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SWANSBEST
6th March 2003, 06:26 AM
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PATRICK SMITH
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Let us not forget veterans in cap war

March 06, 2003
THE Victorian AFL clubs are preparing their cases against financial concessions for Brisbane and Sydney. This will be a messy confrontation.

They have tasted blood, winning the argument against player concessions to the northern clubs. They have taken a liking to corpuscles.

Brisbane coach Leigh Matthews says the Victorian stance is tantamount to usurping the role of the AFL Commission and its executive. He is right. He usually is, though we have $10 on the table that says his wish for a ban on football betting is doomed. What the hell. Make that $15.

The Victorian clubs, who say they have solid support from South Australia and Western Australia, argue the salary cap relief for Sydney (15 per cent extra) and Brisbane (10 per cent) is neither justified nor used correctly.

The AFL counters that the cost of living in Sydney is significantly higher than other states and the rest of the salary cap relief is required to retain players drafted from other states and to develop local talent.

While Brisbane have won the past two premierships, Sydney have finished 11th, seventh, 10th and eighth in the past four seasons. Money guarantees you nought in sport. Carlton infamously paid well over the salary cap last year and won just three games and sacked a coach.

That is not an argument in support of salary cap relief but it is a sobering point nonetheless. Clubs would dismiss it out of hand saying all they want is an equal opportunity for everybody. Fair enough but they do not fight this battle with any consistency.

Veteran lists were introduced under the AFL collective bargaining agreement.

Clubs with two 30-year-old players on their lists who have been at the club for 10 years could have half their salary placed outside the cap. It was meant to keep older players in the game for longer.

Initially, it served its purpose but now it is fast becoming a tool for salary cap relief. Essendon and Carlton had punted on the qualification age for the veterans list being dropped from 30 to 29 this season. It wasn't and caused the clubs much grief.

Ian Collins, president of Carlton when he is not chief executive of Telstra Dome, immediately ordered savage pay cuts ? Anthony Koutoufides included ? when he assumed power late last year.

Essendon were forced to dump premiership players Justin Blumfield, Chris Heffernan and Blake Caracella to accommodate James Hird. It is common practice to back-end contracts so the bulk of the biggest payments fall when the player is a veteran.

For the sake of the argument let's say Hird is on $600,000 a year. When he becomes a veteran, $300,000 falls outside the salary cap. Mark Mercuri will follow Hird on to the veterans list. Let's say Mercuri is on $400,000. That's another $200,000 outside the cap for a total of $600,000.

So in that scenario Essendon have $600,000 more to buy players than a side without a veterans list. And if the club without veterans uses little of its marketing allowance then the difference is moving towards $1 million. Even more if the club is only paying around 95 per cent of its salary cap to start with.

Surely that is just as inequitable as the salary cap relief for developing states Brisbane and Sydney yet we don't hear one fist thumping the table.

So the AFL has a problem. A simple plan to give 30-year-olds a fighting chance to hold their spots on club lists is now an inflationary tool that unbalances the competition. Superstars can be paid ridiculous amounts of money because half disappears out of the cap once they blow out enough candles to become a veteran.

It will get more difficult, too, because the AFL Players Association is considering pushing for an increase in the number of veterans allowed on club lists from two to three and a change in the qualification period.

To be a veteran in 2003, a player must have turned 30 by the end of 2002. That means Koutoufides, born 18-1-1973, will play all season as a 30-year-old but not a veteran.

Carlton have another problem. They already have Andrew McKay and Brett Ratten listed as veterans and league rules forbid players returning to the primary list once they have been officially ranked as veterans. So if Carlton wanted to name Koutoufides on the veterans list next year then they would have to get rid of either McKay or Ratten or ask one of the players to take his chances in the draft. Hardly appropriate treatment for such fine players.

There is one sure solution to this. Force clubs to play full lists. Presently, Fremantle has just 34 players on the books because a handful of players are paid a fortune. The club cannot afford to draft and pay another four players to lift the list to the allowable 38.

Ensure clubs maintain full lists and it will flatten footballers' salaries from the top player down and more kids will get a chance to play football. Last year the pre-season draft was over before it started because clubs had committed their money already.

Salary cap relief to the northern clubs might not be appropriate. But if that is all the Victorian clubs challenge then they are fighting a very selective war

desredandwhite
6th March 2003, 07:01 AM
Just moving this one here, sb - just thought it was more of an overall AFL issue :)

Grant
6th March 2003, 07:34 AM
Great article,and Patrick Smith actually puts up a magnificent argument for the northern states.
Probably the best piece of work i have ever seen from him.

SWANSBEST
6th March 2003, 04:58 PM
IMO Patrick is the best writer on the AFL by a long shot. He can look at the "big picture" while the other writers mostly look at problems through tunnel vision. eg Caro looks at a situation through Richmond eyes then Victorian eyes and very rarely through a National perspective . Mike Sheahan is probably the closest to Patrick in taking a National perspective but sometimes falls down by not doing enough thorough research. Most of the other writers just re print club media statements or echo the words of their favourite club or coach.
On other web sites the Victorian club supporters pour a lot of scorn on Patrick because he tells the often unpalatable truth or challenges the logic of the arguements put up by their club Presidents. ie Collingwood supporters mouth off Eddie's words verbatim without any thought whatsoever and are therefore indirectly confronted by Patrick and this causes them angst.

It seems Eddie and co will roll the AFL Commission on this issue but Patrick has thrown up some good ammo for the fight.

NMWBloods
6th March 2003, 05:14 PM
One of the reasons why he writes this sort of stuff is he loves a good stoush. What better way to have one!! :)