Tom Rockliff says he would have no issues with AFL player salaries being made public

While most players would likely prefer their salaries remained a secret, Adelaide defender Brodie Smith makes a case why having that information out in the open could benefit the players down on the pay scale.

Port Adelaide midfielder Tom Rockliff says he would have no issue with players’ salaries being made public after he was listed in News Corp’s AFL top 100 rich list.

The former Brisbane captain who joined the Power in 2018 told The Advertiser’s Lowdown Podcast that he was “neither here nor there” but pointed to the US model where player wages were common knowledge.

Rockliff came in at No.98 on the inaugural list of the AFL’s top earners, and while he didn’t confirm whether the figure attached to his 2020 salary of $575,000 to $625,000 and covid-adjusted to $414,000 to $450,000 was accurate, he said it didn’t bother him.

“I’m neither here nor there on it, it wouldn’t really bother me if people knew exactly what I was on or they have no idea and continue to guess,” Rockliff said

“I think you can roughly work out what most players are on which is what you guys have done, they’ve roughly estimated figures and go ‘well he moved clubs for x amount of years or whatever’.

“It’s a really hard one to do because we know with contracts they’re either front-ended or back-ended, it’s very rare that you’ll get a contract over a number of years that stays exactly the same each year.

“If they were to be made public then they’re made public. They’re made public in the States (US) and I don’t think it affects anyone too much but I also understand the privacy of it as well.”

MORE AFL

AFL Rich 100: Who are the AFL’s highest-earning stars? See the players ranked 1-100

AFL list guru Chris Pelchen says the first player to earn $2 million a season is less than a decade away

The pay models that AFL sides use choose to pay their players

Rockliff’s Lowdown co-host Brodie Smith from Adelaide did not make the top 100 list, and said players may use that information to their advantage if it was public knowledge.

“It would be interesting, I’m on the fence a bit, I guess for people it would be a bit of ammunition going into contract negotiations if you know what everyone’s on,” Smith said.

“It’s not spoken about, I couldn’t tell you what one other bloke at the footy club is paid per year, it would be interesting if it was public knowledge and whether players would use it to their advantage and take it to the table.”