Players have too much power. It’s time for the AFL to act

AFL players not only have free agency after six years’ service, they have also created freedom of movement while under contract. The list of players walking out on clubs while contracted – some with multiple years to serve – is getting longer and longer, and suggesting player power has gone too far.

The latest example, as reported by this masthead – Melbourne midfielder Alex Neal-Bullen – sounds the alarm bell for a rebalance in favour of the clubs that want free trading.

Melbourne premiership player Alex Neal-Bullen has asked for a trade.Credit: Getty Images

West Coast have All-Australian defender Tom Barrass wanting to join Hawthorn next season, 12 months after his management started talks with Sydney at the end of last season but failed to close the deal.

Barrass has three years to run on his contract with the Eagles, who will likely engineer a trade this time to enhance their rebuild needs.

Melbourne are already resigned to losing Neal-Bullen in a sensitive go-home deal with either Adelaide or Port Adelaide.

The Demons’ general manager of AFL performance, Alan Richardson, expressed disappointment in losing a player of Neal-Bullen’s calibre, but said the club understood his wishes.

It is a generous gesture from Melbourne to concede, considering Neal-Bullen should have factored in his family situation when he signed his new contract last year.

Richmond pair Shai Bolton (contracted until the end of 2028) and Daniel Rioli (2027) could be on the move at the end of this season. Bolton, Richmond’s best player, has been linked to Fremantle and Rioli to Gold Coast.

Richmond coach Adem Yze made a strong statement last month while conceding contracts have become almost meaningless.

“I don’t need to have that discussion [about Bolton’s future],” Yze said. “He’s one of our best players and he’s contracted. The contract stuff is irrelevant, and the speculation around what he’s doing next year is a little bit disrespectful. He’s got four years to run on his contract, and he’s one of our best players … my responsibility is making sure he’s playing good footy.”

Rivals are circling Richmond star Shai Bolton.Credit: Getty Images

Yze’s strong stance may hold little weight if Bolton declares he wants out.

Port Adelaide’s All-Australian defender Dan Houston also has four years remaining on his contract, yet the club expects him to request a trade at season’s end.

The Power secured Houston on favourable financial terms in 2022, before his emergence as one of the game’s best players. Despite this, Port Adelaide will feel powerless to deny his trade request when it comes.

It has worked both ways for the Power.

They did gain brilliant midfielder Jason Horne-Francis after he had one season at North Melbourne. Despite Horne-Francis having one year left on his contract and being the club’s most talented player since Wayne Carey, the Kangaroos sent him to his preferred destination. It was a disastrous move for the Roos, as Horne-Francis is set to emerge as one of the league’s best players. This will haunt North Melbourne for years.

A contract with Richmond for this season did not stop ruckman Ivan Soldo joining Port Adelaide in last year’s trade period.

In other sports, such as American football, Major League Baseball and NBA basketball, teams will trade contracted players without their consent, provided the receiving team agrees to honour the terms of the contract. European soccer has an economy built on clubs selling players.

These professional clubs avoid becoming hostages to their players, enabling them to change list-management strategies as required without hurting the players financially.

In the AFL, it’s the players and their managers who hold the whip hand.

AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon knows the clubs want the issue addressed.

“When we’ve been in discussions with clubs, it’s always about, ‘Can you balance the economics of how trades work’, and we look at it less like trading without consent and more that clubs can lead trades,” Dillon said last year.

The AFL is now subject to farcical scenes of players walking out on clubs that have heavily invested in them with risky long-term contracts.

Dillon should reconsider his stance, as the balance of power is truly with the players.

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