AFL determined to have mid-season trade period start next year

In a move that could revolutionise the sport, the AFL want to introduce a mid-season player movement period as soon as 2024. Will they get their wish?

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – MAY 26: AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan and Andrew Dillon arrive during a media opportunity with Australian sports governing body representatives who will support the Voice, at CitiPower Centre on May 26, 2023 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

The AFL is determined to install a mid-season trade period next year that would see players moving clubs for greater opportunities after finally coming together with the AFLPA for a week of complex negotiations.

AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan and CEO-in-waiting Andrew Dillon met with AFLPA boss Paul Marsh on Monday for talks on a pay deal.

That new deal could end up delivering a 30 per cent pay rise to AFL players over the next four years.

The AFL and union remain significantly apart on many elements of the collective bargaining agreement, with the AFLPA wanting a 32 per cent slice of certain agreed revenues.

That deal would be up from 30.5 per cent of combined revenue for men and women, with even the length of the CBA to be negotiated.

The AFL needs to broker a deal on five-day breaks for 2024 that would allow it to play up to 15 Thursday games.

And it is strongly in favour of a mid-season trade period for 2024 that would allow under-utilised players to secure a new start at a rival club.

AFLPA CEO Paul Marsh. (AAP Image/James Ross)

The league believes it can find solutions for issues including how the salary of a player moving to a club with a full cap would be incorporated in their new club’s total player payments.

While the AFLPA is open to discussions around how a mid-season trade period would work, it is strongly against any player being forcibly traded against their will.

The AFLPA is keen for a four-year joint CBA taking in the men’s and women’s competition while the league’s first ambit claim was for a nine-year deal.

The Herald Sun revealed last week the AFL is resolute in wanting a 10-week AFLW competition starting on September 1 then agreed growth metrics that would see it gradually expanding the season.

Some AFLW players are determined to get a 12-week home-and-away season this year and a quick expansion to a 17-game season.

But other AFLW coaches and players are happy with a 10-week season if the AFL can prove it will expand the competition as soon as next year.

The league wants control of the season length under a brand revamp that will include rule changes to increase scoring and a smaller number of official AFL venues.

The league is determined to keep the AFLW season at 10 weeks. (Photo by Matt Roberts/AFL Photos/Getty Images)

The league has also asked the players to fund a new concussion fund that it hopes will safeguard past and current players with brain and neck injuries.

AFL list managers are hopeful the significant expansion in the AFL’s TV rights deal – a $4.5 billion contract running from 2025 to 2031 – will secure players a significant pay rise.

They are hopeful of up to 30 per cent rises across four seasons, with players keen for a large slice of that increase to be in the first season of the deal.

Players are currently operating on a CBA rolled over from 2022, so could secure significant back pay for the 2023 season when a new deal is agreed upon.

AFLPA boss Paul Marsh told the Herald Sun in April there were tough negotiations ahead.

“The gap between our proposals is really significant,” he said.

“The AFL proposal’s structurally worse for AFL players than the current deal, and it doesn’t meaningfully progress the AFLW vision.”

Originally published as AFL determined to have mid-season trade period start next year