Bendigo Advertiser | CLARITY IS COMING: AFL Central Victoria clubs will know by the end of the month how they will be impacted by the player points system.
AFL Central Victoria is well on track to ensuring clubs will know by the end of the month how they will be impacted by new measures to combat escalating player payments and reduce player movement.
Following the unveiling of AFL Victoria’s state-wide Community Club Sustainability Program proposed framework in May, clubs have had the past two months to trial how they would be affected when it’s introduced next season.
The cornerstones of the program will be a state-wide player points system, plus the reintroduction of a salary cap that has been previously tried unsuccessfully at local level.
While the new measures will be introduced state-wide, it’s not a case of one size fits all, with leagues to have individual salary caps, while the points allocation for each club will be varied and determined by population base, junior pathways and on-field performance.
AFLCV regional manager Paul Hamilton says all clubs in the region have provided information on what their player payments are this year and last, which will be used to determine appropriate salary caps, while most have also given feedback on how they would be impacted under the points system.
“The clubs in our region have been fantastic through this process,” Hamilton said this week.
“Every club has told us precisely what they paid their players this year and last year and I believe they have all been honest.
“Some of the information is quite detailed and it really wouldn’t make any sense to lie about it because it doesn’t help the cause at all.
“There’s a general feeling that everyone wants this to work, but there’s obviously a lot of questions around can it and will it work, which are yet to be answered, but there’s recognition that something needs to be done about player payments and player movement.
“There’s a lot of good will from clubs to try to make it work, but there’s also an understanding that it will probably take two to three years to get it to where we want to and that we will need to be flexible to get it right.”
As well as the salary cap, in which clubs may be audited by an independent integrity officer accredited by AFL Victoria, the player points system proposes to define players into six categories ranging from six points (AFL player) to one point (home player).
Hamilton said there were some “reasonable” differences from clubs in how many points they have had in their teams during the trial period, but the disparity “wasn’t as big as some other regions”.
As part of the implementation of the Community Club Sustainability Program in the region, a working party has been assigned to each league – Bendigo, Heathcote District, Loddon Valley and North Central.
“I’m very keen to make sure we meet the timelines that were set of the end of August and we’ll certainly be doing that in our region and letting all our clubs know where they stand so they can move forward with all their planning for next year,” Hamilton said.
