AFL 2021: West Coast Eagles salary sacrifice could cost them Patrick Cripps
A pact between West Coast’s back office and the club’s players may have cost the Eagles a chance at bringing Blues star Patrick Cripps home to Perth.
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West Coast players have agree to a seven per cent pay cut to stop COVID-related salary cap issues flowing into future seasons.
After initial concerns, the Eagles player group is understood to have voted for the cuts in early January. It is also understood that senior players sought assurances that the club would not use the extra pay cuts to free up space to chase a high profile recruit at the end of the 2021 season.
That means West Coast are all but out of the running for Carlton superstar Patrick Cripps who comes out of contract as a free agent at the end of the year.
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Cripps has family ties at the Eagles with cousin Jamie which would have given them the inside running should he have chosen to leave Carlton. The Blues remain very confident they will re-sign Cripps.
But the pay cuts could still have ramifications for future recruiting bids.
The extra cuts are likely to prevent the Eagles from having to further back end deals, putting their salary cap for 2022 and beyond in good order.
They may be in a strong position to bid for WA expatriates like Western Bulldogs ruckman Tim English and Port Adelaide inside midfielder Sam Powell-Pepper, both of whom come out of contract at the end of 2022. Carlton left footer Zac Fisher is out after 2023 and Bulldogs forward Aaron Naughton is out at the end of 2024.
Exceptions to the pay cuts will be made for players at the lower end of West Coast’s pay scale with rookie listed players and first year players to be exempted. Some players drafted in 2019 who come out of contract at the end of 2021 will also be spared the full seven per cent cut.
The Eagles have said they will not comment publicly on the cuts.
The AFL had slashed the salary cap for 2021 by nine per cent from $14.5 million to 13.1 million as part of a competition-wide rationalisation of costs brought on by the financial crisis the COVID-19 pandemic had plunged the league into.
But the hit that players were to take as part of the cuts was offset by the ability to shift money into future seasons, reductions in list sizes and cuts to first year player salaries, reducing the standard player cut to about 3.5 per cent.
But the league did give clubs scope to negotiate variations with players and St Kilda, like the Eagles, are also understood to have opted for across the board cuts. Fremantle is understood to be sticking with 3.5 per cent.
Cripps answers big contract questions
— Chris Cavanagh
Carlton co-captain Patrick Cripps has brushed off talk of a lure home to Western Australia, saying he is “really happy” at the Blues and is confident the club can make a major leap up the ladder this year.
As he prepares to enter the final season of a two-year contract extension that was signed in 2018, Cripps said he was in “constant dialogue” with his management and Carlton as all parties begin to try and piece together a new deal.
“I’m really happy with the Blues. I’ve said that all along,” Cripps told the Herald Sun.
“So it’s just about getting together and working out what’s the best way to move forward for the direction of the club in terms of length of contract and that sort of thing.
“I can’t say I can put a timeline on it because it’s something we’ll keep chatting through, but I’ve still got a whole year to go.
“I believe in the group. I believe in the coaches. I believe in the staff upstairs as well. We have been through some really tough times over the past few years but we have got a group now that have been together for a while and we’re starting to get really close as a group. Hopefully we can really make a jump this year.”
An East Fremantle product, Cripps spent his off-season back in Western Australia but said he was “chomping at the bit” to return to pre-season training at Princes Park by the end of it.
“I do enjoy my family and friends back home but at the same time I’m really enjoying my time at Carlton and building something from a really low base which we started at,” Cripps said.
“This is my eighth year over here so you start building a really good network. I’ve got a really good support base around me now.
“No matter if you sign a five-year, a 10-year or a one-year contract, everyone’s going to talk about, ‘Will they go home?’.”
Cripps expects to resume full contact training next week after having post-season shoulder surgery last year, but showed no signs of the injury as he carried some slabs of beer on his shoulder to deliver to a local football club on Tuesday.
The delivery was made in support of Carlton and United’s Breweries’ Club Connect program, which is celebrating the return of community sport by donating five cases of beer to each club that places an order at www.clubconnect.net.au by April 30.
Cripps is still yet to play in a final after seven seasons and 118 games at Carlton, but is hopeful this could be the year the Blues have a breakthrough.
“I’ve never been at the club since it’s been in finals,” Cripps said.
“So I’d love to get a taste of it but we’ll see how the year pans out.
“We set pretty high standards internally. We’ve been together for three or four years now, the core of the group. These young guys have developed and are starting to develop. They’re starting to know what it takes physically and mentally.
“We’re bullish, but at the end of the day you’ve got to get out there and get it done.”
IS IT TOO SOON FOR BLUES TO USE THE ‘F’ WORD?
Jon Ralph
So Carlton has started dropping the F word.
The big one too, not just “finals”, a period following the home-and-away season when Carlton fans begin to book Noosa holidays and reminisce about the ‘95 flag.
Flags are the name of the game for the Blues as part of a bold and public strategy to win their next premiership within three seasons.
About time too, for a side that save for Essendon’s drug disgrace in 2013 wouldn’t have played finals for a decade.
It was there in chief executive Cain Liddle’s statement to the Herald Sun this week about the club’s aspirations as he trumpeted Carlton’s new debt-free future.
And it was front and centre as president Mark LoGiudice stated last week that the men’s team was well and truly in the premiership window: “All our teams are here to win premierships. It doesn’t matter which team it is”.
If the Western Bulldogs’ acquisition of Adam Treloar and No. 1 overall pick Jamar Ugle-Hagan has them as the off-season’s most-hyped team, don’t sleep on Carlton.
The Blues are well aware that the time for development is over.
It is go-time for a list that has been totally overhauled since 2015 – just six players remain – and stocked with elite draft picks, critical role players and high-priced free agents and ready-made recruits.
The club that brought you slogans including “Can You Smell What the Blues are Cooking” and “They Know We’re Coming”; might as well make this year’s mantra: “No Excuses”.
The good news is a club that has tested the patience of some fans with its interminable rebuild is fully prepared to accept the expectations that will come its way by Round 1.
From coach David Teague to co-captains Patrick Cripps and Sam Docherty, the message will be that Carlton’s players and coaches are sick of watching finals footy from the sidelines.
But what Teague and the leadership group have drilled into the players is that no one will hand them that chance given the strength of this year’s contenders.
So go out and grab that chance with consistently elite performances on the field.
Carlton’s positives since its 7-10 campaign in 2020 extend well beyond the acquisitions of Adam Saad and Zac Williams.
The Blues were actually one of the few clubs who thrived rather than selfdestructed in hub-life given their young demographic and believe it tightened their connection and relationships.
Eddie Betts (calf) and Sam Docherty (ankle) have been held back from match simulation, but track watchers have watched with interest as Marc Pittonet and Tom De Koning have gone bull-at-gate all January as they try to win the No. 1 ruck spot.
That battle for spots will be replicated across the ground, with Carlton needing to prove its players’ elite credentials yet having depth in most positions.
The club’s No. 37 selection Corey Durdin, has already slotted in seamlessly as a 172cm small forward and after senior SANFL experience last year isn’t out of the picture for a Round 1 debut.
Zac Fisher has embraced his role as a small forward and having put on 3-4 kg, finally looks like he has an AFL ready-body after an eight-game stint last year that Champion Data rated as elite.
Those track watchers say Harry McKay, who must be the focal point of the forward line in Charlie Curnow’s absence, has also dropped any remaining puppy fat after an excellent summer on the track.
Michael Gibbons has pushed into the midfield in match simulation and Lachie Fogarty has barely missed a session after continual injury issues at Geelong.
Eddie Betts isn’t far away from a return to full training and while he secured another contract the Blues will prove their forward line is good enough if they can go past the cult hero despite his tricks and popularity.
Fogarty has played midfield and forward in match simulation, with Carlton confident enough about their back six and Mitch McGovern’s potential that he has spent most of training forward.
This is McGovern’s make-or-break year – no excuses, remember – but for the moment Teague will back in Liam Jones and Jacob Weitering, with a mix of Tom Williamson, Adam Saad, Sam Petrevski-Seton and at times Zac Williams will fill the defensive roles.
Nic Newman (knee) might not make Round 1 but won’t be far away, while Zac William‘s challenge is to prove he has the tank to play midfield alongside Cripps, Sam Walsh, Zac Williams, Marc Murphy and Will Setterfield.
Cripps, who on Tuesday at a sponsor’s function will again pledge his loyalty to Carlton in a contract year, is yet to have meaningful talks on a new deal but isn’t going anywhere.
Like Carlton captain Chris Judd before him, his shoulders have had to be taped just to carry his teammates on his back.
No excuses at Carlton this year for him not to break that finals drought and put a drought-breaking finals exclamation point on a season that will see him sign away his free agency rights.
CARLTON WIPES $7M DEBT, SHOOTS FOR FLAGS
– Mick Warner (Exclusive)
Carlton says it has emerged from a 25-year financial black hole and is sticking with its bold ambition to win a drought-breaking flag within three years.
Debt-free for the first time since 1996, the Blues have also signalled supreme confidence in re-signing superstar free agent and club captain Patrick Cripps.
Carlton has already broken its all-time membership mark of 67,035 and wiped off a crippling $7 million debt.
“To clear almost $7 million of debt in just three years is an incredible effort by our board, made even more incredible when you consider the challenges of 2020. It’s been a total unified club effort,” Blues chief executive Cain Liddle said.
Two years after unveiling a strategic plan that aspires to winning premierships and signing 100,000 members by 2023, Liddle said the COVID-19 pandemic had not changed the road map.
“Our plan provides a clear vision as to how we intend on returning Carlton to a position of strength both on and off the field. It’s an ambitious plan. We set out to win premierships, AFL and AFLW,” Liddle said.
“We want to double our membership to 100,000 members and double the size of our ‘Carlton In Business’ network. We wanted to eliminate the historical debt that has weighed our club down for 25 years. Two years in, our board and management are comfortable with our progress.
“And judging by the rapidly increasing membership number, I get the sense our members are as well.”
Carlton has won five wooden spoons since the 2002 salary cap scandal that brought the club to its knees. The Blues have won 16 AFL premierships but none since 1995.
Liddle said the club expected to hit another of its strategic targets this year ahead of schedule — $75 million in revenues. Increased cash flows, he said, had allowed the Blues to bankroll the maximum 105 per cent salary cap spend in 2020 and 2021.
Carlton’s off-field recovery had also put it in position to reassess its reliance on poker machines, he said.
Billionaire Blues benefactor Bruce Mathieson, a former club director, has gifted hundreds of money-spinning pokies to Carlton, rivers of gold that all but saved the club from financial ruin during leaner times.
Work on the club’s $50 million Ikon Park redevelopment began late last year, while the Blues will hold last season’s best and fairest count at Crown Palladium on Saturday night.
Asked about claims made by axed list boss and former club great Stephen Silvagni late last year suggesting he had interfered in list management decisions, Liddle said: “We won’t be discussing issues relating to player contracts or interest we may show in players at other clubs.
“They are issues for our list management team to discuss behind closed doors and that’s where they will stay”.
But on the future of Cripps, he said: “He is the captain of our football club, we do however understand and respect players and managers’ rights to consider all opportunities. What I will say is that (football boss) Brad Lloyd, (senior coach) David Teague and I often discuss that across all our experiences at numerous clubs, we have never come across a player as invested in improving their football club as Patrick Cripps. In light of that, we are very comfortable with where things are at with Crippa.”
Liddle said the club was aiming to hit 80,000 members this season — up from 50,326 in 2017.
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Originally published as AFL 2021: West Coast Eagles salary sacrifice could cost them Patrick Cripps
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