AFL news: Corey McKernan urges the AFL to scrap the medi-sub with ruckman major benefactor
Another push has been made for the AFL to dump the medi-sub in favour of a five-man interchange bench and a key position on the ground could be a major winner.
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Dual North Melbourne premiership big man Corey McKernan has urged the AFL to scrap the medi-sub in favour of a five-man interchange bench next season, saying the move could fast-track the next generation of young ruck stars.
The AFL’s Competition Committee will meet this week to discuss possible changes to the contentious medi-sub rule.
Among the options under consideration include making the medi-sub a substitute that can be used tactically at any stage of the match or increasing the bench size to five.
McKernan believes the latter is the best option as it would clear up any uncertainty around the medi-sub rule, which has faced some criticism since its 2021 introduction.
Players subbed out with concussion are banned from playing for a mandatory 12 days, but others have been subbed out with minor issues yet still played the following week.
“I think you are just better off getting rid of it (the medi-sub) as it gets rid of the grey areas,” McKernan said in reference to the speculation some clubs had in part exploited the rule in an effort to get a set of fresh legs on the ground late in games.
But the former Kangaroos and Blues star believes a push for five interchange players would also provide a boon for developing young ruckmen.
“If they (the AFL) keep it as a sub, that (extra) player is unlikely to be a ruckman,” he said.
“But I can see a real opportunity for developing big men if they make it five on the bench.
“I’m sure clubs would be looking at choosing an extra young ruckman if that was the case, maybe a kid who has only just been drafted or who hasn’t been in the system long.
“You could choose a young kid who might not be able to take the rigours of ruck work for more than five or ten minutes here and there. But they would get the chance to go up against some of the AFL’s best ruckmen for short bursts.
“That would be better for their long-term education than spending a whole game in the VFL.”
McKernan said he would have loved that to have been the case when he was starting out and is confident it would help young ruckmen fashion their craft earlier than happens now.
“I’m sure it would fast-track ruckman and give them a better grounding earlier,” he said.
Gill: Hawks investigation as ‘independent as possible’
AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan says the league has made the Hawthorn racism investigation as “transparent and independent as possible”.
And the league said it would reveal what competition wide action they would take around “cultural safety in the workplace, looking into our history” in December – which will be lead by inclusion manager Tanya Hosch.
McLachlan also said he didn’t have an end date for his role but assured fans “one day I will disappear”, saying it was likely he would be gone before the Round 5 “Magic Round” in South Australia.
Despite the AFL Players’ Association and lawyers, representing the complainants in the probe into allegations of disturbing treatment into Hawthorn First Nations players, saying that the AFL should not oversee the appointment of the panel to investigate the claims, the league forged ahead and selected a four-person panel.
McLachlan said the league had made the four-person panel – Bernard Quinn KC, Palawa woman and barrister Jacqualyn Turfrey, barrister and member of the Yuin people Tim Goodwin and barrister Julie Buxton – as transparent and independent as possible.
“Frankly it is at arms’ length to us,” he said.
“The external panel is on foot and they are doing their work.
“It is a challenge when you are asked to put a panel together, we weren’t asked to make it independent or external, we did that.
“I’ve never met any of the panellists, they all have their own CV’s, they are a diverse panel both on agenda and background and they are all eminent professionals who have a transparent terms of reference.
“After that they will have their own views, but if you look at it from the outside we have made it as transparent and independent as possible.”
Four of the Hawthorn past players and families at the centre of the investigation into the allegations of mistreatment have agreed to speak to investigators.
McLachlan said he was pleased that they had agreed to take part in the probe.
“It is very complicated, the external panel has started. I’m very pleased that a number of the complainants have said they will participate,” he said.
“There are a number who aren’t and that is completely their prerogative so we are working through that.”
But the group only decided to speak to investigators after accepting the AFL’s commitment to a wider response to racism in the league.
McLachlan said the AFL would have an update on that next month.
“Independent of that we need to have conversations, and we have said that we will look at ongoing continued work around cultural safety in the workplace, looking into our history,” he said.
“Tanya Hosch is leading that work and we will have announcements about that in December.”
Gill confirms Tassie ‘funding hole’, fight to convince clubs
The AFL will return to clubs “in a couple of weeks” regarding their support for a Tasmanian team, as league boss Gillon McLachlan says there is a “funding hole to close out”.
But McLachlan says he remains confident about how the progression towards a 19th licence for the state is tracking, with his desire to get all 18 clubs to “believe in the case”.
Despite the timeline for a decision on a historic licence being pushed back, and some fears around a $375m funding black hole for a stadium in Hobart’s Macquarie Point that is yet to be filled by the Albanese government, the AFL and Tasmanian government and AFL are continuing to progress the state’s bid.
McLachlan said the AFL would go back to clubs shortly regarding the bid.
“We are working with our clubs and we will come back to them in a couple of weeks,” he said.
“There is broad based support, not universal support from our clubs, so we have a bit of a funding hole to close out and I think it is going well.
“There is a bit in all that, but this is a huge thing for our league, Tasmanians and the Tasmanian Government.”
McLachlan said the league had provided clubs with plenty of information around the Tasmanian bid, and needed all 18 to be behind it – despite not a full majority of yes votes required to deliver a team.
“We’ve worked through it with them, a combination of transparency around the broadcast figures and how that will flow through, transparency with our agreement from the Tasmanian Government and their commitments and the broader business case,” he said.
“I feel like our industry has gone beyond votes and everything else, we actually have conversations.
“If we want to do this all 18 clubs need to believe in the case, the story, the strategy behind it and that is the process we have been running.”
Tassie hits back amid club fears over $375m black hole
- Jon Ralph
Tasmanian premier Jeremy Rockliff says the state is on the “cusp of history” for a 19th licence as the AFL makes methodical progress on its stadium deal that will underpin the new team.
It came as Richmond star Jack Riewoldt made clear he had never been more confident the league would green-light the licence given the wide-ranging benefits of the Macquarie Point precinct.
Tasmanians had hoped by August this year the league might have handed them a historic licence to bring in a new team for the state as soon as the 2027 season.
Yet there are club fears that the pitch has lost significant momentum given the rocky economic times and the $375 million funding black hole that is yet to be filled by the Albanese government.
But the AFL continues to actively engage with the Tasmanian government on the details, design and feasibility of the Macquarie Point venue which will also include a host of businesses including a hotel and convention centre space.
That work is slow and methodical but the league believes it is getting closer to having a comprehensive pitch that it can deliver to the Federal government in a compelling format.
Despite the months-long delay the AFL is optimistic that it is progressing towards a 19th side that Gillon McLachlan has said the league can afford.
The AFL’s club presidents made clear their overwhelming support for a Tasmanian team in recent club submissions but also said it was on condition of a Macquarie Point stadium that would transform the Hobart CBD.
Rockliff told the Herald Sun on Thursday the state was “on the cusp of history”.
“For generations this is a dream Tasmanians have pursued, and now we’re closer than ever before to making this a reality,” he said.
“A Tasmanian AFL and AFLW team will strengthen football in Tasmania. It will give every young player the chance to achieve their dream of playing for their own State in their own colours, singing their own song, while providing significant economic and social benefits.
“We have put forward a strong offer to the AFL, with negotiations on the final details now occurring to make sure the team is set up for success from the first day it enters the field.
“It’s now or never, and I am confident the AFL will do the right thing, make the competition truly national and finally allow this AFL heartland a licence for its own team.”
Riewoldt told the Herald Sun he was not worried by the seeming lack of progress on a side McLachlan has said would come into operation by 2027 under the current proposal.
“It’s just in a bit of a holding pattern at the moment. I am as confident as I have been through the whole journey. I think the plan that has been put in place is good, it’s well thought-out, and hopefully we will have some good news soon,” he said.
“Adelaide Oval is the stadium that it has been linked to and it’s a precedent close to the city like Macquarie Point. I think we have to look past just the football stadium.
“That would be great and it’s been linked to the AFL deal but the amount of jobs this will create, the high-quality working spaces for organisations in Tasmania and Australia and around the world to have offices in, the ability to have museums link back to the history of Tasmania, those are the spaces you need to have in a big city. It’s going to be great.
“Look at what MONA has done in Tasmania to know there is a real thirst for this type of thing. And I am really excited that hopefully we can be talking about a Tasmanian team in the not-too-distant future.”
WHEN WILL GILLON MCLACHLAN LEAVE AFL?
AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan has made clear his departure timeline will not waver despite a long list of unfinished business before he departs early in the new year.
McLachlan has no intention of remaining at AFL House until the end of next year despite speculation from clubs that he might prolong his stay to execute that order of business.
It’s expected McLachlan will finish up before round 1 next year.
He has committed to AFL chairman Richard Goyder that he will seek closure on the list of items that includes collective bargaining agreements, the Hawthorn First Nations investigation and Tasmania’s bid for a 19th licence.
The Herald Sun understands the discussion on men’s and women’s pay deals – which could be combined as one collective CBA – are yet to get under way in any meaningful capacity.
Clubs have been told the AFL has not provided any of its detailed financial estimates to the AFL Players Association.
That request was made in the days after the September 6 TV deal announcement and is the precursor to any pay negotiation starting.
It means in effect the pay talks are yet to kick off despite the men’s CBA expiring on October 31.
The AFLW CBA expires on December 31, with the previous men’s deal rolling over and clubs told to expect a 5 per cent TPP rise next year.
But clubs, player managers and the AFLPA are keen on certainty for next year and beyond given the possibility for drastic changes.
Men’s players receive 28 per cent of both AFL and club-assessable revenue as well as 28 per cent of AFL revenue (and 11.2 per cent of club revenue) above forecast.
It means many of the significant financial elements of the men’s CBA can be brokered quickly but the details will take months to haggle over.
The AFL expects to receive a report from its independent panellists on the Hawthorn First Nations racism claims by late December.
But if those claims are upheld the AFL Commission could then institute its own disciplinary process.
It means McLachlan, who announced his decision to move on in April, will likely be at the AFL until late summer.
The league is in no hurry to find a replacement and will likely only announce his successor weeks before he officially departs to avoid confusion over who is in charge.
No Coke? What AFL sponsor split means
– Jay Clark
The AFL is about to change to another major beverage partner after parting ways with long-time sponsor Coca-Cola.
The league on Wednesday confirmed its 30-year association with Coca-Cola ended last month.
It is expected Coca-Cola products will still be available to footy fans at venues next season as stadiums such as the MCG have independent agreements with beverage providers.
The league has been tipped to enter a new major deal with Schweppes Australia.
“After many successful years together, the AFL and Coca-Cola partnership came to an end in October this year,” an AFL spokesman said.
“The AFL recognises the incredible support of Coca-Cola and extends sincere appreciation for their commitment to footy.
“The AFL will make an announcement on its beverage category partnership in due course.”
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