LeverPuller
BigFooty Tanker
- Jun 23, 2011
- 35,110
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- AFL Club
- Melbourne
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The "Oakley Rule" is also known as the salary cap floor. This was brought in by Ross Oakley to force clubs to spend a certain amount of the salary cap - initially 90% of the maximum spend. The objective was to force clubs to spend money and those who couldn't afford to would be forced to merge/fold. It did its job, too - Fitzroy were the target as they were white-anted out of the AFL.
Now it's having an effect in other ways.
Melbourne's playing list is earning 95% of the maximum of the salary cap.
Now, some of these are known. Mitch Clark is believed to be on $800,000 per year. Chris Dawes is believed to be on $500,000 per year. That's a chunk of the cap in two non-playing players, to be sure.
But the cap is $9.13 million. This means that outside of those two players, the rest of the list - 42 players - is earning, on average, a minimum of $175,559 p/a.
Why the hell does that playing list deserve that much? I mean seriously. This is a group of players that have performed the worst of any list in the last 20 years. And I'm including Freo 1995-2002, Carlton 2002-2008 and Richmond 2003-2009 in that. They are terrible.
The AFL is upping ticket prices to their 'entertainment' yet the angry crap I put up with week-in, week-out sees these blokes earn more in one year than most graduates can earn in 3.
The floor needs to drop back to 90%. Up the cap to satisfy the AFLPA but drop the floor to 90% so clubs aren't destroying themselves on player wages while they are trapped at the foot of the ladder.
Now it's having an effect in other ways.
Melbourne's playing list is earning 95% of the maximum of the salary cap.
Now, some of these are known. Mitch Clark is believed to be on $800,000 per year. Chris Dawes is believed to be on $500,000 per year. That's a chunk of the cap in two non-playing players, to be sure.
But the cap is $9.13 million. This means that outside of those two players, the rest of the list - 42 players - is earning, on average, a minimum of $175,559 p/a.
Why the hell does that playing list deserve that much? I mean seriously. This is a group of players that have performed the worst of any list in the last 20 years. And I'm including Freo 1995-2002, Carlton 2002-2008 and Richmond 2003-2009 in that. They are terrible.
The AFL is upping ticket prices to their 'entertainment' yet the angry crap I put up with week-in, week-out sees these blokes earn more in one year than most graduates can earn in 3.
The floor needs to drop back to 90%. Up the cap to satisfy the AFLPA but drop the floor to 90% so clubs aren't destroying themselves on player wages while they are trapped at the foot of the ladder.