Jack Riewoldt responds to Leigh Matthews' savage claim he's 'lost respect' for players in pay dispute

Short sighted comment. Leigh Matthews spent his post playing career on good coaching coin, channel 7 coin, radio coin and now gets corporate board coin... because he's Leigh Matthews. Riewoldt in retirement won't be getting the same lucrative gigs Matthews got... particularly if he keeps this chat up I hardly think he's jealous.

Riewoldt is way off target - "Wait 'til mid year" he bleats, "Keep paying us until then, and have a think about it down the track and, by the way, keep paying us until then - did I make that clear?" Today Virgin Airlines stood down 80% of its staff without pay. Today there were queues hundreds of yards long outside the dole offices. That would include AFL dunny cleaners who clean up after the entitled Riewoldt. He has no understanding of the struggle the ordinary people are facing. If he has not put away enough during his 14 years on top money, to tide him over, then he hasn't managed his exceptional good fortune properly and that's his problem - not for others to solve.

My issue with Leigh's comments is his naivety of how negotiations go. This 'disgustingly embarrassed' comment might work for a headline in the Herald Sun, but there's do much more that goes into it. The players and their association need to provide resistance to the AFL for their position to remain relevant.

Vlandy is no reference standard.

And the AFL is assest rich giving them a great chance the NRL is not in a good place for viability, I'll take Gil to navigate these waters I've vlandy any day.

I wonder whether there's an inbuilt jealousy considering the comparison between what Matthews was earning compared with the top players today.

And Gil failed when the pressure wasn’t on. I’ll defend most South Aussies but not this one. The NRL must be thinking how lucky they were in dodging a bullet when they didn’t appoint him. —- And he’s going to be reduced to about 16 times the average wage. Make all donations of good clean T-shirts and non-perishable food stuffs to: ———— “Save Gil’s Bacon” PO Box 45 in all towns bigger than Murray Bridge.

The AFL executive will be doing a lot of work in the coming years that will far outweigh anything the players will ever do so we should all be happy that the leaders of this business continue to earn money reflective of the position and not ultimately leave the post so inferior mngt can take over. Ppl will still want to be footy players but you need the better sports administrator running the show.

Sorry, it's the Bob Marley in me, but l don't get everyone not putting their shoulder to the wheel in a concerted effort to knock this. Simpson and his donkey would be urinated off.

If the AFL want players to take an 80% cut. Gilligan and the other managers should do the same. I heard player have already agreed to 50% while Gilligan takes 20% cut. He should lead where he wants others to follow.

And I add to this.....Gill & his executive are only taking a 20% pay cut.

So long as the AFL, the NRL and all the other orgs can pay their players without needing taxpayer funds I don't care. If they ask for a cent of taxpayer money to cover the remuneration for the players the reputation of these codes will not be worth spit.

First comment didn’t make it so will try again. I wonder if the highly paid, many in numbers, commentators are losing their income, or having it it drastically reduced. I am not a fan of many of these past players who commentate on big salaries & normally talk more about their days rather than have an invite full comment on what’s actually happening in front of them.

Ahhhh, yes. Barrie Robran A great player to be sure. Would've looked fantastic in a Tiger strip. That Leigh Matthews is held in such high esteem is just mind bogglingly off. A real travesty.

Jack Riewoldt has passion, but it's dangerously misdirected at the moment. Unfortunately the harder you have to defend yourself, the more likely you are to be in the wrong. Twice in a week he's now had to defend his increasingly tenuous position that "it's not about money". The insistence of playing a 22 game season was obviously about money - despite ALL professsionally qualified advice saying that 22 games was a pipedream in 2020. Now the idea that he needs to go into bat to defend his salary for doing nothing is getting a bit old. He's not out there fighting for those on minimum wage in the AFL. He's trying to preserve his 700k a season. He needs to step out of the bubble and realise that 2 million Australians are suddenly umemployed, and don't have the same level of asset security to ride the storm out.

And breaking the knee of the greatest ever AF player. Being a Tigers fan you should know what lengths they went to to get his signature.

But why is Jack disappointed in that assessment? Is it because the players are considering the temporary 80% cut?

Can understand both sides of the argument, it will be sorted in time. Find it a bit rich though when 'Lethal' says he's 'losing respect' for players. Lost respect for this thug decades ago regardless of how good he was. The Bruns incident should have seen him run out of football forever. He should stick to commenting on football not taking the high moral ground.

The players and their union is quite whiffy at the moment. And Hawn claiming players would need Centrelink yep ffs delusional is also what they are as well.