The AFL and the players’ union are set to resume pay discussions in the hopes of averting a pre-season strike.
Talks between the two parties have stalled over the off-season, with the league resisting demands for a percentage of fixed revenue in the new collective bargaining agreement.
AFL Players Association chief Paul Marsh says negotiations will resume this week, with a strike during next month’s pre-season competition still possible if a deal can’t be reached.
“It’s not really appropriate to be talking about the pre-season competition at this stage,” Marsh said on Monday.
“We want to get things moving. Let’s get these talks going and hopefully we can get to a resolution as soon as possible.”
Tension between the two camps grew when AFL chief Gillon McLachlan declined an invitation to attend a summit in Torquay last month, with Geelong star Patrick Dangerfield describing the move as disrespectful.
Marsh confirmed McLachlan would not be part of the pay talks this week but said that was not unusual at this point in the negotiations.
“We’ve got working parties. Gillon’s not necessarily involved in those,” he said.
AFLPA president and former Fremantle Dockers star Matthew Pavlich last month said the league had not taken a constructive approach to the discussions.
“When we can’t get to the negotiating table and we can’t talk, it sort of leaves us scratching our heads a little bit,” Pavlich said.
Who’s in your ultimate team? Pick the best team and compete with other fans for daily prizes on Draftstars. For the best odds on the game try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Think. Is this a bet you really want to place? Set a deposit limit.
West Coast are set to rest No.1 draft pick Harley Reid against the Suns this weekend as the hype surrounding his breakout season hype…
It's a festival of footy as Anzac Round dawns, with matches to be played across a whopping five days in 2024's most spread-out 'weekend'…
Ahead of a monster round of football, headlined by Anzac Day between the Bombers and Pies, we look at some of the intriguing questions…
Damien Hardwick has predicted Toby Greene's one-match suspension will be upheld by the AFL tribunal, but the triple-premiership coach says he wouldn't ban the…
Jonathan Brown has made a passionate plea to the AFL on On the Couch to give players leeway as they make split-second decisions, following…
Matthew Lloyd told Footy Classified that his skinfold result was a wake-up call for him after being above the level that was allowed.
