Al Meldrum commits to Macedon for 2021, discusses salary cap impact
Macedon has locked in favourite son Al Meldrum as coach for 2021 after his first season back in the RDFL was cancelled and he’s praised his players reaction to the salary cap cuts.
Local Footy
Don't miss out on the headlines from Local Footy. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Macedon coach Al Meldrum believes heavy salary cap cuts will be good for community sport as he commits for 2021.
Season 2020 was supposed to be Meldrum’s first year in charge of the Cats only for the COVID-19 pandemic to interfere.
The coming RDFL season will look a lot different to this year with the salary cap slashed to $85,000 and reigning premier Rupertswood joining the Essendon District league.
RDFL: BOWEN MEDAL-WINNER RETURNS TO WALLAN
LEADER: GET YOUR RIDDELL DISTRICT FOOTY NEWS HERE
DIVISION: EDFL MAKES CALL ON RUPERTSWOOD FUTURE
Meldrum says the salary cap changes will help clubs protect their long-term viability and players have been supportive.
“I think it’s a great thing for community sport that the caps have been reduced,” he said.
“I think it’s been getting out of control for the better part of 15 to 20 years.
“The players have been really, really good around understanding the priority for clubs, not just us, it’s all about sustainability.
“I didn’t really have to sell the message too much about the bigger picture, I think everyone understands it’s a different landscape.
“In reality we wouldn’t have been paying anywhere near the cap anyway going into 2020.”
Locked in for next season, Meldrum’s attention has now turned to securing his playing list.
The Cats loomed as a premiership dark horse after a strong pre-season and had continued training up until the RDFL’s decision to officially cancel the season.
Former Adelaide Crows-listed ruckman Rowan Andrews, Mitch Thar and Dan Trajanovski all signed on after following Meldrum from Maryborough-Castlemaine District league club Avoca.
Former Macedon juniors Deer Park premiership star Shaun Harrison and Jack Kernan (Monash Blues) had also signed on.
Meldrum said the players wanted to get back into training as soon as possible but the club would wait until November before kicking off pre-season training.
“We’re pretty happy with where we’re at in terms of the talent on the list and the age demographic,” he said.
“We want to try and continue in a similar vein to what we were … the guys are keen to get started pretty much when we can.
“For sanctioned club training we’re going to target late November and hopefully by then we’ll have a clearer picture of what the season will look like.”
Wayne Sanders will coach Macedon’s reserves side, while Richard Blake will lead the under-19.5 team.