Some fan favourites may have already played their last games at AFL level
With severe playing list cuts likely in 2021, if play does not resume this year due to COVID-19, we may have seen the last of some big names in Power and Crows colours, writes Kane Cornes.
Kane Cornes
Don't miss out on the headlines from Kane Cornes. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Crows and Port handed sponsor lifeline
- How to get the most out of your Advertiser digital subscription
The careers of some of our favourite players may be over.
Last Sunday afternoon AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan announced the league was suspending the season until at least May 31.
The look on the McLachlan’s face and the tone of his voice suggested he is questioning whether any further football will be played in 2020.
The financial ramifications of this decision have been catastrophic for the league, the clubs and the players.
The once bulletproof AFL competition has grown exponentially on the back of record media deals in the past five years, and this season the 45-listed players from each club were set to share in over $13 million in wages. That equates to an average salary of over $370,000 each.
The league was untouchable until the COVID-19 health crisis proved it wasn’t, with no games leaving the competition in financial ruin.
The AFL made difficult calls to the majority of its staff this week and stood them down without pay or forced them to work part-time while the 18 clubs followed suit and slashed the football departments by up to 80 per cent.
To save money and rebuild the financial position of the league, list sizes will be reduced from 45 to as few as 35 next season.
This won’t stop clubs from going to the draft and bringing in fresh talent, which will squeeze out players who would have once been safe.
The careers of several big name veterans are on a knife edge.
West Coast two-time Coleman medallist Josh Kennedy (31) already fears for his future.
“Who knows where the industry is going,” Kennedy told Perth radio station 6PR.
“There’s been a lot of cuts this year in terms of jobs and money.
“The years after are going to be hard to get it back up to where the AFL was.
“They might cut list sizes.
Relive classic VFL/AFL matches from the 60s to today on KAYO SPORTS. New to Kayo? Get your 14-day free trial & start streaming instantly >
“All those things will come in (to my decision), and it just depends where the football club sees me and a lot of the guys in that situation.
Adelaide and Port Adelaide will have to make those tough calls in due course, but here are the players facing the genuine prospect of never playing AFL again.
BRAD EBERT
Ebert turns 30 next week, and after an injury-interrupted 2019 season which saw him play only 11 AFL games, he is no longer a first-choice player at Alberton.
His contract is set to expire in October and with Port Adelaide continuing to bring in youth his spot on the list beyond this year is in jeopardy.
JUSTIN WESTHOFF
Westhoff turns 34 this year and time may have caught up with the Port Adelaide icon.
He was dropped to the SANFL last season and was whisper quiet in the Round 1 opener against Gold Coast on Saturday.
It has been a marvellous 15-year career to date for the ultimate team man, and if this is the end, it will be a shattering way to bow out.
JACK WATTS
The 2008 No.1 draft pick is out-of-contract at the end of this season and at 29 and coming off a serious injury, his future will be clouded if list sizes are reduced.
Watts has managed only 21 games at the Power since crossing from Melbourne at the end of 2017.
DAVID MCKAY
The Adelaide wingman turns 32 in July and won’t be part of the future at West Lakes as Matthew Nicks undertakes a massive rebuild of the playing squad.
McKay is in his 13th season and has 220 games to his name, which is an outstanding career.
FUTURE IN DOUBT
Other big names such as Adelaide’s Taylor Walker, Bryce Gibbs and Tom Lynch and the Power’s Tom Rockliff and Hamish Hartlett are contracted for 2021, which gives them some security but considering their age and recent on-field output they would also be concerned about the future.
The AFL are refusing to sign off on any new player contracts until they understand the future financial situation of the competition, which leaves out-of-contract midfielder Brad Crouch in limbo. Crouch, who was demanding a monster payday in the vicinity of $1 million per season, will have to cut his asking price in half.
Under those conditions, Crouch will still be attractive to rival clubs due to his free agency status, which means any club can sign him without coughing up compensation to the Crows.
As the players exited their respective clubs on Monday, I’m sure some will have considered that it might have been for the last time.
And thanks to COVID-19, those priceless “lasts” may have been stolen from them.
No final banner to run through with their kids, no family in the stands, no lap of honour to thank the fans, and no last Gatorade shower.