Danger: let’s get in synch

Call for pay transparency

PLAYERS are demanding a look at the AFL Commission’s books before they agree to any pay cut.

Players Association president and Geelong star Patrick Dangerfield has called for “transparency” from the AFL, and confirmed players had been told by the league that their offer of a 50 per cent pay cut for the next two months was not enough.

But he said without seeing the league’s finances and knowing the full effects of the coronavirus crisis, it would be impossible for players to make an informed decision.

“The next step is getting greater clarity around the finances of the game and where the line of credit or whatever it might be sits with the cost of just keeping the whole competition running, without games and without any income,” Dangerfield said.

“We need to be in synch with the AFL.

“It’s not asking for something that’s totally unreasonable.

“It’s going ‘yep, OK, we understand where you’re at, let’s come to an agreement that looks after all parties’.

“As a PA, we have a responsibility to the game, but we have a responsibility that we’re looking after our players and their families who are an extension of themselves.”

The Brownlow medallist said players would be willing to take “more severe cuts” over a longer period should the numbers indicate that it would be required.

“This has been rapidly evolving, and has escaped all of us, clearly,” the Geelong star said on SEN radio.

“That’s why we volunteered the 50 per cent at this stage. Because we don’t know.

“Are we prepared to take longer-term cuts?

“Absolutely, but we need a bit more information in regards to where the season is going, the finances of the season, so we can make the right decision for the players but also the game.

“Without a game, we have nothing, clearly. But we need that information, and we haven’t got it yet.

“We get (that information) from the AFL.

“I understand they’re in an incredibly difficult position at the moment, but we need greater certainty around what it looks like so we can make an informed decision that’s not rape and pillage, (one) that’s respectful of being able to continue the competition if and when it starts again.

“The perception that we’ve been too slow … a week and a half ago, this hit our industry.”