WRFL clubs investigated by AFL Victoria as part of policing the salary cap
Multiple Western Region Football League clubs are being audited by AFL Victoria as the competition takes an aggressive approach to policing the salary cap.
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At least five Western Region Football League clubs are being investigated by AFL Victoria as the competition takes an aggressive approach to policing the salary cap.
WRFL chief executive Matt Duck confirmed the books of “no less than five” clubs were being reviewed — but there is no suggestion any are guilty of wrongdoing at this stage.
Every WRFL club is set to be audited in the next two seasons.
WRFL powerhouse Deer Park, which has claimed the past six premierships in Division 1, is believed to be under investigation but Duck said he “won’t speak to which clubs are being audited”.
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The Lions have added three former AFL-listed players — Jack Redpath, Daniel Harris and Damien Cavka — to their star-studded squad in the off-season.
WRFL Division 1 clubs will have a salary cap of $205,000 and a points cap of 44 in 2019 under AFL Victoria’s club sustainability program.
The points system was implemented in 2016 and the salary cap 12 months later.
“We certainly have continued to adopt an aggressive approach in regards to player points and to that end have the lowest cap in metro footy to I guess further drive and incentivise junior development,” Duck said.
“We’ve coupled that with arguably the most comprehensive auditing process ever conducted by the AFL Victoria integrity team.
“That’s currently ongoing throughout a number of clubs — and that’s across all three divisions.”
There are provisions for leagues to penalise clubs for sustained success by lowering their cap or points limit.
While that is not on the radar, the WRFL is working on a strategy to ensure an even playing field across all senior grades.
“The board is considering its longer-term strategy with regards to PPA (player points allocation) and salary caps over the off-season,” Duck said.
“One such model that is being explored is the notion of what’s effectively a variance of total team points across the competition, which is a model that we haven’t seen in metro footy but we’ve seen more across country footy.
“We’re certainly exploring that for implementation potentially in the 2020 season and beyond.
“We’ve surveyed all of our clubs prior to the start of this season and one such question was around the notion of support or otherwise of capping an individual team for sustained success.
“Across Division 1, eight of 10 clubs were opposed to that, and that was even less supported by Division 2 and Division 3 clubs.
“Clearly when you talk competitiveness, people may point to a recurring premier as evidence of competitiveness issues, and I understand that, but at the same time this year Division 1 had its closest top-five finish in 30 years with only two matches separating first and fifth.”
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Deer Park will be shooting for history next year with VAFA power Old Xaverians (1995-2000), the only other club in metropolitan Melbourne to win six flags in a row in a top-flight competition.
The Lions finished second on the ladder at the end of the home-and-away season but produced a stunning finals series, culminating in a convincing grand final victory over Hoppers Crossing.
Deer Park won the 2013 decider by a solitary point and the 2017 grand final by three points.
Its other triumphs in the season’s showpiece fixture have come by 77, 136, 114 and 48 points, underlining the gulf.
Duck said the WRFL’s Division 1 competition remained healthy despite the Lions’ dominance.
“Individual clubs aside, it’s a positive to see quality players come into the league,” he said.
“But ultimately they need to fit into metro footy’s tightest points cap and within what’s now one of the most heavily-regulated salary caps in metro footy.”
AFL Victoria now has 24 integrity officers and across the state and there will be up to 50 audits this year.
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Twenty have been completed, with each club signed off as under its player-payment ceiling.
Leagues can apply a range of penalties to clubs found to be over the salary cap, from the stripping of premierships in extreme cases to bans from finals, fines and suspension of players.
A Mornington Peninsula club was found this year to be almost $50,000 over its cap and fined $10,000, while Essendon District league club Aberfeldie was found to be $9595 over the cap in 2017 and was also hit with a $10,000 penalty.
AFL Victoria club sustainability manager Darryl Collings said salary caps were brought in to counter spiralling match payments to players that had been causing “stress’’ on clubs and its volunteers.
He said leagues and clubs were pleased with the results.
Collings said the points and salary caps were two parts of a strategy to keep clubs healthy.
He said the next development was to strengthen pathways from junior to senior football and increase player retention, and improving facilities.
“Good clubs have strong junior programs and we need to take the learnings from some of those … in the way they promote junior football and that transition process,’’ Collings said.
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