Giants miss $3m in buying power

GWS chief executive Dave Matthews believes his club is paying a price for the AFL’s decision to scrap the cost of living allowance (COLA) that was previously afforded to Sydney’s two sides.

The Giants’ salary-cap squeeze has been one of the main talking points of the offseason frenzy, especially after they traded Tom Scully for a future fourth-round pick.

GWS star Dylan Shiel was traded to Essendon in the final 30 minutes, Rory Lobb joined Fremantle, youngster Will Setterfield headed south to Carlton last week, while Adam Treloar headlines the list of talent to have left in recent seasons.

Matthews denies GWS botched its list management, suggesting it is dealing with the consequences of “being forced to crunch what is a very strong list into a smaller cap than what was anticipated”.

The Giants started life in 2012 with list and salary-cap concessions, which have been phased out.

Before the change, the Swans and Giants’ contracts had been topped up with an additional 9.8 per cent COLA.

“It was phased out over 2015 and 2016, completely removed last year. That’s $3 million of purchasing power that goes,” Matthews said.

“COLA was removed essentially off the back of Kurt Tippett and Buddy Franklin going to the Swans … we had nothing to do with either of those two decisions.”

Matthews said Victorian clubs and media taking delight in Gold Coast and GWS players returning home were missing the bigger picture.

“Ultimately, it defeats the purpose of the AFL’s investment to try and set up a competition that’s well represented in NSW and Queensland,” he said.

AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said the Giants have generally lost players because of the salary cap.