Carlton chief executive Brian Cook believes it important that equalisation measures are entrenched, standing at odds with potential Collingwood president Jeff Browne.
Cook last month took over at one of the league’s best-supported clubs, but despite the resources he will tap into, he emphasised the importance of a balanced competition.
Browne yesterday told the Herald Sun he plans to fight for the Pies’ right to spend their revenue as they wish.
If the members’ vote is announced to have gone his way at the annual general meeting on December 16, the new board is likely to elect him president.
“Strong clubs like Collingwood should not be required to hand over any of their hard-won revenue to effectively repair the balance sheets of other clubs,” Browne declared.
“The soft cap is a tax on success. It unfairly limits the right of clubs — and the obligation of club directors — to do whatever is necessary to provide the safest possible workplace for their players.”
Introduced in 2015, the soft cap on football department spending was $6.2m in 2021, having been slashed in response to the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Clubs were initially taxed 37.5 cents for every dollar they spent above the figure up to a limit of $1m, before it reached a dollar for every dollar by 2017.
Browne also flagged his approval for the push to put former Pies president Eddie McGuire in one of the empty seats on the AFL Commission.
Cook, who formerly served in the same role at West Coast from 1990 to 1998 and Geelong from 1998 to 2021, is wary of efforts to undermine the code’s competitive balance.
“I don’t know exactly what he said, but if it’s about the stronger clubs getting stronger, I’d have a bit of a question mark on that,” he told SEN Breakfast.
“I think the equalisation strategies in the AFL work, and that’s been proven through lots of outcomes.”
Over two decades down the highway, Cook orchestrated the elimination of the Cats’ debt, and the redevelopment of a crumbling Kardinia Park into a world class stadium.
It is little wonder he values the relationship between a strong culture and success under the current competitive balance, as opposed to a more transactional dynamic.
The Cats’ stability can be traced back to precise drafting in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and the bounty from the premiership success that followed.
However, Cook knows his philosophy on the soft cap and other measures has to integrate with others’ perspectives at Carlton.
“I’d need to know more and talk to our own team about that,” he admitted.
“I’m sure Luke (Sayers), our president, has his on views on that, so we’d need to have a chat.”