50 years ago the first iteration of a SANFL Players Association was held, and today, players voices need to be heard
Players deserve to have a bigger voice. Both the AFL and the SANFL must recognise this. It may have been 50 years in the making but a SANFL Players Association can no longer be ignored, writes Graham Cornes.
Opinion
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It was 50 years ago, in the mid-1970s, that a group of SANFL players met in a North Adelaide location. It had all the trappings of a clandestine meeting as the invited players snuck furtively into the house. But somehow the media found out, and from nowhere a photographer appeared.
It was the first iteration of a SANFL Players Association but even though I was there, I can’t remember too much of the detail.
Bob Keddie, Hawthorn’s 1971 grand final hero who had been recruited to West Adelaide was the dominant voice. He had a certain aura and an air of authority about him. It wasn’t arrogance. Charismatic would be a more appropriate adjective.
So we listened. As with most representative bodies or unions, the main issue was salary. How could the players get an appropriate share of the revenue that football was generating?
It was an era when the star players were well paid but the majority of SANFL players were not adequately rewarded for their time, effort and the money that football was bringing in. There was no longer a provident fund that briefly existed but from which no one ever saw a return.
Bear in mind that the aggregate crowd often topped 40,000. Some of the big matches at Football Park alone would attract between 30,000 and 40,000 spectators.
In the end nothing was really resolved. The SANFL ignored any communication, figuring that such action would cause any issues to go away. They were right.
The movement disappeared without even the threat of strike action.
The appetite to establish a SANFL Players Association waned and players resumed normal training.
Over those subsequent years there have been several attempts to revitalise the movement. The official logo of the SANFLPA says it was established in 2007, but it had little traction.
In 2021 journalist Patrick Keam announced in the Messenger Press that “a group of current and past SANFL footballers have formed a players association to give them a greater voice on key issues in a move they believe will be positive for the future of the league.”
2021 was a time when there was much frustration about the lack of communication between the SANFL and its players. For instance, the first that the SANFL players heard they would not be paid for the 2020 season because of the Covid-19 restrictions, was a report on Channel 7.
“Players are kept in the dark”, is a common theme.
It is fair to say that the SANFL is less than enthusiastic about having to deal with a union-style representative body. What employer is?
The wider corporate world of employer/employee relationships has seen the full range of emotions and actions, ranging from cordial and amicable to violence and blatant sabotage.
The SANFL proposed an alternative model consisting of player representatives but that would be headed by the SANFL and not be truly independent.
However, the SANFLPA has persisted, determined to have a voice and impact how the SANFL and its clubs treat its players.
At the recent Annual General Meeting of the SANFLPA, the SANFL players “unanimously voted in favour of pursuing a Collective Bargaining Agreement with the SANFL.”
Negotiating a new CBA usually means asking for more money but the SANFLPA President, Sturt premiership player Matthew Crocker, insists that it’s much more than just salaries. Pivotal to any agreement is a commitment from the SANFL to put in place mental health and player wellbeing facilities.
Mental health! It’s such an important modern concern. We hear so much about it at the highest level of football. For instance, in the last year the AFLPA has supported 250 players and ex-players with 2500 psychiatric consultations.
It is reasonable to assume the same issues would be evident in the lower professional grades of competition like the SANFL. However, there is no program to support them.
It’s not the key factor in any proposed SANFLPA negotiations but the issue of salaries in the SANFL cannot be ignored. In 2012 the salary cap for SANFL teams was $400,000.
That was revised in 2020 to keep the competition viable and the players played for virtually nothing.
Since then it has recovered slightly but the salary cap for SANFL clubs today is still only $290,000.
There are some additional add-ons for relocation, travel and other expenses, but given the rise in the cost of living it’s a staggering devaluation of a SANFL footballer’s worth in the second-best football competition in Australia.
In the same period of time the salary cap of an AFL team has more than doubled, from $8.78 million to $17.7 million.
When the current AFLPA agreement expires in 2027 the average wage of an AFL player will be $519,000.
Interestingly, the average AFLW player salary will increase to $82,000 in that time. Misogynists will have a field day with what an AFLW player earns compared to a SANFL player’s $5000 salary.
One can see why so many SANFL players seek other opportunities in country and amateur leagues.
The AFL Players Association has become a powerful and effective advocate for its players. Some say it is too powerful given its intent to protect payers who indulge in illicit drug usage but it nevertheless serves its members well.
Unfortunately, while it can represent and assist a broken-down old footballer who played five VFL games for North Melbourne in 1979, it can’t or won’t advocate for SANFL or WAFL players of the same period.
It’s true that they are sympathetic to the cause and offer advice and assistance, but despite the fact that the AFLPA will receive $60 million over the course of the current agreement there is no financial assistance forthcoming for any SANFL players association.
This is where the AFL must contribute. It is the apex organisation at the tip of the pyramid that houses our great game. But it continually ignores the foundations and the grassroots of football.
An important layer in that structure is the SANFL whose players have sacrificed so much in recent years to keep the competition viable and feed the AFL.
Besides that, the SANFL is now a vital community organisation. It offers a viable alternative to the AFL which is increasingly out of reach of many who love their footy.
Its players deserve to have a bigger voice. Both the AFL and the SANFL must recognise this.
It may have been 50 years in the making but a SANFL Players Association can no longer be ignored.
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