Dane Swan’s crack at AFL bosses: “They all make too much money all the bloody top dogs in the game”

COLLINGWOOD great Dane Swan is so disgusted by the massive pay packet of AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan, he says players have to take action.

ALL-TIME Collingwood great Dane Swan says if he was still playing he’d go on strike over pay issues.

The Brownlow medallist has called into question the pay deal that saw AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan earn a salary of $1.74 million last year.

This is almost twice the size of superstars of the game including Geelong’s Patrick Dangerfield and Joel Selwood and Richmond’s Alex Rance.

“If I was still playing I would strike for sure,” Swan told campmates in the South African jungle in a segment to air on tonight’s I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here!

RELATED: Lisa Curry’s wedding shock

Dane Swan, pictured with fellow I’m a Celebrity contestants Natalie Bassingthwaighte (centre) and Tegan Martin. Picture: Nigel Wright

“The game is not going round without the players, the AFL can think what they like but as soon as the players say we are not coming to work, they’ve got nothing.”

He added: “The AFL don’t want to kill our game, they all make too much money all the bloody top dogs in the game.

“How a player isn’t making the most money in the AFL is beyond me. Yet the highest paid player is probably $1.2 million, maybe.”

Geelong star Dangerfield, who won last year’s Brownlow Medal, earnt around $800,000 in 2016.

After grants and distributions for the year, the AFL league suffered a financial loss of $17.8 million in 2016.

RELATED: Keira Maguire deserves better

Dane Swan is disgusted by the pay packet of AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan. Picture: Channel Ten

Swan revealed he earned $36,000 on his first Collingwood contract at the age of 17.

“I moved straight out of home, moved straight in with my mate and spent every cent as soon as I got it,” he explained.

“Like every footballer when they come into the league, I thought, ‘how good is this, I’m going to make good money’.

“I thought I was a rock star and I was probably the s***tiest player on the AFL list (at the time). “I was useless and that is how it was for probably two years before I got into some trouble.”

Meanwhile, Swan revealed he spent $250,000 over eight years going through the court system over his 2003 arrest for brawling with security guards in Melbourne.

“Long story short, we got kicked out of a cab then got into a punch-on with five bouncers,” he said.

Dane Swan in his playing days. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

“One of my mates went a bit too far and they got reasonably hurt, so we got arrested for that.

“I had about eight charges but we ended up getting charged with affray, that’s the one that stuck.

“It went for about eight years, cost me about $250,000. Total court fees, paying people — that’s about what it cost me in the end. I learned the hard way.”

Swan and two others were arrested after the fight in which a security guard was knocked unconscious, and after initially being charged with 13 offences, he was convicted of affray and ordered to serve out 100 hours of community service.

Despite the fact it nearly ruined his career, and reputation, Swan said he regrets nothing as the ugly incident changed his priorities in life.

“The arrest turned my career around,” he said.

Footballers (left to right) Kade Carey, Dane Swan and Aaron Ramsay leave the County Court in 2008. Picture: News Corp

“If I hadn’t of got arrested, I reckon I would have played another year, done what I liked.

“No one likes to be in trouble with the law but that was the biggest positive in my life cos it was my wake-up call.”

* The journalist is in South Africa as a guest of Channel Ten.