AFL Daily: AFL proposal to have a combined soft cap for men's and women's competitions
The AFL is looking to introduce a "soft cap" which would encompass the men's and women's competitions and has also detailed ambitious plans for its Marvel Stadium redevelopment. RECAP THE DAY'S NEWS
The AFL is looking to introduce an industry-wide "soft cap" which would encompass the men's and women's competitions as it gave the 18 AFL clubs a sneak peak into the future.
In a meeting between the league and club chief executives at Werribee Mansion on Tuesday, the AFL also detailed ambitious plans for its Marvel Stadium redevelopment, canvassed ideas about the third instalment of AFLX, put mental health as one of its highest on-going priorities and gave the new 2019 rules a solid tick after two months of competition.
AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan told the Herald Sun the league will soon release a vision document on the future of the AFLW competition - part of which includes bringing spending under the one umbrella for the men's and women's programs.
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"We talked about the vision (of AFLW)," McLachlan said of the meeting with the clubs.
"We will have a vision document out in the coming weeks. We worked the clubs through that (on Tuesday)."
"We talked about a single funding model, one soft cap, and that looks like it has been agreed to."
It's believed the AFL want to introduce that model "sooner rather than later".
The 2020 AFLW season will see the competition expanded to 14 teams with the admission of West Coast, Richmond, Gold Coast and St Kilda.
AFL chief executives also saw modelling for the redevelopment of Marvel Stadium, with McLachlan saying some work could potentially start later in the year.
"We showed some external facade views," he said.
"I think generally people liked it.
"It is a very big project for the industry and we look forward to starting things hopefully later in the year."
It is understood the AFL told the clubs it was pleased with the competitive nature of the league across the first eight rounds this season.
While scoring hasn't spiked under the new rules - notably with the introduction of the 6x6x6 rule - the clubs were told that league officials were content with the overall look of the game.
They cited the fact there appeared to be more space on offer, with games in the balance late, with last week's Melbourne-Gold Coast thriller an example.
McLachlan acknowledged mental health was "one of the biggest issues in the industry", saying the league was committed to doing all that it could to assist players.
They have appointed a mental health manager, and clubs officials listened to a detailed presentation on the issue at the meeting.
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Originally published as AFL Daily: AFL proposal to have a combined soft cap for men's and women's competitions
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