Contracted players and trade consent: AFLPA boss assesses player power ahead of 2024 trade period

AFLPA boss Paul Marsh has spoken on the nature of player power ahead of the 2024 trade period.

With several contracted players set to request moves, including the likes of Alex Neal-Bullen and Jack Macrae who have already signalled their desire to leave their respective clubs, the question was put to Marsh as to whether the players have too much power in the trade space.

“We do believe that when a player and a club sign a contract, we believe in the inner sanctity of that,” Marsh told SEN’s Breakfast.

“So, as a starting point we believe in that. In saying that, we also believe that the players and the club can come to an agreement that both parties are happy with, that they can move away from that contract and that is also okay.

“I think we’ve seen that on both sides here, so players deciding family reasons is a good reason for a player to ask to move but the club still holds the whip hand there.

“The club can say no, and we’ve certainly seen that on many occasions, but we’ve also seen probably two other scenarios where the player actually does move, and the club that allows the player to move typically gets a good deal out of that, but we’re also seeing the reverse of this.

“I’ve quoted Adam Treloar and Brodie Grundy recently who were in contract, Collingwood wanted to move them on and were able to do that and so I don’t think the system at the moment is broken from that perspective, I think we’re seeing this in all different directions and it’s working.”

Marsh also spoke on the inability for a club to shift a player without their consent, as seen quite frequently in American sports.

Given the major financial implications of an unexpected move, Marsh and the AFLPA believe that the players are not compensated well enough to justify the sudden shift.

“We don’t believe the players at the moment get paid well enough to say, ‘we’re actually going to move you, whether you want to go there or not’,” Marsh continued.

“From our perspective at the moment, we’re not talking NFL or NBA money where players are able just to pick up their lives and move without their consent and I think that we are a long, long way off that as an industry.

“But in saying that, there are lots of conversations that take place where a player may not be in the future plans of their club, and once you put it to a player that ‘you’re probably not going to play with us next year even though you’ve got a contract’, often the players will make the decision themselves.”