Inequality

In Orwell’s Animal Farm, the line goes that “all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.” In the AFL, all clubs are supposed to be equal, but some clubs are certainly more equal than others.

That imbalance is becoming harder and harder to ignore.

Take the power of Collingwood and the enduring influence of Eddie McGuire. Only days ago, confidential information about Izak Rankine’s alleged homophobia suspension conveniently made its way to McGuire before it became public knowledge. That kind of access doesn’t happen by accident. It shows where the lines of influence run.

Or look at the salary cap. On paper, the cap is meant to ensure a level playing field. In practice, it’s anything but. A player in Melbourne has endless off-field commercial opportunities, media spots, endorsements, appearances, that players in Adelaide, Perth, or anywhere outside Victoria can only dream of. Even Geelong premiership player Cam Mooney has openly joked on air about current players being “given farms” and other off-field payments to get deals done. It’s laughed off as banter, but it shows the distortion is happening right in front of us. The AFL pretends this doesn’t undermine the cap, but the reality is it makes a mockery of it.

Now, the league is preparing to make changes to the NGA and father–son academy draft rules. Under the new proposal, clubs will be locked out from matching first-round bids for their own academy players. For Port Adelaide, this comes just as they are about to reap the rewards of years of work with prospects like Dougie Cochrane and Zemes Pilot, not to mention ties to names like Salopek and Rodan. Just as the fruit is ready to be picked, the ladder is being pulled away.

And let’s not forget, other clubs have already cashed in heavily under the very same system that is now being wound back. Geelong built premiership sides on the back of a plethora of father–son recruits. Collingwood’s 2023 flag was fuelled by the Daicos brothers and Darcy Moore. Brisbane surged back to premiership glory with Will Ashcroft and a string of NGA players. Those opportunities were celebrated as part of footy tradition. Yet when Port finally lines up to enjoy the same benefits, the AFL suddenly decides it’s time to close the door.

This is not new. Port has been here before. When the club was at its lowest ebb, the AFL conveniently scrapped first-round compensation picks, ensuring they couldn’t recover with the draft assistance other clubs had enjoyed. The veterans list, too, was taken off the table just as Port reached a point where it could have been of real use.

Meanwhile, an AFL-controlled board keeps Port’s leadership quiet. President David Koch and CEO Matthew Richardson are never going to call out the inequity publicly the way McGuire or other Victorian presidents have done. They can’t , because unlike McGuire, their positions ultimately exist at the mercy of AFL House. Ask Brett Duncanson what happens if you step too far out of line. Even when Dan Houston copped a fine that saw him miss finals, Port accepted it meekly, without protest. It’s just more evidence that the club isn’t free to stand up for itself.

So here we are again. Equal, but not equal. A national competition, but one in which the balance of power is forever tilted to those who already have it. And while some clubs will always fight tooth and nail for their advantage, others are forced to take what they’re given, because their voices are silenced before they can even be raised. Unless of course they can get their club and their voice back into their own control.