Former Port Adelaide nice Kane Cornes has known as on the AFL to disclose particular person participant wages, saying it causes pointless media hypothesis in any other case.
The 2-time All-Australian turned outspoken soccer pundit’s remarks come after the AFL launched their complete participant cost abstract for the 2022 season, the place they revealed that 12 gamers earned greater than $1 million final season.
On high of releasing the variety of high earners, the AFL broke down the variety of gamers that fell into every pay bracket, with 126 gamers incomes between $200-300,000.
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“Excuse me if I’m flogging a lifeless horse right here, each class is damaged down,” stated Cornes on SEN.
“So then what occurs is, nobody has any thought, however everybody speculates,” he stated.
“I learn the Herald Solar, the $1 million plus should be Dustin Martin, it should be Buddy Franklin, Nat Fyfe, it should be Jeremy McGovern…these are all names within the Herald Solar.
“Then I choose up The Age and I see that Lance Franklin is the very best paid participant within the sport at $1.3 million, nobody is aware of.
“It’s both all-in or it’s none-in, why does the AFL launch the complete numbers with each participant in a class?
“We don’t know the gamers in addition to it, so then we speculate.”
Cornes stated releasing the data totally would enable followers to maintain golf equipment accountable.
1 in 22 Australians is a member of an AFL membership, however at present followers are usually not conscious of particular person participant salaries and subsequently their influence on a group’s wage cap.
Collingwood ruck-forward Mason Cox commented on the AFL’s Instagram put up detailing the participant funds, saying it was a “very well timed put up with the CBA negotiations happening (in the meanwhile).
“Additionally a little bit of a battle of curiosity for the AFL to say gamers’ contracts are confidential, however selling issues like this,” he stated.
Cox moved to Australian Guidelines soccer from basketball, having grown up in Dallas, Texas and making Oklahoma State’s basketball group as a walk-on.
In america, participant salaries being public data is commonplace amongst the foremost leagues.
“I see the Herald Solar are saying Coniglio, Inexperienced and Kelly are all incomes $1 million plus, if that’s the case, the Giants have butchered their wage cap,” stated Cornes.
“I see Carlton are in bother with their wage cap, nicely I wish to know who they’re paying…they haven’t received a closing but.
“In the event that they’ve butchered their cap to the purpose the place they’ve bought no cash left and so they’ve bought no success, then their followers ought to hold the membership accountable for the best way they’re spending the wage cap.
Based on the Complete Participant Cost abstract launched by the AFL on Wednesday, the common wage for the 659 listed gamers throughout the league was $406,000, up from $372,224 in 2021.
The figures don’t embrace rookie-listed gamers.
AFL participant wages took a big hit through the Covid-affected 2020 season, rising by 10.14 per cent final yr.
On the opposite aspect of the wage coin, AFL executives averaged $1.3 million in 2022, with the league reporting an working revenue of $20.7 million in 2022, a $66.8 million turnaround after reporting a $46.1 million loss in 2021.
The pandemic compelled golf equipment to chop soccer and administrative workers to assist save prices, in addition to a discount within the soccer division smooth cap, which is able to possible be a spotlight of upcoming collective bargaining negotiations.
The present CBA has expired, and was final negotiated in 2017, earlier than professionalism had arrived within the girls’s sport and earlier than the pandemic.
The AFL had one in every of its “largest soccer calendar years on document” in line with AFL Fee chair Richard Goyder, after a brand new seven-year broadcast deal was negotiated with incumbent broadcasters Seven, Fox and Telstra, price $4.5 billion.
The AFL Gamers’ Affiliation has been contacted for remark.
