“You should have any number of players on your list that you think you can manage.” That was Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell’s answer when asked how AFL list sizes should work. His view: a minimum, but no maximum.
The current rules let clubs carry 36 to 38 primary-listed players, six to eight Category A rookies and up to two Category B rookies. In practice most clubs end up with 44 to 46 players across all categories.
“If you want to have 34, (that) might be the minimum, so be it,” Mitchell told reporters. “But if you want 60 and you think that’s the best way to manage your salary cap, then my take is you should be able to do that.”
Rookie lists on the way out
Mitchell is arguing for a bigger change than the one already expected. It’s understood that from 2028, when Tasmania joins the competition and a new collective bargaining agreement is due to begin, rookie lists will go. Tom Morris told The Agenda Setters on Wednesday night: “Rookie lists appear to be dead. At the end of next year, club CEOs are expecting the rookie list to be gone, and the AFL to move forward with one list and then Category B rookies as well.”
Reaction
St Kilda champion Nick Riewoldt said list managers should be delighted. “If you’re a list manager, it’s Christmas,” he said, because it gives clubs more discretion and room to be strategic. A clever club, he said, could open up an even bigger gap on the competition.
The idea would let a club either concentrate its player payments on a few names or spread them thin. Riewoldt said the choice would depend on the ladder. A contender might list 34 players. “But if you’re at Richmond, well, maybe you’ve got 60 on your list and you’ve got a bigger pool to be able to maybe pluck one or two stars from.”
Mitch Cleary added that “developing clubs struggle to hit the 95 per cent minimum on the salary cap as it is.” They already front-end contracts and pay players on potential, he said. With 45 or 50 players on the list, the money could be spread more evenly.
