COLA to be replaced by rent subsidy

[ScottH]

Why do GWS still get the the COLA?

Their place of work is Homebush! Rents in suburbs around Homebush like Ryde, Concord, Auburn, Lidcome and Strathfield are far cheaper than the rents in suburbs around Moore Park.

GWS should have the COLA scrapped and should not even get a rent subsidy. I'm sure rents in Lidcome, Auburn and Ryde are equal to those in St Kilda and Prahan.

What is going on here. Logic is out the window.

Cost of losing allowance.

[chalbilto]

Why do GWS still get the the COLA?

Their place of work is Homebush! Rents in suburbs around Homebush like Ryde, Concord, Auburn, Lidcome and Strathfield are far cheaper than the rents in suburbs around Moore Park.

GWS should have the COLA scrapped and should not even get a rent subsidy. I'm sure rents in Lidcome, Auburn and Ryde are equal to those in St Kilda and Prahan.

What is going on here. Logic is out the window.

Eddie will make sure that they will lose it when they are successful.

[Reggi]

Now Malthouse has weighed in with his usual ignorance of the issues. He confuses the financial viability of poorer clubs with player compensation/cost of living equalisation issues. If Melbourne want to have half the clubs in the competition, the rich ones should chip in to support the poor ones.

mick-asks-afl-to-scrap-cola-now/

Everyone in Australia will see through it. Malthouse always trysntomthrow out a headline to distract from his own teams performance.

Will you make the finals this year Mick? Not if Sydney has COLA....

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Why do GWS still get the the COLA?

Their place of work is Homebush! Rents in suburbs around Homebush like Ryde, Concord, Auburn, Lidcome and Strathfield are far cheaper than the rents in suburbs around Moore Park.

GWS should have the COLA scrapped and should not even get a rent subsidy. I'm sure rents in Lidcome, Auburn and Ryde are equal to those in St Kilda and Prahan.

What is going on here. Logic is out the window.

Real estate is only around 20% of household costs. Rents is only part of the differential

[bondy]

Cost of losing allowance.

Brilliant.

[Doctor J.]

Now Malthouse has weighed in with his usual ignorance of the issues. He confuses the financial viability of poorer clubs with player compensation/cost of living equalisation issues. If Melbourne want to have half the clubs in the competition, the rich ones should chip in to support the poor ones.

mick-asks-afl-to-scrap-cola-now/

How he went from COLA to free agency is amazing, let alone tying in COLA to team performance.

[Matt80]

Everyone in Australia will see through it. Malthouse always trysntomthrow out a headline to distract from his own teams performance.

Will you make the finals this year Mick? Not if Sydney has COLA....

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Real estate is only around 20% of household costs. Rents is only part of the differential

The Swans players have to buy their Fruit and Vegetables from Fratelli Fresh and Jones the Grocer. The GWS players can get their Fruit and Vegetables from the Flemington Markets. The GWS boys save a lot on Fruit and Vegetables. This is a workplace area cost reality.

Swans players have to do their Shopping at Coles and Woolworths outlets near Moore Park. GWS go as a group and shop at Costco Auburn. That?s five minutes? drive from Homebush. This is a workplace area cost reality.

The GWS players can have a cheap beer at Dooley?s at Lidcome . The Swans players have to pay significantly more for a beer at Ravesis. This is a workplace area cost reality.

The Swans players have to buy their Petrol in suburbs around Moore Park. Petrol is more expensive in the Eastern Suburbs than the Western Suburbs. This is a workplace area cost reality.

Swans players have to get their hair cuts at Joh Baily, while GWS have a Just Cuts at Rhodes. This is a workplace area cost reality.

GWS players don?t need the rent subsidy and are a significant financial advantage compared to their Swans counterparts due to the location of their respective workplaces.

[liz]

$15k pa works out to about $290 pw which is about the going rate for room in a Sydney sharehouse these days. Given this is on top of their salary and is not meant to pay for their rent entirely then ot seems like a fair outcome.

Significantly less once you factor in the effect of tax (given the vast majority of us pay rent out of post tax earnings).

[barry]

I'm OK with these changes.

I know it is off thread topic but the last para of Caro's article identifies Swans players who are off-contract. Bird and then Pyke the most urgent to resign for mine. You'd imagine LRT and Goodes will retire or stay on in red and white. AJ is now a big risk but will surely receive an offer. Can't see Rhyce or Mal going anywhere unless we drastically reduce their earn. ROK might get one more year as a playing mentor - there are a few clubs that could benefit from that but not at Sydney.

The only risk here is really free market. ROK, LRT and Goodes are shot, so this is their last year.
Pyke would be our No1 signing target.
Rhyce might get an offer by GWS. You never know.
But Mal could probably command a pretty fine salary elsewhere, especially if we win the flag this year. Didnt Malthouse say a few years ago, Malceski was the first player he planned his matchups around.

[Matt80]

Can AFL players claim Foxtel IQ as a work related expense due to having to study the opposition? I would also imagine that AFL players could also claim, on their tax, a space in their rented premises needed for, Yoga, Palates and Injury Rehabilitation.

The $290 a week can go a long way.

[Nico]

I would say the $15K is a negotiated figure with the Swans hierachy, rather than just a figure worked out by the AFL.

[Meg]

I'm wondering what might be meant when it says that the 9.8% COLA will be phased out over 2015 and 2016 with all existing contracts to be honoured going forward.

Do you think this means that a new recruit/new contact starting from 2015 will have (for example) 7% COLA in 2015, then 5% in 2016, and then either $15,000 or nothing in 2017 depending on the base contract amount (that is whether under or over $300,000)?

While a player on an existing contract which runs up to or beyond 2016 (Franklin and others) will continue to get the 9.8% COLA for the life of their contract?

[barry]

By my calculations, we get around an extra $1m of cap room from the COLA at present.

However, $15K for under $300K players, will only net us about $200,000 of extra cap room.

Thats a significant drop.

[Ludwig]

My guess is that of the 45 man roster, 30 are under and 15 over the 300k mark, so that would make 450k in rent assistance.

Hard to know the details of the transition period leading up to 2017. I would be nearly certain that the COLA will stay for all exiting contracts for their duration. Therefore no adjustment for entirety of Buddy's deal. He will get his 9.8%. This is one of the reasons we had a slew of signings in recent months, as this must have been foreshadowed.

[dimelb]

I can see a lot of $299,999 contracts in the future.

[Meg]

By my calculations, we get around an extra $1m of cap room from the COLA at present.

However, $15K for under $300K players, will only net us about $200,000 of extra cap room.

Thats a significant drop.

Ludwig suggested there might be 30 eligible players, Barry is suggesting only 13. Bit of a difference. I've got no idea.