Major country footy leagues targeting co-ordinated approach

A push is underway to have Victoria’s premier country football leagues have equal salary caps and player points systems.

A push is underway to have Victoria’s premier country football leagues all operating with the same salary cap figure and player points systems.

All nine leading leagues having identical player payment caps and all moving to a tiered player points system based on ladder results from the previous season were the key take-outs from a meeting of league presidents in Bendigo last Sunday.

The Ovens & Murray and Goulburn Valley leagues have the highest caps in the state of $130,000.

The O&M will be the latest premier league to go to a tiered points system in 2025, but player points totals for clubs in the GV, Murray and Bendigo leagues are still at the whim of their region’s governing body.

AFL Victoria board member Damian Drum. Picture: Zoe Phillips

AFL Victoria board member Damian Drum attended the meeting where umpiring recruitment and fees and interleague were also discussed.

Gippsland league president Andrew Livingstone said consistent salary caps and player points systems had merit.

“People were a little bit confused as to why there were differences,” he said.

“Everyone is doing their own thing at the moment.

“We have one of the higher (salary caps), but the discussion around the room was why is it like that?

“I’m of the view if you are a major league, let’s standardise it a bit.”

Murray league general manager Dale Norman said the meeting organised by community football advocate John White was a “worthwhile exercise” and hoped they would be held annually at a minimum.

“We are all having similar issues, but we are dealing with them separately,” he said.

“This might encourage a more co-ordinated approach when speaking to AFL Victoria.

“We weren’t there to bash the AFL, but you’d like to have meetings like this happen more often.”

Community football advocate John White called the meeting of premier country football leagues last Sunday. Picture: Jason Edwards

It was agreed that a working party of league presidents be formed with an AFL Victoria executive also invited to join the group to address the major issues discussed at the meeting.

AFL Victoria is represently carrying out in a review of the salary cap and player points systems.

The state’s nine premier leagues are Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong, Gippsland, GV, Hampden, Mornington Peninsula-Nepean, Murray and O&M.