Richmond seeking 5% pay cut from playing group (SEN)

[one-eyed]

According to Sam Edmund on SEN just before:

Following on from a couple of other clubs, six clubs will be asking their players to take a pay cut (given the reduced salary cap and the ongoing economic environment).

Richmond will be asking for an across the board 5% pay cut from their playing group.

[one-eyed]

PLAYERS AT MULTIPLE CLUBS SET TO AGREE TO COLLECTIVE PAY CUTS

Sam Edmund
SEN
16 February 2021

Players at as many as five clubs will agree to collective pay cuts as the competition delicately navigates the AFL salary cap reduction.

The total salary cap has this year been slashed from $14.5 million to $13.1 million – a cut of nine per cent. After list reductions, it equates to an average of 3.5 per cent per player.

But with clubs left to decide how to manage the pay decrease and with uncertainty over the collective bargaining agreement from 2022, West Coast and St Kilda have reached an agreement with their players to take a higher pay cut – seven per cent.

But the Eagles and Saints aren’t on their own.

Carlton has finalised a uniform five per cent cut with its players, while the Western Bulldogs are close to reaching an agreement on a 5.5 per cent reduction at the kennel.

Richmond is also working towards a blanket five per cent decrease.

A lot of clubs have also cut out best and fairest incentives, saving as much as $150,000 in bonuses.

The salary cap cut, brought on by COVID-19, has forced greater transparency between clubs and their players when it comes to salaries.

The Eagles appeased their players with the promise they wouldn’t use the saved money to try to bring in a big fish during the free agency and trade windows.

The Saints have spent big in the exchange period in recent years and have bonded with the belief they are building something special.

The Dogs’ negotiations with its playing group looks likely to see them retain best and fairest bonus payments, albeit at a reduced rate.

All this comes with Collingwood’s messy salary dump not long in the rear-view mirror and with clubs and players wary of shifting money forward and suffering their own cap crunch in the future.

The salary cap cut pales in comparison to the cut to soft cap spending, which has been slashed by $3 million per club to around $6 million.

https://www.sen.com.au/news/2021/02/16/players-at-multiple-clubs-set-to-agree-to-collective-pay-cuts/

[one-eyed]

No cuts, no glory: Flag heroes face pay slash to keep dynasty alive

Tigers put forward a five per cent pay cut to all its players

By Callum Twomey
afl.com.au
16 February 2021

RICHMOND has put forward a full list five per cent pay cut to its players as the Tigers look to keep their premiership dynasty intact.

The Western Bulldogs and Hawthorn have also joined the list of clubs who have had their players accept increased pay cuts as some clubs grapple with the revised total player payments, while others, such as Grand Finalists Geelong, have chosen to stick with the mandatory cuts.

Tigers players are understood to have broached the subject of increased pay decreases last week as the AFL's deadline for total player payment estimations edges closer (other contract variations are open until mid-year).

As AFL.com.au has revealed, West Coast and St Kilda led the early charge on their players agreeing to seven per cent pay cuts across the list in a move to deal with the salary cap reductions for this year.

The League last year slashed the salary cap by nine per cent to $13.17 million after COVID-19 wreaked financial havoc on the game, but the mandated drop was just 3.5 per cent for players.

However, under the agreed upon cuts with the AFL Players' Association, some players faced nine per cent cuts depending on when they signed their most recent contract.

Clubs have then been forced to work through new pay models with players, with some approaching big-name players to defer payments to later in contracts to ensure they are under the cap this year.

Others, like the Eagles and Saints, asked their players to take a higher cut to ensure the financial pain was evenly spread in a single year.

Although a deal has not been formalised, the Tigers are also understood to be negotiating along the same lines but at a smaller rate as they aim to keep together their star-studded group together with seven premiership players qualifying as free agents this year, including Jack Riewoldt, Shane Edwards, David Astbury, Dylan Grimes and Nick Vlastuin.

A five per cent cut would mean superstar Tiger Dustin Martin could forgo up to $60,000 of his contract, which is estimated to average between $1.2-3 million over its seven-year timeframe.

The Bulldogs have agreed to a 5.5 per cent pay chop across their list in a collective move – rookies and players on their first contracts are not subject to the increased pay cuts – while Hawthorn has also increased its cut in a deferment model.

That will see the Hawks take nearly seven per cent this year but be given back approximately 2.5 per cent pay next year, with the deferring a preferred structure from some clubs.

Adelaide is also in discussions with its players on a model, while Carlton has used a hybrid set up of increased pay cuts and deferrals.

The Cats head the list of clubs that have stuck to the mandatory cuts enforced by the AFL, applying the formula as set out by the League, which includes the ability to shift five per cent of players' salaries into 2022 and beyond.

The AFL's mandate means that some players are affected worse than others depending on when they signed their latest contract.

Brisbane, Essendon, Fremantle, Port Adelaide, Sydney and Greater Western Sydney are among the other clubs who have not enacted increased list-wide pay cuts, although some clubs have smoothed out their caps by recontracting players to longer deals rather than asking for the uniform approach.

https://www.afl.com.au/news/549762/richmond-flag-heroes-face-pay-cut-to-keep-dynasty-alive