Million-dollar salaries almost double in AFL; Adem Yze warns Richmond players as Tiger Dion Prestia awaits his day in court

The TPP cap rose by close to $2 million in 2025 but will only rise by about $500,000 in 2026 and $150,000 in 2027.

Work is expected to start on a new CBA later this year, which will determine the salary cap in 2028 and beyond now that the AFL’s huge broadcast agreement, which underpins the game’s finances, is locked in until the end of 2032.

Although 58 players earned more than $1 million last season, the headline number is slightly misleading. Only a proportion of those 58 players will average $1 million a season for the life of their contract.

That’s because clubs juggle the payments of star players, paying individuals more in some years than others to ensure their total spend stays within the salary cap each year. For instance, Richmond’s Tom Lynch accepted an income well below market rate in his first few years at the Tigers, which is why he was paid more than $1 million dollars in 2025.

St Kilda, who was the most aggressive club in the market in 2025, front-ended the contract of star forward Max King, meaning he earned between $1.4-$1.6 million last year, despite being sidelined for the season with a knee injury. His annual wage will be much lower in other years through the life of the contract.

The Saint, who suffered a calf injury last week to add to his injury woes, is tied down until the end of 2032, and will receive a much lower annual wage in future years as the Saints’ salary cap is taken up with the huge salaries paid to Tom De Koning and Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera.

Meanwhile, the AFL’s nine-person executive team, which CEO Andrew Dillon restructured midway through last year, earned $10.7 million in the 2025 financial year as the AFL recorded a cash surplus of $67.9 million.

The departures of former executives Tanya Hosch, Brian Walsh and Stephen Meade from the executive means the league will enter 2026 with a new-look team after Dillon poached former club bosses Greg Swann and Tom Harley and appointed communications specialist Sharon McCrohan to the executive.

The $10.7 million figure is $100,000 below the executive salaries for the previous financial year, according to figures contained in the AFL’s financial report, which takes in the year until October 31.

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However, it could rise in 2026 unless further adjustments occur within the executive structure, with the experienced additions expected to earn more this financial year than their predecessors did last year.

Swann began at the AFL in July as head of football performance, taking on many of the roles formerly held by football boss Laura Kane, who remained on the executive as the head of football operations. Harley and McCrohan began in their positions towards the end of the financial year in October.

The AFL distributed $461.5 million to AFL clubs and earned $1.2 billion revenue in 2025.

Yze warns his players as Prestia awaits day in court

Jon Pierik

Richmond coach Adem Yze insists Dion Prestia was not involved in a brawl at a coastal town, but the incident has been used as a warning to teammates.

Prestia and Melbourne’s Steven May have been charged with criminal offences, after an incident on Point Nepean Road in Sorrento on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula.

Police have alleged two groups were involved in an altercation about 2am on December 27, 2024, with two men taken to hospital with injuries.

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Prestia and May have consistently maintained they were not involved in the fight. Speaking on SEN on Monday, Yze declared he was at ease with where the case stood.

“Yeah, no doubt,” Yze said when asked if he was comfortable with the information Prestia, 33, had shared with him.

“Yeah, we understand where all that is, and I think, right now, it’s just time. We are really clear on his non-involvement in that but, like I said, it’s before the courts, and we can’t really say a lot about it.”

Asked if he was confident Prestia, a three-time premiership star, was not involved in the altercation, Yze replied: “No doubt.”

Prestia has been charged on summons with recklessly causing serious injury, intentionally causing injury and affray. May has been charged on summons with affray.

In a hearing at Dromana Magistrates Court last week, the prosecution laid out the police case with allegations that May was at the centre of the original spat between the two parties when he allegedly “put his arm around” a woman with her boyfriend nearby, News Corp reported.

After a year when the Tigers had to deal with an incident with defender Noah Balta who avoided jail but was handed a curfew after he assaulted a man in a New South Wales carpark, Yze said it had been a challenging time.

“No doubt, and we have a really young list that are influenced by those sorts of things. I was really open with the way we went about that,” Yze said.

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“Me, being a senior coach, it is exactly the same thing – you understand that the spotlight is on, and you are playing AFL footy and there is a lot of media around.”

Yze said his players needed to understand their responsibilities when in public.

“So, if you feel like you are going to do what you can do at a nightclub, or walk through ‘Chaddy’ (Chadstone Shopping Centre), and feel like you can put a hoodie on, and put a hat on and hide, you are kidding yourself,” Yze said.

“I spoke to the boys, you may as well be going out to a pub in Richmond, with your footy boots on, your socks on, your full kit on, because that is what it’s like. You can’t hide. We would love to be able to, but that’s just the life we live in. Be really clear on our expectations – you are wearing our logo, if you are going to do anything that is going to jeopardise that, you are, obviously, going to be punished.”

Prestia and May, who remain charged on summons, will face Frankston Magistrates Court on February 20.

Soldo out for season with knee injury

Michael Gleeson

Port Adelaide ruckman Ivan Soldo suffered an ACL tear at training and will require a knee reconstruction, ruling him out for the season.

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The 29-year-old injured his knee at training on Monday.

The Richmond premiership player, who moved to Port at the end of 2023, played eight games in his first season at Alberton but just one senior game for the Power last year, spending most of the year in the SANFL before missing the final rounds with a concussion.

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