As Damien Hardwick closes on new deal, Danny Frawley argues coaches should be paid as much as $2.5 million a year

The AFL has confirmed that the cap for football expenses will remain at $9.58 million, unchanged from 2017 which stands to leave the big name coaches ‘woefully underpaid’, according to Danny Frawley.

Dustin Martin and coach Damien Hardwick celebrate after the final siren after Richmond defeated the Adelaide Crows in the 2017 AFL Grand Final at the MCG. Picture. Phil Hillyard

RICHMOND is ready to negotiate with premiership coach Damien Hardwick on a lucrative contract extension.

But the Tigers are limited in the pay rise they can hand Hardwick because of the AFL’s football department salary cap.

The AFL yesterday confirmed to the Herald Sun that the cap for football expenses will remain at $9.58 million, unchanged from 2017.

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Former Tigers coach Danny Frawley proposed a marketing exemption for senior coaches which could see them earning up to $2.5 million a year.

He said Hardwick and Alastair Clarkson were woefully underpaid, with the Hawks aware they could not pay the four-time premiership coach his true worth in his last extension.

Hardwick has another year to run on his deal but the Tigers have made Hardwick aware they are ready to discuss an extension when he is ready.

He will meet with his management early in the year, with a new deal taking him past nine seasons at the club.

A two-year extension to 2020 would allow him to pass Tommy Hafey’s 248 games coached and become Richmond’s longest-serving coach in its decorated history.

Damien Hardwick and Dustin Martin celebrate after the Grand Final. Picture: Phil Hillyard

Clubs like Hawthorn and Richmond, which pay most or all of the football department cap, have little wiggle room to pay coaches more in the event of a premiership.

Melbourne could only afford to pay Paul Roos in excess of $1.5 million a year because it was a growing club with space in its football cap.

Frawley, the former head of the AFL Coaches Association, has no doubt the best coaches in the league are significantly underpaid.

“There has got to be a marketing component in their salaries. These guys sell their clubs on much more than their coaching ability,’’ he said.

“I know Alastair Clarkson adds so much to a club. He should get paid some of his contract outside the soft cap.

“There are a whole range of incentives he should be able to profit from. On the open market a guy like Clarkson should be to be paid somewhere in the vicinity of $2-$2.5 million. But because of the cap he might be on $1.2 or $1.4 million.

“Damien Hardwick and John Longmire are no different. I have no doubt Paul Roos was given a huge salary at Melbourne because of the brand he brought.”

Coaches customarily have one-off premiership bonuses in their contracts starting at $100,000 and going up to $250,000.

Danny Frawley says Alastair Clarkson is underpaid.

Frawley said the elite senior coaches helped drive revenue through membership, sponsorship, merchandising and corporate sponsors worth millions.

But despite their clubs earning multimillion-dollar profits their salaries are capped because of the myriad expenses going into the football department cap.

If a club wishes to pay over the cap it must pay an extra 75 cents on every dollar it spends as a tax, which means few have done so since the cap was introduced.

Coaching legend David Parkin disagrees coaches are underpaid, saying they are still well compensated.

“This is an old man’s view but it’s a privilege to be in the game, playing or coaching, and they are extremely well paid for what they do,’’ he said.

“In most cases if you asked them they would be satisfied. I coached at Carlton for 10 years from 1991-2000 and I was paid $200,000 a year whether we won flags or didn’t.

“If they are in it for money they shouldn’t be there. The cap does limit the capacity of teams but it is one of the things the AFL put into place which helps us have three teams win premierships with three different methods the last three years.”