Easing pain for delisted players

Player agent Paul Connors (rear) Picture: Michael Klein. Source: Herald Sun

WHAT happens when the music stops?

The opinions are mixed among player agents about the prospects of a 22-year-old dumped from the system.

One player manager said of a delisted Bulldog: "He has been delisted but he already has an apprenticeship, he has 30 or 40 grand in the bank, he has a full-time job, and he is making $1000 cash playing local footy."

Manager Paul Connors, not so optimistic, said, "That is my biggest worry, guys who have played four or five years and have only played 15 senior games.

"They are used to spending 500 bucks a week, plus their car and rent, and they come out of the system having not done a lot, and their mates are already moving on with apprenticeships (or uni).

"They are accustomed to spending this money.

"You would like to think the guys who came out at five years had $60,000 in the bank and retirement money from the players' association."

The AFL Players' Association played hard ball on a pay rise, but it is the retirement fund with which it is thrilled.

Under the new deal, money will be paid into each players' fund - from $7000 a year for a rookie to $15,000 for fifth-year players to $20,000 for those with more than 10 years in the system.

The AFLPA is working on the details, but the money will be invested and offered to one to four-year players 12 months after they are cut, or a minimum of five years post-career.

Instead of dumped players being handed a tempting lump sum, players get a considerable sum which eases the pain post-football.

Despite the help available through club welfare managers and agents, some players will slip through the cracks.

For them, the AFLPA has instituted a hardship fund of $250,000 a year which it hands to former players in desperate need.

AFLPA financial advisers Brad Wira and Mark Porter, the AFLPA's general manager of finance and administration, John Hogan, and player union boss Matt Finnis will be part of a panel which uses its discretion to hand out sums of money.

"The situations are quite varied but the philosophy was that if players have fallen through the cracks we need to take care of them," says AFLPA's Ian Prendergast.

"There might be someone who needs a hip replacement and financially they are struggling. The hardship fund is there for them."

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