THE salary caps for the region’s three local football leagues should be known in coming weeks.
Region General Manager Will McGregor has confirmed AFL Barwon is now going through feedback from clubs.
“We’re just taking our time to collate that, and what we’ll do from there is present that to the commission,” he said.
“We’ll get that ratified and then present it to the clubs.
“We’ll look to hold a presidents meeting in the next fortnight where we’ll present that information back to clubs.
“We absolutely understand the desire to have knowledge of what the caps and points will be for next year.
“We’ll probably have more certainty around salary caps than player points.”
McGregor said clubs were preparing for the salary cap to take a hit from the planned 2020 levels of $145,00 for the GFL, $110,000 for the BFL and $90,000 for the GDFL.
“In the norm, that is the general consensus,” he said,
“I haven’t had a look at all club feedback so that that position may have potentially changed.
“But I think, in general, there is an avenue for a reduction based on everyone’s financial position and uncertainty leading into the future.”
Werribee Centrals co-coach Nick Smith told krockfootball.com.au on Monday he was keen to know what the parameters will be for next year.
“As much as I’d like to say otherwise, recruiting comes down to the bottom line of most players wanting to be paid and knowing what you’re working with,” he said.
“Depending on the player, sometimes those conversations are significant in whether or not you can retain that player.
“Our understanding is that they’re leaning towards a one-third reduction.
“That’s significant because unless another coach or club has another suggestion, that means you’re going to every player saying. “you need to take a 33 per cent but on whatever we signed you last year”.
“To be honest, I don’t know how that conversation goes because I’ve never had to do it before.”
Twitter: @tom_king79
