AFL 2021: Senior list managers and recruiters fear talented players may be overlooked as soft cap cuts hit hard
As a result of the soft cap cuts, part-time recruiters are being asked to volunteer, while others are suffering ‘burnout’. And it could all affect the upcoming drafts.
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Senior list managers and recruiters have called on the AFL not to forget about their health and wellbeing and are pushing for an overhaul of a new NAB League structure that “hasn’t worked”.
Recruiting teams across the country have been among the hardest hit by the AFL’s savage cuts to the football department soft cap, with fears staff are suffering “burnout” and talented players will be overlooked at the draft table.
The competition’s coaches have been vocal around the “challenges” the cuts have created for them, but recruiters have also seen a “significant” increase in workload at the same time they have been asked to work for up to 30 per cent less pay.
Some full-time recruiters working six days a week have been forced to work a second job on their day off to make up the wage shortfall, while other senior staff are working regular 13 and 14-hour days.
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Many part-time recruiters, known as ‘Weekend Warriors’, have been asked to volunteer or are being paid less than $1000 a year, while club travel budgets for staff to attend matches live have also been hit.
With Collingwood list manager Ned Guy set to depart after next month’s mid-season draft, Magpies recruiting boss Derek Hine will be supported by only one other full-time staff member.
“The coaches are under pressure as well, no doubt about that. But let’s not forget what has happened to us, either,” veteran Sydney list manager Kinnear Beatson told the Herald Sun.
“In most cases all of us have taken pay cuts of 15 to 30 per cent to do the same jobs with significantly increased workloads.”
The cuts to recruiting departments have been coupled with budget cuts to the NAB League – which traditionally produces about half of all AFL players – creating a perfect storm.
The NAB League boys program is currently on a month-long hiatus, with players who have attracted mid-season draft interest being scattered across community competitions around Victoria.
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“There were approximately 105 clubs where players went back to play in that first week off,” Port Adelaide list manager Jason Cripps said.
“We don’t have the staff or the resources to cover that off and watching players live is still our No. 1 method in terms of talent identification.
“It’s not sustainable.”
The NAB League changes this year saw clubs bring the boys and girls programs under a single umbrella, with a full-time coach and talent manager looking after both teams.
“There needs to be a review of the NAB League and talent structures, because what we’ve come up with hasn’t worked,” Beatson said.
“No one’s against youth girls footy, but if we’re going to run with it – and we should – then fund the programs appropriately.”
The AFL will meet with club chief executives later this month to further discuss a potential rise in the soft cap.
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Triple premiership coach Damien Hardwick says the AFL is in danger of losing its status as a world leader in sport in a strongly-worded plea for the league to relent on its harsh pay cuts.
Richmond is one of many AFL clubs now worrying about the effects of a 12-month football calendar after the league decided upon a summer AFLW season.
Hardwick is thrilled the Richmond women will receive a stand-alone season, but AFL football boss Steve Hocking’s mandate for clubs and coaches to shut down over the late December-early January period is now out the window.
Clubs already dealing with exhausted staff will now have to plan how they fit in two seasons while juggling annual leave considerations.
Hardwick’s Tigers are pushing for a significant rise to the football department cap but the Herald Sun revealed last month a more modest $300,000-$500,000 cap is more likely.
Many AFL clubs have staff in performance, coaching, welfare and administration who double up across AFL and AFLW season.
“We want the women to play, we love it. The strain on resources is going to be really tough,” Hardwick said.
“On the football department but the admin as well. It’s 24/7 and it’s going to be even further.
“It’s a great opportunity for the women to play, their own stand-alone season, it’s going to be exciting to see how that goes. Staffing it will be the next question.
“I think most clubs are of the opinion the cap is way too low. Look at the injury rates, the lack of resources, the players walking away from the game with mental health, the challenges are there, not only on clubs but on staff as well. It’s incredibly tough. It’s Round 9, it feels like it’s Round 18.”
Hardwick agrees with Carlton’s coach David Teague’s assessment that players with mental health or behavioural issues will slip through the cracks with less “touchpoints” from AFL coaches given the staff cuts.
“Yeah, absolutely. We have got reduced staff and we are dealing with the same amount of players. You are going to miss players, that’s the reality. 37 per cent pay cuts and (reduced) staff headcount. It’s really, really challenging. We sit there and talk about (the AFL) being world leaders in a sporting performance point of view, I can’t say that’s the case now with the reduction in cap, I feel like we are coming back to the pack.”
AFL CONCEDES CUTS MUST BE REVIEWED
The AFL says budget cuts to football departments “need to be looked at” as clubs continue to voice concerns over the welfare of players and staff.
The league is consulting with clubs and key stakeholders over last year’s COVID-19 cuts, which saw the soft cap slashed from $9.7 million to $6.7 million.
Many football department staff were laid off and others have been asked to do more work for 30 per cent less pay.
Some club staff have been forced to work second jobs on their days off to be able to pay mortgages and put their children through school in the wake of substantial pay cuts.
Senior coaches have spearheaded a push for change and AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said the league was listening to a range of “different positions” that had to be considered in conjunction with commercial realities.
“I think people understand that we’re still going to be forecasting down $280 million in revenue across the industry this year,” McLachlan said.
“But there are areas where we’ve cut deeply that need to be looked at.
“The health and wellbeing of everyone in our industry is a complete priority and we will do what we need to do to address that.
“We’re having the right conversations, whether it’s with clubs, footy departments, coaches association, coaches, others directly.
“We’ve got to also work within the competing priorities as we build back up as we get to 100 per cent.”
Carlton coach David Teague said the cuts were having a major effect on players and coaches.
“It is a challenge,” Teague said.
“The number of touchpoints a player had in terms of care has reduced for them.
“I think from a welfare point of view we need to keep watching it.
“It’s a really important area of the game we need to track.
“Some players need a little bit more help than others and we want to be able to give those players a chance to perform.
“If you increase the soft cap you can get more people around them.”
Teague said the football department cuts had also hit medical teams and could “play a part” in ballooning club injury lists.
“I think the amount of treatment for players and time each player gets to spend with someone, my gut feel would be that has decreased,” Teague said.
SHOCKING SPIKE IN INJURIES BLAMED ON CUTS
– Scott Gullan
Almost a quarter of the competition is sitting on the sidelines as the injury toll of the post-COVID season continues to grow.
An alarming 177 players have been named on the official AFL injury list for this week, which equates to about 23 per cent of the entire competition.
Bottom-placed North Melbourne has been the hardest hit with 15 casualties, followed by the GWS Giants on 14, while Fremantle and West Coast both have 12 players classified as injured.
Sydney only has five players on its injury list, with St Kilda next best on six.
There are 11 players missing because of concussion, which is an inflated figure for 2021 because of the AFL’s new 12-day rule.
While the severity of the injuries fluctuates between clubs and obviously plays a part in balancing the equation, there is a growing opinion that changes to the game on the back of last year’s COVID-19 impacted season are behind the spike.
The increase in game time combined with across-the-board cuts to club medical teams because of the AFL-enforced soft cap reduction are at the top of the list, according to AFL Players Association president Patrick Dangerfield.
“We’ve got work to do. Certainly from a medical side and the care we provide players with, I think every club in the competition has reduced the physios that we have on hand to service players with,” Dangerfield told SEN.
“With that, I think, and it’s still a small sample size, but I think it’s contributed to injuries to a certain extent.
“I would find it very difficult how you could argue the latter when you don’t have as many people to spread the load because you’ve got two physios that have to care for 40-odd players instead of three.
“You’re not getting that same care because it’s physically not possible to keep your eye over that many players.
“We understand why the cuts were implemented, but we’ve also got to review it, look back and now take stock and review where we are going forward and make sure we have as many players on the park performing week to week to generate the income that is critical to the game from a business sense.
“I see it as an investment as much as anything.”
The AFL cut the soft cap from $9.7 million to $6.7 million in order to save money and pay back loans that kept the competition alive during the COVID-19 crisis last year.
Dangerfield said there needed to be a correction after the league went too hard with its cutback on football departments, which saw assistant coaches let go, senior coaches take pay cuts and medical departments slashed.
“We all understand the reasons for the cuts last season, but by the end of the year it was widely recognised that we were in nowhere near the dire financial position that was forecast initially and it was nowhere near as bad as it could have been,” he said.
“With that comes a responsibility to review where we’re at and acknowledge at the same time that we’ve gone hard in some areas. Perhaps we need to pull back and continue to look after our people who not only shape our game, but are the faces of our game.
“That’s the senior coaches of all the sides we support.”
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