EDFL: Greenvale president Bruce Kent’s concerns with lower salary caps
One of the most experienced club bosses in metropolitan football has concerns the salary cap cuts brought on by the coronavirus pandemic will result in more clubs acting outside the rules. Here’s why.
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One of the most experienced administrators in suburban football has warned salary cap cuts could lead to cheating in the hunt for a premiership.
While Greenvale president Bruce Kent acknowledged the coronavirus crisis had significantly impacted local clubs, he said slashing the player payments limit could have unintended consequences.
Kent is not a supporter of salary caps, sharing the view of many that they cannot be policed appropriately at community level.
Top-flight Essendon District Football League sides will have $100,000 to spend in 2021 after caps were reduced by 50 per cent across all three senior grades.
“I think it’s obvious that the higher the salary cap, the less cheating there is,” said Kent, who has been president at Greenvale for more than two decades.
“And the lower it is, the more cheating there is because more people can cheat. It’s just irresistible to make payments.
“If you speak privately with nearly anyone involved in football, none of them actually believe it’s capable of being policed. It’s a question of what you believe is best for the game.
“We’ve suffered some beatings by clubs that have recently paid an enormous amount to win a premiership, but that’s probably better than playing against a club that’s, as it were, cheating and paying more than you are because they’re doing that.
“It just leaves a very unsavoury taste in your mouth.”
Aberfeldie is the only EDFL club found to have paid out more than the salary cap since it was introduced statewide, with the powerhouse $9595 over the then $250,000 cap set for the 2017 season.
Abers, who copped a $10,000 penalty, defeated Greenvale in the grand final that year.
Pascoe Vale and Essendon Doutta Stars were found guilty of administrative breaches in the same season.
Kent also questioned the timing of the salary cap reductions given the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the pandemic.
“While all of us, or some of us, might have a view that longer-term there should be no salary cap or (a cap) a lot higher, there will be significant (financial) difficulties going into next year,” he said.
“It’s almost, we think, a little early to work out what is the right figure.
“You get the feeling that if it was put straight back to $200,000, the club that would win (the premiership) might be the club that can amass the most money.
“If it was back to $50,000, there’d be a very strong fear some clubs would be trying to circumvent the system to get the advantage.
“We’re comfortable with it at the moment, but it’s such an evolving situation that by this time next year, who knows? It might be regarded as too high or too low. We just don’t know.”
EDFL chief executive Ian Kyte last month flagged the possibility that country competitions could have a higher salary cap in 2021 due to the need to compensate some players for travel.
But Kent said that prospect was of significant concern.
“It seems some regional clubs are expressing the view that they should have higher salary caps, so they can pay for Melbourne players to travel out of Melbourne to play in the country,” he said.
“That’s just crazy. It’s ridiculous.”
The EDFL’s decision to reduce the player payments limit to $200,000 in 2020 was met with resistance, with nine of the 10 top-flight club presidents understood to have voted against the move.
Clubs had a state-high $250,000 to spend on players in 2018 before the salary cap was wound back $30,000 the following year.
But Kent said the decision to scrap player payments when there was still hope a season would go ahead showed most Premier Division clubs “have got a very good handle on what needs to be done”.
There have been calls for the player points cap to be used to limit recruitment and improve competition equalisation.
“One would expect that the clubs with the biggest supporter base and the largest number of teams and that will eventually be able to get back to the levels that we saw leading up to 2019,” he said.
“To their credit, once the pandemic hit and the world as it were changed almost overnight, (clubs) equally realised that if there was to be any football this year, salary caps should be zero.
“Most want to have a more free-market situation I think, but they’re aware of the need to be realistic and try to stop (player payments) getting out of control.”
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