AFL boss Gillon McLachlan vows AFL executive will match any pay cut the players agree to

As the war between players and the AFL rages over the enforced pay cut they will have to take due to the coronavirus crisis, AFL boss Gillon McLachlan has given an undertaking to the AFLPA that he hopes will break the deadlock.

Gillon McLachlan says the AFL executive will match the pay cut agreed to by players.

AFL boss Gillon McLachlan has given an undertaking to match any pay cut accepted by the players in a bid to break the wages impasse.

McLachlan and the league executive had previously committed to a 20 per cent pay cut, while asking the 850 player to cop an 80 per cent wages reduction to help the game survive the coronavirus crisis.

The AFL said the undertaking was given in discussions with AFL Players’ Association chief executive Paul Marsh.

McLachlan’s concession came on the day veteran agent Peter Jess yesterday called for the AFL executive team to match the player pay cuts.

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Gillon McLachlan says the AFL executive will match the pay cut agreed to by players.

 

Talks have edged closer to resolution, but the AFLPA wants access to the league’s books.

Players president Patrick Dangerfield said full transparency was required from the AFL so the players could make the right decision.

Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett warned that players could be stood down without pay and the season cancelled if they didn’t agree to the AFL’s demands.

Jess said if it were good enough for the players to take an 80 per cent cutback, it was good enough for the AFL administration and all senior club staff “as demonstrated by Geelong coach Chris Scott”.

The league had previously indicated its 12-person executive would be taking pay cuts of 20 per cent this year.

Australian Securities and Investment Commission documents reveal the same dozen AFL executives took home $10.56 million in combined wages last year, an average salary of $880,000.

A 20 per cent hair cut this year would see them take home an average wage of $704,000, despite the game’s financial catastrophe.

McLachlan’s salary was last publicly disclosed at $1.74 million three years ago.

All 12 AFL executives have been retained at AFL House after Monday’s industry-wide stand downs.

“If it’s one in, it’s all in,” Jess said.

“That’s the Australian way — when you don’t dud your mates.

“It’s not the fault of the players that this has happened. The whole risk burden should be shared across the whole football portfolio.

“There is absolutely no reason that the executive should be a group by themselves.

“The leadership of Chris Scott (who has surrendered his full wage until May 31) is in direct contrast to the attitude of the

AFL administrators.

“It is in these times where you see the emergence of true leadership.”

 

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Jess said an agreement to defer payments to players this season was the obvious solution in striking a compromise between

the AFL and AFLPA over wages.

Players could accept a hefty pay cut today and recoup payments or retirement benefits once the game has recovered, he said.

“I am one of the few agents who was around when the clubs were going broke and losing significant revenues in the 1970s, 80s and 90s,” Jess said.

“That’s why we had the AFL guarantee payments. Deferring payments today is the only answer to this now.

“When the money comes back, these guys can be looked after.

"That is a far more palatable solution than a permanent impairment of their wages.”

He said the AFL management team was not appropriately prepared for the coronavirus wipeout.

“Astute management always provides for a 100-year disaster event, via a Monte Carlo simulation process,” Jess said.

“The reason the players agreed to a restrictive labor market was on the basis that they would have certainty of payment. This means the fundamentals have changed forever.

“The coronavirus crisis has created a war on sport and everybody should be on the front line.

“We can’t have the troops on the front line and the generals in the bunkers.”