Kane Cornes believes the AFL’s six-month payout clause for AFL coaches is “cruel” and has called on the Coaches Association to push back.
St Kilda coach Brett Ratten was sacked by the club last week, but despite signing a two-year extension in the middle of the 2022 season, is only entitled to six months of payout.
The AFL changed the rule in 2019 to end the huge payments required when a coach is sacked early into long-term a deal.
The Age confirmed in 2020 that Ratten was one of the first coaches to receive a six-month clause.
Cornes believes the rule is unfair and says the industry needs to push back.
“This six-month payout clause, I cannot get my head around how the Coaches Association and how the industry has just accepted that we can sign coaches for a tenure, but then sack them and only pay out six months of the contract,” Cornes told SEN Breakfast.
“If you are the agent of one of these coaches, you cannot let one of these deals slip through.
“St Kilda rely on the AFL (financially) clearly, but they only have to stump up six months of a two-year contract.
“Brett Ratten on October 17th has to go look for a job when everyone else has already shored up their football departments. It’s cruel.”
Four AFL coaches departed in 2022, with Leon Cameron (GWS), David Noble (North Melbourne) and Ben Rutten (Essendon) also sacked.