Weekly Times | SOME leagues in Victoria will introduce a salary cap next year, but the cap appears unlikely to be enforced on all leagues until at least the following season.
AFL Victoria confirmed on Monday the player points system element of the Community Club Sustainability Program, developed to combat rising player payments, would come into effect next season.
AFL Victoria community football and engagement manager Brett Connell, chair of the working party developing the program, expected only minor changes would be made to the points system that was trialled earlier this year.
“The working party will continue to work with leagues and clubs on the formation of a comprehensive salary cap policy and envisage it being operational in the vast majority of leagues by 2017.”
AFL Barwon region general manager Lee Hartman, a working party member, said the leagues in his region — Geelong, Geelong and District, Bellarine and Colac and District — would have salary caps next year. “Some regions and leagues can take it up next year if they’re ready to do that, but if not, by 2017. I’m not sure who is and who isn’t, but definitely our region will be,” Hartman said.
He said proposed salary cap figures for the region were waiting to be ratified by AFL Victoria, but he hoped they would be confirmed by the end of the week. Earlier this year AFL Barwon delayed a league restructure in the region, citing clubs’ desires to assess the impact of the points system and salary cap before any changes were made. “There is still a lot of work to be done around the policy and also training and education, but with our clubs asking for it to be brought in straight away we’re in a position to implement it,” Hartman said.
Hartman said AFL Central Victoria was the only other country region he was aware of that was considering introducing a salary cap policy next season. AFL Central Victoria region general manager Paul Hamilton, another working party member, could not be reached for comment.
An AFL Victoria spokesman said some leagues had indicated they may trial a “soft” salary cap next year. “What that will look like we are still working through with them in line with the overall policy,” he said. AFL North East Border region general manager John O’Donohue, another working party member, said he would put out indicative salary cap prices to the region’s clubs in the coming weeks, but “we definitely won’t be bringing it in next year”.