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.