Savage AFL staff cuts will take heart and soul from clubs, writes Mark Robinson
The day clubs had been dreading arrived on Tuesday when the AFL set its limit for football department staff. As Mark Robinson writes, it will mean many clubs will operate without their heart and soul for 2020 — and likely beyond.
AFL
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The purge has officially started.
And no one can be happy, not the least the footy clubs.
Good people and many millions of dollars are being culled.
It started when the season was postponed and when clubs were forced to stand down or make redundant 80 per cent of its staff.
On Tuesday, the AFL delivered its official mandate.
Just 25 football department staff will be allowed at each club for the remainder of the season.
In context, some clubs have as few as 30. Others have close to 45.
Of those 25, four positions are compulsory — a doctor, a player development manager, a psychologist and a COVID-19 consultant.
The AFL determined 25 to be the number to run an “effective football department” during this crisis.
Clubs will surely and privately disagree, but they will comply.
Because just how many clubs are prepared to pick a fight with the AFL at this time, seeing as the AFL is now effectively the banker?
Richmond, for example, was a laughing stock for 30 years, but through hard work, wise heads and strong culture became the poster boys of success — on and off the field.
Now they are back in the pack, the hand break fully cocked.
Whatever advantages they accrued with astute staff recruiting to improve the players has been swiped from them.
The cuts are extreme, and agreed it’s an extreme environment footy finds itself in, but the fear among senior club staff is the heart and soul is being ripped out of clubs.
That it’s acceptable to prune the tree, but not cut it back to its trunk.
One question is already being asked at club level: Will this be a precursor to 2021?
If yes, then let the fights begin.
Tuesday’s cuts to the football department spend (soft cap) is two-fold.
Currently at $9.7 million per club, they are now required to reduce costs by 40 per cent in the period from when the players return to training — expected to be Monday — and until the resumption of playing.
After games start, the reduction will be relaxed to 30 per cent.
Presumably, the extra 10 per cent will be used for the extra game-day staff among other additions.
Club bosses have anxiously awaited Tuesday’s document.
They weren’t pleased by the savagery of the cuts, nor will they be pleased by the fact they will have to tell some staff their jobs are officially gone.
Clubs on Tuesday began formulating the make-up of the remaining 21 positions.
There will be the senior coach, but how many assistants?
Can they do without line coaches? And how many development coaches do they need?
There’s welfare, medical/physios, recruiting and high-performance positions to assess.
The AFL’s mandate of 25 staff — to reduce costs and reduce the risk of COVID-19 entering the club — doesn’t preclude clubs from employing staff to work from home.
It remains to be seen how much money is left, if any, to pay those people.
Yes, Tuesday was the official purge day and it’s not going to stop.
Next on the hit list is player salaries and list sizes for 2021.
Tuesday was an order from the AFL to clubs.
The decision on the players will be a negotiation and you can expect the players wont be as catering as the clubs.
The players agreed to salary cuts for this up-ended season, and they know they will have to take cuts next season and perhaps beyond.
But the question is how much?
It links to list sizes which will be a willing debate that will also include the clubs as.
Then, of course, there is the AFL itself.
The national body has started the audit of itself and it, too, will be required to slash tens of millions from its expenses, which mainly will be staff made up off full-time, part-time and casuals.
What that means for its substantial media department, which has gradually evolved into its PR department, is a watch this space.
MORE AFL NEWS:
Relive the night Western Bulldogs ended Essendon’s 20-game winning streak with ‘super flood’
AFL wading through messy state of play amid plans to release revamped fixture Wednesday
The Fox Footy Jury on whether this year’s premiership will have an asterisk
Originally published as Savage AFL staff cuts will take heart and soul from clubs, writes Mark Robinson
Waiting game? Dockers continue to keep tabs on Swans superstar
The possibility of Chad Warner asking for a move back to Western Australia continues to make the rounds, but how quickly could it happen? Fremantle have had their say on the matter.
‘Third fiddle’: How does Stringer fit in the Orange Tsunami?
It’s not a guarantee that Jake Stringer will be playing for GWS in 2025, but if he is, there’s plenty to be excited about as a Giants fan. Lachlan McKirdy analyses how ‘The Package’ fits in.