THE AFL's nationwide move to tighten salary caps amid the COVID-19 pandemic has received an initial warm welcome from Riverina League clubs.
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The AFL announced on Friday a two-stage salary cap reduction that it has strongly recommended all leagues across the country adopt for the 2020 season.
It will see the Riverina and Farrer League salary cap initially cut in half from $95,000 to $47,500.
The second stage involves a pro rata reduction based on the number of games fixtured. A one-round 'half' season would see a salary cap reduced a further 50 per cent to $23,750, for example.
The AFL Riverina board will discuss the recommendation at its next meeting but chairman Michael Irons supports the measures in principle.
"We have to discuss it at board level but it is a fairly strong recommendation and a national approach," Irons said.
"The final (salary cap) figure is obviously dependent on what the season ends up being."
Wagga Tigers president Anthony Lyons said the AFL's recommendation made sense.
"We haven't discussed it as a committee yet but...it's a prudent move," Lyons said.
"In the present climate, we don't know where we stand with our sponsors and our revenue streams coming from where they do, we don't know where we sit.
"Maybe it's prudent to halve it and halve it again, in the short term, as a short term measure and then look at it next year and the year after."
The AFL has advised that due to the anticipated financial impact in years to come that a reduction in salary cap will be carried through to the 2021 season.
The AFL also informed clubs that each individual player agreement or contract will need to be renegotiated for the 2020 season.
While Lyons admitted that will be a 'difficult' task, it is something that must be done.
Griffith president Jeff Harris supports the recommendation in principle but explained it will be a matter of finding the balance of his club's responsibilities versus it's health.
"Without having a good look at it yet, it sounds like common sense," Harris said.
"It is a difficult situation clubs are facing and we want to come out the other side of it with as many clubs as we can.
"For us it will be striving for the balance of supporting our playing group as a whole, including contracted players, versus making sure the club is in a position to come out the other side."
Mangoplah-Cookardinia United-Eastlakes president Jesse Cunningham said it was hard to predict how big of an impact the coronavirus will have on clubs but conceded it was important to take the right precautionary measures.
"We don't know what sponsors will be coming back on board, or which have been affected so it's hard at the minute," Cunningham said.
"It's one of those things, like everything now days, we'll play along with it and see what happens."
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