Kevin Sheedy says AFL players may have to find part-time jobs to help protect an 18-team competition
Kevin Sheedy, who was a back-pocket plumber in his playing days at Richmond, believes a return to a semi-professional competition could be the way footy survives the catastrophe coronavirus has caused.
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AFL players could return as semi-professionals with part-time jobs and each club restricted to four coaches as the financial calamity of coronavirus puts the future of the league’s 18-team competition in jeopardy, according to AFL legend Kevin Sheedy.
Sheedy insisted drastic actions are required to safeguard the clubs, saying this is the greatest challenge to football he has seen in more than 50 years in the game.
He also called on the AFL to postpone this year’s national draft to allow for a “super draft” in 2021 and asked the AFL to consider staging a Christmas Eve Grand Final spectacular at Marvel Stadium if the postponed season is pushed into the summer months.
The AFL and its 800-plus players are in dispute over the pay cut required, with the league rejecting the AFLPA's offer of a 50 per cent reduction during this unprecedented shutdown.
Sheedy has urged the players to tread warily, saying the devastating financial consequences the COVOID-19 pandemic has had on the game has put many of the 18 AFL clubs up against the threat of extinction.
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“My greatest concern is that we don't have 18 teams at the end of this,” Sheedy told the Herald Sun.
“That's a genuine fear for me because we have worked so hard to build those teams, only to have this virus create havoc.
“We have to do everything we can to preserve the 18 clubs. The wealthier clubs will want to preserve their own futures, but I don't want to lose any of these clubs.”
Sheedy – once famously described as “a bloody back pocket plumber” by his Richmond coach Tom Hafey during the early 1970s – said a return to the semi-professional competition we had in the early to mid-1990s remained a distinct possibility.
It is estimated the game could lose revenue this year of between $500 million and $1 billion – a devastating blow for the competition and the clubs.
He said players might have to look at taking on part-time jobs – or embarking on more study courses – to supplement their diminished income, particularly as it might also mean retaining all 18 AFL clubs.
“We might have to go back to that (semi-professional football) to build up again," the four-time Essendon premiership coach said.
“They really should have part-time jobs anyway, or they should be studying. I don't see any problem with that.
“No competition has grown as fast as the AFL. We just might have to slow things up a bit."
Sheedy supports an AFL crackdown on football department expenditure, saying an end to the footy arm's race can hopefully safeguard the competition's future.
“There's no doubt about it,” Sheedy said when asked if football department expenditure should be slashed.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if the AFL doesn’t says 'You are allowed only four coaches'. It might actually help create a better game as well.
“One of the things we have got with more coaches and expanded footy departments is that we kick fewer goals."
He would be happy for the AFL to retain its 16-minutes plus time-on quarters – which was used in Round 1 – as long as it cut the interchange rotations to 60 per game.
“It doesn't take much more than some common sense to readjust the game, and when the fans come back, they will come back in droves, no doubt about that."
Postponing the national draft to next year, and potentially playing a December 24 Grand Final, were two other ideas he suggested in an effort to save money and boost revenue.
“If we get back playing footy this year, it will be bonus,” he said.
“That would mean we are through this serious pandemic. "
Originally published as Kevin Sheedy says AFL players may have to find part-time jobs to help protect an 18-team competition