Resource FAQs: Rules, Regulations and Resources for Player Movements in the AFL

[Frederico_WA]

Is this late addition to their Academy pretty rare? Seems they may even have been allowed to match for him inside 40 as mentioned in article

Top prospect joins North's Academy, AFL mulls priority access

Ryley Sanders has been added to North Melbourne's Academy list

www.afl.com.au

 

[Lore]

Is this late addition to their Academy pretty rare? Seems they may even have been allowed to match for him inside 40 as mentioned in article

Top prospect joins North's Academy, AFL mulls priority access

Ryley Sanders has been added to North Melbourne's Academy list

www.afl.com.au

Nah it's against the rules (generally speaking).

They have to be under 18 on December 31 of the relevant year to be added to the NGA.

If he's draft eligible this year then he has to turn 18 by the end of this year.

So he should've been listed prior to December 31 last year to count.

But there is a whole host of "with the approval of the AFL General Counsel" rules, which is why it's come up as a thing the AFL had to tick off.

Doesn't sound like they'll get any special rights to him beyond being a late addition to the NGA though.

 

[Grin]

How much of the salary cap can a club bank?

 

[Lore]

How much of the salary cap can a club bank?

can go under by 5% and over by 5% but the over is tied to the unders of the previous 3 years...

So for example;

Year 1: 99%
Year 2: 99%
Year 3: 99%
Year 4: 103%

Year 1: 95%
Year 2: 95%
Year 3: 105%
Year 4: 105%

But can NOT do;
Year 1: 95%
Year 2: 95%
Year 3: 110%

It's in the thread with links to the rules etc here;

Total Player Payments Limit aka Salary Cap

Total Player Payments (TPP) also known as a “salary cap” is the limit on the amount of money that AFL Clubs can spend paying their players.

Year	2019	2020	2021	2022
TPP Limit​	12,758,095	13,013,257	13,273,522	13,538,993

Source: Schedule B, CBA 2017-2022

It does not generally include payments made to rookies, including upgraded rookies.

Each AFL club must spend at least 95% of the Total Player Payments limit each year.

Clubs may spend over 100% of the combined total of the TPP and Additional Services Agreement limit, but this overspending is tied to the amount of cap space the club club has saved in the preceding three years.

For every $1 they have underspent in the preceding 3 years, they can overspend by the same amount up to a hard limit of 105% of the Combined Limit.

 

[swuzzlebubble]

Do the "end of first round" future picks that North have count as first rounders in relation to the rules about which future picks can be traded?
Eg could a club trade out F1 and F2 if they had F#19 or F#20 coming in?

 

[Lore]

Do the "end of first round" future picks that North have count as first rounders in relation to the rules about which future picks can be traded?
Eg could a club trade out F1 and F2 if they had F#19 or F#20 coming in?

Not historically. Geelong had to get approval to trade theirs because their EOF didn't count

 

[Tandy]

This may be a dumb question but I'm struggling to remember prior to free agency and players nominating where they want to go.
It seems like when a player is out of contract, what gives/gave his departing club any power at the trade table? If he's out of contract and they don't agree to whatever the new club is prepared to offer what can they do? They cant keep the player. Is it simply reject every offer and then the player falls to the pre season draft? Surely the aflpa wouldn't allow that. It's a one way street

 

[Lore]

This may be a dumb question but I'm struggling to remember prior to free agency and players nominating where they want to go.
It seems like when a player is out of contract, what gives/gave his departing club any power at the trade table? If he's out of contract and they don't agree to whatever the new club is prepared to offer what can they do? They cant keep the player. Is it simply reject every offer and then the player falls to the pre season draft? Surely the aflpa wouldn't allow that. It's a one way street

The pre-season draft, yes.

The AFL has two mechanisms for delisting, either club-initiated or player-initiated. If the club delists him he becomes a DFA, if the player initiates the delisting then their only options are the draft or wait a year to qualify as a DFA.

Before DFA it wasn't that different, either get a trade done or nominate for the draft.

RFAs that have had their deal matched are in exactly the same situation as an uncontracted player would be in the era before free agency.


And when I say nominate for the draft, they can nominate for either the national or pre-season drafts.

 

[Lore]

New Salary Cap numbers:

This year’s salary cap grew 10 per cent from 2022 and was back-paid once the CBA was finalised last month.

The AFL Players’ Association signed off on a fresh Collective Bargaining Agreement last month that is set to boost the salary cap from $15 million (2023) to $17.8 million (2025).​

Information about uplift clauses:

The uplift in 2024 will be 5.1 per cent, while the rise in 2025 will be a further 12.6 per cent – a significant spike as the new seven-year $4.5 billion broadcast deal kicks in.​

​

[Clubs] could look to strike with their banked salary cap space, after refusing to write Total Player Payment uplift clauses into their player contracts.​

​

But it does comes at a cost, having to pay their players above market value as a trade-off, because players’ agents try to build the projected pay rises into the base deal.​

Club specific salary cap positions for next year:

Some clubs are close to Essendon and West Coast, who have zero exposure, because they have also played hardball and rarely agreed to uplift clauses in contract negotiations.​

The 2024 and 2025 jumps are when the Bombers and Eagles will be in the sweet spot to poach players whereas rivals could be squeezed by the uplifts.​

​

St Kilda is also understood to be one of the least-exposed clubs.

The strategy employed by the Dons and Eagles also helps their planning because they can accurately estimate their salary cap position.​

How contracts are negotiated:

Every player contract is negotiated individually and a range of variances also exist in up-lift clauses.​

​

For example, some players will sacrifice the first 5 per cent of an uplift and take home whatever is left after that.​

​

Others accept 50 per cent of the uplift while some players have compound uplift clauses written into their contracts.​

Players who change clubs get a new contract, which may not have an uplift clause in it:

Players who are traded under contract generally change clubs based on an extension and renegotiation of their contract.​

​

That means that even if a player's contract included a TPP uplift clause it would be discarded and replaced with a fresh contract from the Bombers in the event he is traded to Tullamarine.​

​

The renegotiated contract must be agreed to before the trade is lodged and approved by the AFL.​

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/...k=6b1e9ca060ccc4fcf66b5d92f87a9c4a-1697007912

 

[freo_leo29]

Got a free agency compo question


If it only takes into account the base contract, can clubs offer a contract like

800k x2 years

With a trigger after 10 games that extends for 3 years at 500k

Essentially averaging to 620k a year but the base contract is 800k a year aka band 1?

I assume there is some rule in place to stop this? Confused with the base contract rules and compo

 

[Lore]

Got a free agency compo question


If it only takes into account the base contract, can clubs offer a contract like

800k x2 years

With a trigger after 10 games that extends for 3 years at 500k

Essentially averaging to 620k a year but the base contract is 800k a year aka band 1?

I assume there is some rule in place to stop this? Confused with the base contract rules and compo

Yes they can, and no there's no rule against it. Triggers cannot be enforced unilaterally though, so the club also runs the risk of the player not wanting to take the extension option.

 

[dlanod]

Yes they can, and no there's no rule against it. Triggers cannot be enforced unilaterally though, so the club also runs the risk of the player not wanting to take the extension option.

My understanding is that yes, triggers cannot be unilaterally applied but what that ultimately means is that triggers have to be automatic - not decided on my a single party. Similarly they can only be declined if BOTH parties do so (the NDS scenario, and the only case I'm aware of this so rules might have changed on that).

So the ten game rule is fine, but once the trigger is met it's going to apply unless the club and the player agree for it not to.

The most likely result is the AFL steps in and uses the trigger adjusted value in their formula anyway, making it moot.

 

[Lore]

My understanding is that yes, triggers cannot be unilaterally applied but what that ultimately means is that triggers have to be automatic - not decided on my a single party. Similarly they can only be declined if BOTH parties do so (the NDS scenario, and the only case I'm aware of this so rules might have changed on that).

So the ten game rule is fine, but once the trigger is met it's going to apply unless the club and the player agree for it not to.

The most likely result is the AFL steps in and uses the trigger adjusted value in their formula anyway, making it moot.

So far they haven’t, but yes they should.

I’m of the opinion that they should just remove the restriction on free agency altogether, thus removing most of the incentive to mess with contracts to manipulate compensation.

 

[Lore]

That and the concept of maximum earnings is interesting.

 

[dlanod]

So far they haven’t, but yes they should.

Because no one's tried to game it like that. We all know the AFL only reacts to what has happened.

 

[Lore]

This whole thread will get an update soon, but here’s something else:

 

[Ticky009]

This whole thread will get an update soon, but here’s something else:

I feel an itch on the back of my neck for some reason

 

[candyapple]

Can someone explain to me the top 40 bid matching?

"clubs can only match selections on NGA prospects after pick 40."

"Following the Jamarra Ugle-Hagan selection at No.1 in the 2020 AFL Draft - in which the Western Bulldogs matched Adelaide's first pick - the league reformed the system for bidding on NGA prospects ahead of the 2021 AFL Draft, meaning any bid for an Academy player inside the top 20 selections can't be matched."

So why are GC allowed to get 10 second round picks to match for Jed Walter? I'm missing something

 

[Bletch]

Can someone explain to me the top 40 bid matching?

"clubs can only match selections on NGA prospects after pick 40."

"Following the Jamarra Ugle-Hagan selection at No.1 in the 2020 AFL Draft - in which the Western Bulldogs matched Adelaide's first pick - the league reformed the system for bidding on NGA prospects ahead of the 2021 AFL Draft, meaning any bid for an Academy player inside the top 20 selections can't be matched."

So why are GC allowed to get 10 second round picks to match for Jed Walter? I'm missing something

Northern Academies are different to NGAs.

 

[candyapple]

Northern Academies are different to NGAs.

What an "equal" competition we have.

Hopefully there is a SGA in the future

 

[dlanod]

What an "equal" competition we have.

Hopefully there is a SGA in the future

Was tried. The clubs just went around and signed up those already playing the underage comps and then left them to TAC Cup/school footy until draft time so the AFL viewed it as too much of a rort, which is saying something for the AFL.

 

[Coobk001]

Rookies to be upgraded to the senior list are automatically counted against your last pick/s without actually being formally called out on draft night. They’re not available to be drafted to other clubs, but count as your “must use three picks in the draft”.

Players to be moved from the senior list to the rookie list have to nominate for the draft and are available to anyone - except this year they can move automatically between the national draft and the rookie draft.

Players to be re-drafted as a rookie have to nominate for the draft and are available to anyone, but for this year only, rookie can stay on the list for four seasons without being re-drafted due to effectively missing a year of development with the pandemic.

How many rookies can you promote? Is there a limit on the number that will count towards your 3 draft picks?

Ie. Port might be planning on using 1 pick, and 2 rookie upgrades as our 3. I can't find any rules though that say that 2-3 upgrades would count against the minimum selections.

 

[Bletch]

How many rookies can you promote? Is there a limit on the number that will count towards your 3 draft picks?

Ie. Port might be planning on using 1 pick, and 2 rookie upgrades as our 3. I can't find any rules though that say that 2-3 upgrades would count against the minimum selections.

Current rules (Feb 2023):
---
6.2 Procedure for National Draft Selection Meeting
...
(d) Number of Draft Selections
(i) At a National Draft Selection Meeting:
(A) each Club shall exercise a minimum of 3 Draft selections (including selections forfeited under Rules 8.7, 10.11(a), 13.4(b), 14.4(d) and 15.8(b)); and
(B) no Club may exercise more than 3 Draft selections if the consequence would be that it would exceed the number of Players which it is entitled to include on its Primary List pursuant to these Rules.
(ii) If a Club, prior to the National Draft Selection Meeting, has committed to draft a Player at the Pre-Season Draft Selection Meeting that Player will be deemed to be included on the Club’s Primary List when determining how many Draft selections a Club is entitled to exercise at the National Draft Selection Meeting.
...
10.11 Inclusion of Rookie List Player onto Primary List
(a) Primary List
A Club may apply to the AFL to transfer a Player or Players from its Rookie List onto its Primary List:
(i) on the day when its Primary List is lodged with the AFL prior to the National Draft Selection Meeting under Rule 6.1 by lodging with the AFL the form prescribed in Schedule 1 as Form 33. In which case, the Club shall forfeit its last selection or, if more than one player, its last and each previous draft selection at the National AFL Draft Selection meeting.
(ii) in the case of a Category B Rookie, under Rule 26.1(b); or
(iii) at any time between the National Draft Selection Meeting and the day when its Primary List is lodged with the AFL prior to the Pre-Season Draft Selection Meeting under Rule 7.1, by lodging with the AFL the form prescribed in Schedule 1 as Form 33. In which case, the Club shall forfeit its last selection or, if more than one player, its last and each previous draft selection at the Pre-Season Draft Selection Meeting.
---

i.e. Must take minimum 3 selections at the national draft, but any rookie upgrades count towards that minimum. Theoretically, a club could take no draft selections, and do 3 rookie upgrades. But they must have those 3 spots available on draft night.

 

[freo_leo29]

Yes they can, and no there's no rule against it. Triggers cannot be enforced unilaterally though, so the club also runs the risk of the player not wanting to take the extension option.

Late reply to this, very interesting it can possibly be gamed that way, also surprising that clubs have not used that yet, I wonder if greshams 3 year deal has a trigger in there that hasnt been reported? But then you'd think they would do a 2 year deal with trigger.

(Altho Dlanod may be right and the AFL just steps in a messes with the formula on discretion based on the trigger, clubs may be able to argue injury history or some other factors maybe?)

I also believe that dlanod has the better interpretation of the trigger rule,

Lachie Schultz this year for example, had a trigger that automatically extended him, he didn't have the option to opt out (opting out means he could have walked as a UFA but instead we traded him)

 

[swuzzlebubble]

Club List Sizes

Clubs are restricted to the following list compositions, for a maximum of 44 listed players:

Primary List Size	Category A Rookies	Category B Rookies	Total Rookies Maximum	TOTAL
36 (Minimum)	1-6	0-2	8 (Maximum)	44
37	0-5	0-2	7	44
38 (Maximum)	0-4	0-2	6 (Minimum)	44

Source: Appendix 1 (p. 186) Australian Football League Rules

Is this current?
Carlton apparently adding a 3rd Cat B for list size of 45