Clubs pushing for longer contracts for top draftees to stop young talent drain
UPDATE: THE AFL has confirmed clubs are pushing for longer contracts for draftees to discourage players from leaving clubs when their first contract expires.
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TOP draftees could be made to sign longer contracts as part of a proposal to discourage young stars from leaving after only two seasons.
The Herald Sun can reveal the AFL is considering increasing players’ first contracts from two to three years, especially for the gun youngsters taken in the first two rounds of the national draft.
However the AFL Players’ Association has opposed the move, believing it adds unnecessary restriction on player movement and is difficult to pre-determine a player’s worth in their third season.
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Players earn up to $73,660 plus $3605 in match payments in their first year and $96,685 plus $5225 in their second year.
The third season would be calculated using historical data on players’ averages wages and games played.
Brisbane and Greater Western Sydney are leading the push for longer deals as the two clubs again grapple with the threat of young players requesting trades back to their home states in the infancy of their football careers.
AFL football operations boss Mark Evans confirmed the push.
“Clubs have certainly asked us to do that through the CBA negotiation. It’s fair to say the AFL Players’ Association haven’t shown a lot of warmth or interest in it,” he said.
“But the clubs’ view is you spend a lot of time in our system, we take kids out of high school not out of university or college, we take them there and you’re still developing them.
“They’re just starting their playing career and they can get up and leave your club before you get a chance to maybe play them in a lot of games and show them they’ve got a place at the club.
“If they do get up and leave then it can leave a club that’s been trying to harvest young players has to go back to the draft and start all over again.
“They’ve asked for a third year to be put on the table for either first-round draft picks or for clubs to have a discretion of a third round.”
The AFLPA has pushed back, however, raising concerns given players have no say in where they begin their AFL careers, with many youngsters drafted interstate.
“The PA have some concerns. They wonder how you would value a third year player’s contract given there’s a fair variety or variance in what a third-year player might earn depending on how many games he’s played in his first two years,” Evans told SEN.
“But they also think that a player should have the right, given that they’re drafted and have no say where they go, that they should have some rights particularly if they were (taken) in the first round.
“The conversation hasn’t gone very far at this point in time.”
Giants’ duo Caleb Marchank and Jarrod Pickett are both keen on moves to Carlton after two seasons at GWS, while livewire forward Paul Ahern is also on North Melbourne’s radar.
Collingwood midfielder Nathan Freeman, who was originally taken with pick No.10, shocked the Magpies with his defection to St Kilda last season without playing a game in black and white.
His void was filled by James Aish who also walked out on Brisbane after only two seasons.
Lions’ chief executive Greg Swann said the move had widespread support from clubs and would help interstate teams in particular thwart the go-home factor.
He said the move would also help protect lower-placed clubs’ best young talent when they were most vulnerable.
Swann said it takes a considerable amount of time for players to adjust to their new clubs and environments, especially when they are moving interstate.
“There is always a settling-in period for young players, which can sometimes affect their footy and that first-year goes very quickly,” Swann said.
“So, increasing it (first contracts) to three years gives them more time to adapt and settle in and I think that can turn into better results for the player and the club.”
But the mandatory three-year deals may only apply to the cream of each year’s draft crop.
Under the AFL proposal, only players taken in the first 30 selections may be guaranteed the extra year, to help protect and reward the top talents.
The players taken between No.30 to 60 would be given standard two-year deals.
Later selections may only receive one-year deals.
Currently, rookie players are only given one-year deals on minimum wages but the rookie list is expected to be abolished in favour of one senior list of 44-46 players.
The AFL will continue to discuss the proposal with Players’ Association representatives as part of the ongoing CBA negotiations.
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