for poorer clubs to receive extra financial attention.
"Certainly the amount that goes to the clubs should be on a needs basis," said Matthews, an AFL legend whose likeness now adorns the AFLPA's most valuable player award each year. "I don't think West Coast needs any extra money, nor do the Crows and you could argue that Brisbane don't need any either because we're doing all right at the moment."
Players' union chief Brendon Gale, whose body several days ago circulated a letter to player agents warning them of a delay in negotiations with the AFL, welcomed Matthews comments. Said Gale: "The players have high expectations in the wake of our forthcoming negotiations and we'll be working very hard on their behalf."
As a result of the delay in AFL information and concern from some agents and clubs currently negotiating player contracts, the AFLPA letter has instructed players managers as to a formula for contracts which would insert clauses allowing for potential salary cap rises over 2007 and 2008.
While the new CBA is only scheduled to cover two years, neither Gale nor the AFL would rule out extending the new deal to a five-year period.
The AFLPA's letter to the player agents stated: "The AFLPA has recently received advice from the AFL that the complete financial information requested by the AFLPA is still some weeks away from being provided … Given that … the AFLPA does not expect any imminent resolution on the level of Total Player Payments for 2007-2008."
With the majority of Victorian AFL clubs servicing massive debts — Carlton on Monday revealed a current debt of $7 million with Richmond, the Kangaroos, Melbourne and even Geelong now paying off its new stand all handling debts of around $4 million — the prevailing view is that the competition has an obligation to help those clubs strike improved stadium agreements.
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