AFL funds club to pay 100 per cent of salary cap, players win pay-rise, cost of living allowance to be phased out through equalisation

THE AFL will fully fund a $150,000 salary cap increase for poor clubs as part of equalisation measures to be rolled out today.

Gillon McLachlan, incoming AFL CEO at a Sydney Swans Business breakfast at Doltone House, Sydney, pic mark evans

THE AFL will fully fund a $150,000 salary cap increase for poor clubs as part of equalisation measures to be rolled out today.

And a new league expectation that all clubs pay 100 per cent of the salary cap will help create

a $1 million war chest for many of the league’s perennial strugglers.

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The results of the league’s equalisation and collective bargaining reviews will be announced today, including the phasing out of Sydney’s cost-of-living allowance (COLA).

That decision on Sydney’s salary cap advantage was revealed in the Herald Sun in March but the gap in wage bill between the Swans and others will shrink even further today.

Lance Franklin with John Longmire and Andrew Ireland at Swans office in Moore Park. Picture Gregg Porteous

Many clubs which can only afford to pay 95 per cent of the $9.6 million cap will be told they must pay every cent of it when they receive their equalisation funding.

It is part of the AFL’s determination to reduce the gap between haves and have-nots.

The salary cap will go up by roughly $500,000 to more than $10 million in 2015, with the league and player union agreeing on a 5 per cent pay increase.

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That is up from 3 per cent in the existing collective agreement, with the extra pay increase — $150,000 — to be paid by the league to clubs receiving equalisation funding.

That means clubs this year paying 95 per cent of the cap will have an extra $1 million next year, combining the increases in the cap and the need for clubs to pay the full 100 per cent.

Already Hawthorn, West Coast and Geelong have committed to staying under a football department spending cap of around $9.5 million.

Bulldogs president Peter Gordon has been vocal in his support for equalisation and condemnation of the COLA.

But clubs like the Pies are adamant they will only agree on the equalisation measures if rivals are responsible with their spending.

They say clubs must not accept funding then waste it on paying out high-priced coaches, bidding wars for sought-after assistant coaches or expensive high altitude camps.

Today’s meeting of club chief executives and presidents will also see clubs together for the first time since the exchange of words between Sydney and Carlton over the COLA.

Bulldogs president Peter Gordon told the Herald Sun on Saturday that Sydney had breached the spirit of the COLA by luring Lance Franklin and Kurt Tippett.

Sydney’s Andrew Ireland hit back, and also said Carlton’s premierships were gained by cheating the salary cap before tanking to win a trio of no. 1 picks.

“And the last time I looked [Chris] Judd’s VISY deal seemed to be hanging around somewhere,’’ Ireland said.

Originally published as AFL funds club to pay 100 per cent of salary cap, players win pay-rise, cost of living allowance to be phased out through equalisation