Just had a look at the Manly Football Club's Annual Report of 1985. Found it most interesting. I did notice that the Players sign on fees, match payments and coaching staff totalled $799984. Quite amazing when you compare players and coaching staff now to 1985. I know it is nearly 30 years on and everyone now is fulltime and professional but when Inglis is reported to re-sign for a million a season or Hasler $900000 to coach, you begin to wonder how much the game has grown financially.
The game has not grown 1000%, it was the fight to sign Players by the Optus v News Ltd factions that ballooned the payments. That is why there are so many bankrupt Clubs, and defunct ones The 1.2 billion deal will attempt to sure up the sustainability of the Clubs and that is why the Players Association has to lobby on their own for the Salary Cap increase.
