Boom in AFL’s $1m club

Rise from 5 to 12 players

PLAYER earnings have surged to record highs in the AFL with 12 players pocketing more than $1m last year.

Richmond’s Dustin Martin, Fremantle’s Nat Fyfe, West Coast’s Jeremy McGovern, Sydney Swans superstar Lance Franklin and new Melbourne ruckman Brodie Grundy are among footy’s top earners.

Richmond spearhead Tom Lynch, who had a heavily back-ended deal, Geelong premiership goal kicker Jeremy Cameron and Western Bulldogs skipper Marcus Bontempelli were also in the top bracket.

Melbourne pair Clayton Oliver and Christian Petracca also take a huge slice of the Demons’ salary cap, while West Coast’s Tim Kelly is also on a bumper deal after crossing from Geelong.

It represents a major rise for the superstar money men, as only five players topped the $1m mark in 2021.

Three players earned more than $1.2m in 2022 and 27 earned more than $900,000 for the year. There were 51 players with salaries of more than $800,000.

Carlton’s Tom De Koning, who is out of contract and among the most sought-after players in the game, is set for the next massive pay rise, while teammates Harry McKay, Charlie Curnow and Patrick Cripps are also on big paypackets.

It means the next big salary cap squeeze will take place at Carlton this year, where club chiefs could be forced to make hard calls on the futures of Mitch McGovern, Zac Williams and Jack Martin to help create more salary cap room.

Last season was the first time the average salary for the league’s players (excluding rookies) rose above $400,000, to $406,000.

It was $372,224 in 2021 and $259,651 during the Covid-19 impacted 2020 season.

The player pay rise was part of a 10 per cent increase in the salary cap from $233.9m to a record $257.6m in 2022. At the other end of the pay scale, 11 players earned less than $100,000 including the midseason draft pick-ups.

Separately, the AFL reported an operating profit of $20.7m in 2022, a whopping $66.8m increase on its $46.1m loss in 2021. It shows the game is in great financial shape and will likely add to calls to increase the football department soft cap to reward coaches and staff and provide more resources for players.