AFL Rich 100: Inside the reality of West Coast’s top-heavy salary structure and where to next

West Coast has a staggering seven players inside the top 100 highest paid AFL players, including two near the very top. What options does the club have?

West Coast fans would be reeling at the top heavy nature of its players’ salaries with the 2023 AFL Rich 100 revealing the Eagles have two players inside the top five of the league’s highest paid players.

Defender Jeremy McGovern ($1,000,000-$1,100,000) and midfielder Tim Kelly ($1,000,000-$1,100,000) come in at No. 3 and No. 4 respectively painting a clear trend that the WA based side has gone all-in following its breakthrough 2018 premiership under coach Adam Simpson.

The Eagles are certain to face heavy scrutiny for their salary cap management with star midfielder Kelly and McGovern both paid remarkably well this season in a team which has won only three matches since round 19, 2021.

McGovern will sign a new contract for next season at West Coast as the club prepares to begin saving money to have a crack at Western Bulldogs pair Aaron Naughton and Tim English, both of who come from Western Australia.

Tim Kelly joined the Eagles on big money. Picture: Getty Images

The Eagles have seven players inside the top 100 making them one of the bigger spenders in the competition compared to last year’s premiers Geelong who have just three included.

The 31-year-old McGovern took a pay cut of up to $100,000 to help the club in its quest to bounce back from a tumultuous few seasons languishing at the bottom of the table but will have to pay Kelly more money in future seasons with his contract set to balloon further.

The former Geelong mature age draftee was traded to the Eagles in 2019 after the club gave picks 14, a future first-rounder (18), and choices 24 and 33 to the Cats for the silky ball winner.

Not only did the Eagles pay a hefty price on the trade table, they rewarded Kelly with a lucrative deal around $850,000 a year at the time. This year’s Rich 100 list has revealed that the deal was heavily back ended with the 28 year-old earning just over $1m this year and is expected to be even more next year.

The sizeable nature of Kelly’s contract adds salt to the wounds of West Coast fans given their tumultuous season with just one win to their name following a two win season in 2022.

The good news is that some of the sizeable deals could come off the Eagles’ books in the next few seasons which could allow them to make a play at home grown Western Australian talent

McGovern’s new two-year deal to be confirmed later this year will be worth less than his high profile five-season deal worth $6 million while veteran Jack Darling has just one more year of his $800,000 contract.

While Elliot Yeo and Andrew Gaff will also come out of contract in 2024 meaning the Eagles will have room to move for the first time in a while.

The powerful West Australian club might not have many assets in their prime they can trade out but a more flexible salary cap might be the lever they finally need to bounce back under Simpson.

Originally published as AFL Rich 100: Inside the reality of West Coast’s top-heavy salary structure and where to next