Australian Football League (AFL) coaches recently convened with CEO Andrew Dillon to discuss pressing issues facing the league. The meeting, described as productive, covered topics ranging from the soft cap and football department funding to Indigenous player pathways. Brad Scott, a participant in the discussions, highlighted the open dialog and Dillon’s willingness to listen.

Soft Cap Concerns and Financial Implications

One major point of discussion revolved around the soft cap and its impact on club finances.Club chief executives are reportedly wary of changes that could negatively affect thier bottom line. A key concern is that adjustments to the soft cap could disproportionately benefit wealthier clubs, while disadvantaging less affluent teams that invest heavily in high-quality coaching, such as North Melbourne and their coach, alastair Clarkson.

Prioritizing Football Departments

Scott noted that football departments, which have seen reduced prioritization since the COVID-19 pandemic, were a notable area of concern. The discussions at the Builder’s Arms, where the meeting took place over lamb shoulder, focused on how to best allocate resources within the league.

There were certainly no requests made in terms of what [soft cap] numbers should be. It was more just how we look at prioritising things.

Brad Scott

He further elaborated on the broad understanding of the issues raised by the coaches, emphasizing the challenge of distributing resources across various areas of the game.

… There seems to be a really broad understanding of the issues that I think the football departments,represented by the coaches,have raised.

Brad Scott

The challenge with the game is that there’s investment required in a whole vast array of different areas, and so it’s a matter of how you distribute and divide up that pie.

Brad Scott

Evolution of Coaches’ Meetings

The format of the coaches’ meetings has evolved. Under former CEO Gillon McLachlan, all 18 coaches would gather at his residence in Prahran. While thes events were enjoyable, the large number of attendees often made it difficult for everyone to contribute meaningfully. The current approach involves splitting the coaches into smaller groups, fostering more inclusive and expansive discussions.

Scott praised the intimate setting and Dillon’s attentiveness to the coaches’ concerns.

Gill liked to put on a big spread at his own house with all coaches present.

Brad Scott

But in the last few years, you know, we’ve discussed that it’s a challenge to have all 18 coaches plus an AFL executive to have meaningful discussion. So we’ve broken it into smaller groups so that we can give other coaches more of a voice, rather than just be a member of 18 people talking.

Brad Scott

it’s probably the best AFL meeting I can recall.

Brad Scott

He highlighted Dillon’s willingness to listen and the productive nature of the discussions.

There were clearly a lot of things to talk about, and I really felt that Andrew Dillon, in particular, with his staff, really listened to all the agenda items that the coaches had.

Brad Scott

We do it every year.But I felt that there was a really productive discussion.

Brad Scott

Scott emphasized the importance of action following the discussions.

There’s no doubt whatsoever everyone got their thoughts out on the table, and I suppose the challenge from here is what action is taken from this point.

Brad Scott

But in terms of Andrew in particular, and the AFL’s willingness to listen and for the coaches’ voices to be heard, I thought it was really positive.

Brad Scott

Addressing League Challenges

The AFL has faced scrutiny recently regarding its handling of various issues, including the Willie Rioli saga, the Lachie Schultz concussion fallout, and reports of a potential departure of senior executive Tanya Hosch. Another significant concern is the decline in the number of Indigenous players being recruited to AFL clubs. Currently,there are 62 Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander players,a decrease from 87 in 2020.

Focus on Indigenous Player Pathways

Scott emphasized the role coaches play in developing talent and fostering Indigenous pathways, notably with events like Dreamtime at the ‘G.

I think coaches have a big role to play in that [pathways], in terms of their expertise as to how to develop talent, what talent pathways look like, and probably who takes the obligation for developing talent.

brad Scott

We’re obviously playing a massive game this Friday night at the MCG, Dreamtime at the ‘G, and we’re looking to foster Indigenous pathways, and that’s something that I think we can always do better.

Brad Scott

Confidence in AFL Leadership

Despite the challenges, Scott expressed confidence in CEO Andrew Dillon’s leadership.

I’ve got the utmost faith and confidence in Andrew Dillon’s capability to do the job.

Brad scott

I think he’s an exceptional administrator.I’ve seen first hand how talented he is, and he’s in a very difficult role, where you know that you’re going to be faced with really difficult decisions, and you’ve got to make decisions that are going to be unpopular at times, and you’ll go through cycles where you make some mistakes, and you own those mistakes, and you move forward.

Brad Scott

But in terms of the calibre of people we have, you know, leading the game in terms of the AFL executive event and the commission, I think we’re very well-placed.

Brad scott