AFL off-season news: The AFLPA is open to Magic Round but the players want an extra bye
The AFL risks creating a divide in clubs as it weighs up how to split the windfall from adding an extra round to the season. Here’s how the extra money could be split.
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The AFL’s player union is open to a Magic Round which would expand their already significant workload as it continues to push for two byes within the 2023 home-and-away season.
Players would be handed a $3.6 million pay bonus if they agreed to a 23rd game next season to be played in Sydney or Adelaide, but they are yet to officially tick off the proposal.
In discussions with the league in past pay talk deals, the players have always been open to growing the game and its available pool of revenue, through longer seasons or State of Origin and All Star concepts.
The players will push for two byes in the upcoming season but are aware the league is much more likely to instead forge ahead with a single bye and a pre-finals bye after the conclusion of the minor round.
The league and AFLPA have had preliminary discussions about the Magic Round, with discussions to proceed about how the players split the $200,000 each playing list receives for the extra game.
The AFL is yet to work out whether the players would receive the money over and above their 2023 salaries, or whether it would go straight into their retirement fund.
The league and players would also need to work out whether every player on an AFL list shared in the bounty, or only those who took part in the game, secured the windfall.
The extra home-and-away season fixture would replace an official pre-season contest, adding to the workload of players who are already stretched across a 23-round, 22-game season.
Meanwhile, the push for a mandatory three-year initial contract does not have any meaningful momentum, despite concerns over players escaping expansion clubs early in their deals.
The AFLPA is prepared to have a meaningful discussion about those issues but player managers are strongly against a move they believe would be a restraint of trade for their clients.
They believe three-year contracts for first-round picks would only lessen their capacity to earn strong pay rises in the third season and not solve the problem of them still requesting trades after one or two years.
The AFLPA believes clubs creating stable and successful cultures, which incentivise players to remain, is a better way forward than a band aid solution, which creates different rules for first-round picks and later selections.
“The AFLPA has had preliminary discussions with the AFL and players on the purported extra round and are open to the proposal,,” an AFLPA spokesperson said.
“However, the details will need to be negotiated with us and we will work through those with the AFL when they are ready to do so.”
How Magic Round will effect local footy in SA
The South Australian bid to host the inaugural ‘Magic Round’ next year has a “fair bit” of money from the State Government behind it, premier Peter Malinauskas says.
While it started at long odds to host the extra round of footy in 2023, Adelaide is now considered to be right in the mix with Sydney to host the AFL initiative, which would feature all 18 clubs playing in one state over a few days in April.
The prospect of growing the game in NSW did appeal to the AFL, but the South Australian bid has warned them of that having the festival of footy in a non-heartland state could have risks, especially having to go up against the NRL.
The SA Government also has a significant financial component behind the bid, which Malinauskas confirmed on Friday.
“There’s a fair bit (of money) involved, I won’t lie about it. Those numbers are commercial in confidence,” he said on SEN.
“In the state budget we handed down in June, we’ve got a pool of funds to attract new major events, so we’re tapping into that pool as part of our bid. If we miss out we’ll bid for something else.”
The major event fund has $40 million over four years from the SA Government.
The SA bid is centred around Adelaide Oval, but with the SANFL and amateur leagues to have a bye if the state gets the nod games could be played at suburban ovals and even the Barossa Valley.
“I’ve spoken to the heads of the amateur league, and they’re all going to have a bye for the whole round, the SANFL is going to have a bye for the whole round, it’s not just the usual footy public, we’re going to have every player getting out and about and I think there are a few special things we can do around it,” Malinauskas said.
“We think that at least six games would be at the Adelaide Oval, this is something we’re willing to work on with the AFL … you probably start on a Thursday night, so you’ve got Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, we can easily accommodate that.
“The old-fashioned double-header, it’s been a popular concept in the past and I think there’s something to pursue in the future … we also think there’s an opportunity to host a few games out of Adelaide, the one I’m particularly keen on is hosting a game in the Barossa Valley.
“I just want this to work for the AFL, they’re taking a bit of a risk, if we’re going to do it let’s do it properly.”
Clubs have 500 thousand reasons to back AFL Magic Round
The AFL has told clubs they will each receive a $500,000 windfall from the 2023 Magic Round and will be able to spend $200,000 of that money on extra football department spending.
The league is closing in on a venue for the late April initiative which will see all 18 clubs in one state playing nine games across a given round.
Clubs have been informed by the league that it will provide them with $500,000 of extra funding as a result of the 23rd contest, which has effectively turned into a bidding war between states.
Adelaide premier Peter Malinauskas this week urged the league to use Adelaide Oval as the centrepiece of the Magic Round but Sydney’s lure of multiple venues could see it host the 2023 version.
The league has already increased the football department cap by $750,000 in the next two seasons – $500,000 in 2023 and $250,000 more in 2024 – with more medical and mental health exemptions.
By 2024 clubs will be able to spend $7.2 million on their football departments.
Next year clubs can spend $200,000 of the extra $500,000 on effectively paying coaches and other football staff more for the added round of football which will be spent interstate for 16 of the 18 clubs.
AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan pitched the Magic Round to clubs as a way of monetising another round, saying players were already going full-speed in both pre-season contests.
But clubs will be forced to play their best possible side in the Magic Round when they have often decided against playing their veterans in official pre-season clashes.
The league is still working through the details of the extra player payments, with clubs not aware how that figure will be broken up between players.
The AFLPA has consistently lobbied for two byes within the AFL season and will instead be handed an extra week of football in what is already a 22-game, 23-week home-and-away season.
The AFL is thrilled with the standard of finals football that it believes has been helped by the pre-finals bye so is unlikely to remove that bye to hand players more rest in-season.
The AFLPA is deep in negotiations with the AFL on the new collective bargaining agreement which will result in a pay rise for players.
Clubs were told by the AFL recently to budget for a five per cent pay rise for players in 2023.
A five per cent rise would see players paid $14.2 million per club plus nearly $1.3 million in marketing allowances.
McLachlan said the league was happy to scrap that official pre-season hitout for clubs but they will still want one unofficial game against an AFL opponent as a tune-up for the season proper.
“This year they had one proper hitout in venues and they just played it like a home-and-away game, belted into each other,” McLachlan said.
“People got suspended, people got injured, so we had CEOs and presidents on the back of that saying, ‘’If you’re going to do it like that, why don’t you play it as a home-and-away game?’’.
SLEDGE ASIDE, SA SHORTENING IN RACE FOR FOOTY FESTIVAL
– Matt Turner and Simeon Thomas-Wilson
Hopes are mounting that South Australia could secure the AFL’s inaugural “Magic Round”.
SA started at long odds to host the initiative, which would feature all 18 clubs playing in one state over a few days in April, while New South Wales was the red-hot frontrunner, but holding it in a traditional football state had become more appealing.
The South Australian government is understood to be stumping up a significant amount of money to try to land the event, believing the round can showcase the state and lure fans from over the border.
Sources told News Corp that SA had put forward a very competitive bid and had gone from a 100-1 chance to being almost equal favourite with New South Wales.
An announcement on which state will host the round is tipped to come next week, in the lead-up to the full fixture being released.
On Wednesday morning, SA Premier Peter Malinauskas said he had been forthright with league chief executive Gillon McLachlan during his pitch, arguing the concept should to be given to a football heartland to “de-risk” the chances of it being poorly attended in Sydney.
“I’ve been pretty blunt about this with Gil and others (that) ‘if you guys host this in New South Wales, these guys can’t get half a stadium full for a run-of-the-mill NRL match, let alone an AFL match’,” Malinauskas told FIVEaa.
“If this goes to Sydney, people are going to turn on their television sets and they’re going to see 600 people at the western Sydney ground watching Freo versus Brisbane, whereas here in Adelaide we’ll put on one hell of a show and we know people will show up to watch.
“We think South Australia presents the opportunity to de-risk a new method of delivering the game to make sure it’s a great success.”
Malinauskas said he did not want to undermine the AFL’s efforts to grow the game in non-traditional Aussie rules states “but we can’t forget our base either”.
“That’s a worthwhile exercise but not at the expense of South Australian footy fans,” he said.
While Adelaide Oval would host the majority of the round’s matches, games also would be expected to be played at a SANFL ground and in regional areas, potentially the Barossa Valley and Victor Harbor.
There is understood to be unity in South Australian football about bringing the concept to the state.
Local leagues have committed to having a bye if it was awarded to SA.
Malinauskas said South Australians supported the code at all levels and would back a festival of footy.
“People aren’t jumping in a plane to fly to western Sydney to watch a game,” he said.
Football sources believed the way the state conducted itself during Covid and missing out on the past two years’ grand finals when the matches were moved from the MCG to Brisbane and Perth could lead to the AFL repaying the faith with the awarding of the round.
Malinauskas said the state was not getting too excited about its chances just yet.
“I’m confident we’re giving it our absolute best shot,” he said.
“There’s not a person in the AFL hierarchy that I’m not picking up the phone (to talk to) and in some instances giving a hard time to.
“If this comes off … there is absolutely zero doubt in my mind that once it’s over it’ll be one of those things that everyone’s pretty proud that South Australia has put on a good show.
”
Eddie McGuire backs SA push for one-round extravaganza
Port Adelaide chairman David Koch says it “just makes sense” for Adelaide to be the first location of the AFL’s proposed April footy festival.
While former Collingwood president Eddie McGuire says Adelaide should “throw everything” at being the first host of the one city extravaganza.
The AFL Commission is expected to soon sign off on the plan of an extra round in 2023 which would result in every game being played in one round in the same city across a weekend.
Sydney is believed to be the frontrunner for the same-city super round, with the nine games to be spread out across the SCG, and Accor and Giants Stadium.
It is understood that broadcasters want the special round to be played on the eastern seaboard.
But the South Australian bid is still pushing its case hard.
The Advertiser understands that the SA bid has warned the AFL if it chooses Sydney as the location for the footy festival then outspoken rugby league boss Peter V’landys could move to squeeze the event out of the public limelight in NSW.
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SA premier Peter Malinauskas was also busy hitting the phones to clubs and other stakeholders about the Adelaide bid while on a recent trip to Japan.
It is understood this has at the very least had the league taking another look at Adelaide for the location for the footy festival.
Koch told The Advertiser that Adelaide was “the ideal location” to host the first edition of the footy festival.
“It is important to ensure the first Magic Round is successful and we believe all South Australian football fans would show their support,” he said.
“South Australia is a traditional football heartland market with broad support and appeal, and has a world class stadium at Adelaide Oval.
“Adelaide is easily accessible for Victorian and interstate fans to come and enjoy a weekend away and support their team.
“It just makes sense to launch the AFL Magic Round concept in South Australia to ensure its success and establish its future.”
V’Landys, the chairman of the Australian Rugby League Commission, hasn’t shied away from taking pot shots at the AFL and at McLachlan over the past couple of years.
The Advertiser attempted to contact V’landys on Tuesday.
McGuire told The Advertiser that Adelaide should go all in for the festival.
“My argument in encouraging Adelaide to do so is from my experience of the Bicentennial Carnival in Adelaide in 1989, which was a two week State of Origin with two divisions ” he said.
“It was a seminal moment in my love of football.
“I think Adelaide just does those festivals really, really well and sometimes I find with Super Bowls, and I know it is a different event, but the smaller cities really just throw everything into it.
“So you can imagine all the functions that will be happening at the time, you could have them in the Barossa, McLaren Vale and the Hills. It would be such a boost to the economy.
“If the South Australia team asked me what my thoughts were I would be saying throw everything at it because it will be absolutely magnificent.”
Adelaide Oval being the only stadium in the state used for AFL matches was also believed to be a factor that hurt the SA bid.
But some of the lower crowd-drawing fixtures could be played at some of the larger SANFL grounds around Adelaide or double-headers on multiple days at Adelaide Oval could be held.
The AFL also has to overcome the Sydney Royal Easter Show, which is held in the area where Accor and Giants Stadium is, running at the same time it is planning for the footy festival to be held if it chooses to launch it in NSW.
McGuire said he could see why the AFL could lean towards Sydney, despite Adelaide having no competition from other sports to give the footy festival maximum attention.
“Possibly but the argument against that would be if we went up there (to Sydney) and filled the SCG Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday it would leave a bit of a mark,” he said.
Port unveils Gray in key off-field role
Recently retired Port Adelaide legend Robbie Gray will stay at Alberton in a recruiting and list management role.
Gray retired at the end of the 2022 season after an incredible career at the Power.
Following his final game in the Showdown, Power coach Ken Hinkley said Gray would not be lost to the club and he could have any role he wanted at Alberton.
The Power have announced that Gray will now join the club’s recruiting and list management team, which he has taken an interest in.
Gray’s new role will involve tracking the best South Australian talent, as well as young players across Australia.
Port Adelaide general manager football Chris Davies said the Power were excited about Gray staying at the club.
“Our List Management and Recruiting team, led by Jason Cripps, are an experienced and talented group and we look forward to Rob’s continuing contribution to the team,” he said.
“Rob has an eye for talent, sees the game better than most and knows what it takes to succeed at the highest level. I have no doubt he’ll be great at this too.”
Gray played 271 games for the Power, winning three club best and fairests and four All-Australian honours.
He said it felt like a natural transition into recruiting.
“I’ve always been interested in recruiting and list management so I’m really grateful to get the opportunity to move into that space,” Gray said.
“I’m excited about having the chance to work with Jason, Geoff and the team to help add to the exciting talent we already have at the club.”
Gray was at the 2022 AFL Draft Combine in Melbourne earlier this month in his new role.
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