Geelong Cats coach Chris Scott calls out the AFL for not rewarding coaches, staff post COVID

Geelong coach Chris Scott says the ‘time for talking’ is over when it comes to the AFL’s soft cap and football department staff feeling undervalued.

It comes after Essendon coach, and Chris’ brother, Brad Scott put it on the agenda last week, saying he’s never seen the footy coaching ranks more dissatisfied than they are now.

In the wake of the COVID shutdown of the game in 2020 and subsequent hubs, the AFL slashed the football department soft cap by 30 per cent, but while players and administrators have seen their salaries return to pre-COVID levels and launch further into new heights, coaches are still mostly behind 2019 norms.

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While Scott has faith that the AFL will address the issue, he feels it should be amongst their top current priorities.

“It’s a huge issue, but I have some confidence that the AFL will fix it,” Scott told Nine’s Footy Classified.

“Now, I think it has been a bit slow and it’s a legacy of COVID and it’s not just coaches, but it’s football departments in general.

“They’re the cohort that has been asked to bear the brunt of the COVID cash flow crisis. Now, we’re well passed that.

“The clubs got the competition through COVID. The AFL did a good job, they should get a lot of the credit for it, but really the clubs were on the ground doing the work, in hubs for months, and the reward was cutting the soft cap by 30 per cent.

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“They’re being disingenuous now by saying ‘oh, we’ve added back all these things’, everyone, even them, know that isn’t accurate.

“It’s not complicated saying the key people in the industry should be rewarded for what they do.

“We’re the only code in the world that’s capped in terms of players and capped in terms of footy department spend.

“I think the time for talking, and I think they acknowledge this, it’s over, it’s just a matter of how they fix it and how quickly they do it.”

Scott’s sentiment is shared by the likes of Luke Beveridge, Ross Lyon and Simon Goodwin, who have all spoken publicly on the issue in the last week.

AFL general manager of footy Laura Kane spoke during Gather Round, saying she wants the coaching cohort to feel valued.

“I don’t want them, them as a collective, our coaching panels and staff, to feel that way,” Kane told reporters.

“I don’t want them to feel like we as a code, we as a football department, don’t value what they do.

“My team will work really hard to make sure that perception changes.

“And if it’s a reality, it’s one I don’t want anyone to feel like that.”