Local footy: Steve Kretiuk urges players to give back after salary cap cuts
With salary caps set to be slashed for the next three years as clubs look to safeguard their futures, former AFL defender Steve Kretiuk reveals just how much it costs to put a senior team on the field and has called on players to display loyalty.
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Hoppers Crossing coach Steve Kretiuk says the loyalty of community footballers will be severely tested in coming months as AFL Victoria prepares to take the axe to salary caps.
Clubs in top-flight competitions are set have a player payments limit of $100,000 for the next three years to safeguard their futures amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Western Region Football League Division 1 clubs were to have a salary cap of $195,000 in 2020 before the season was cancelled.
Kretiuk, who took over as Hoppers Crossing’s coach in 2014 and has re-signed for next season, said the time had arrived for players to give back.
High salary caps place an enormous strain on club volunteers to raise funds and can lead to lopsided competitions.
“It’s going to be the success of some clubs or the demise of some clubs,” the former AFL defender said of the cuts.
“I’m looking forward to seeing what the Hoppers Crossing players do, in terms of their loyalty to the club.
“For the last five or six years, our club has raised $300,000 each year to put a side on the park.
“It would be good to see some of these players say, ‘Thanks for all your hard work and dedication, we’re going to give you something back.’ I’m keen to see which players do that and who doesn’t.
“You don’t want mercenaries at your club – you want players that want to play for the jumper, not for the dollar.”
Leagues set their own caps this year, with the Eastern, Essendon District and Northern leagues having a $200,000 payments ceiling, while Southern league Division 1 clubs had $150,000 to spend on players.
But AFL Victoria will make the caps uniform from 2021-23.
Kretiuk said it was important to have the same cap to limit players’ ability to shop themselves around to find the highest bidder.
He said the Warriors, who have qualified for two grand finals during his tenure, had hit the payments limit in recent years.
“It’s not going to be good if one competition has more to spend than the other,” Kretiuk said.
“From there, it’s got to be policed well because it’s going to open the door for sides who have the capabilities and the want to pay under the table to get players across.”
Kretiuk said Hoppers Crossing would have had players depart because of work commitments if a season went ahead.
The WRFL had joined other suburban leagues in scrapping player payments before making the call to cancel.
While Kretiuk said he understood the need to work weekends, he pointed out the fact players do not get paid for finals and risk injury each week in a normal season.
“The requirement of players getting paid to play a game they love has just gone beyond the love of the game now,” he said.
“We would’ve had a lot of players who would have played (in 2020), but I guarantee you we would have had a handful of players who said ‘no’. Every club is in the same boat.”
Spotswood coach Anthony Eames has also re-signed for next season.
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