Collingwood’s Scott Pendlebury: AFL stars deserve more money because they can’t live normal lives

Collingwood veteran Scott Pendlebury says the biggest names in the AFL are ‘heavily underpaid’ and should get more money because they ‘can’t go anywhere’ or ‘live normal lives’.

Appearing on the Ball Magnets podcast alongside NBA star Josh Giddey on Monday, Pendlebury explained how he’d run the AFL if he was put in charge.

‘I still think the players and coaching staff in our game are heavily underpaid,’ said Pendlebury.

‘Everyone will go, “You get paid so much as players”. Nick Daicos, Dusty Martin — like they cannot live normal lives in Melbourne. They can’t go anywhere.

‘They’re like, “Well, you’re getting paid 250k”.

Scott Pendlebury says the biggest names in the AFL are currently ‘heavily underpaid’ – and that includes coaches

Pendlebury says the best players in the game, like Nick Daicos (pictured) can’t go anywhere or live normal lives – and deserve extra money as a result

‘I feel like if you’re a good player in the AFL for a long period of time, you’ve got to reward these guys because we don’t want rugby, cricket, all these sports to overtake how much they’re paying their best players, because then we’ll lose kids to that sport.

‘That’s what I think. I’ll get shot down – ‘players are greedy, blah, blah’.’

AFL footballers currently receive 28 per cent of the of the league’s revenue and Pendlebury believes that’s not enough.

Talking to Giddey, Pendlebury compared the situation in the AFL to what happens in the NBA. 

‘In the NBA, you guys have 51 per cent of revenue of what you bring in. We’re 28 per cent of revenue,’ he said.

Pendlebury thinks the AFL could take a leaf out of the NBA’s book when it comes to contracts, insisting shorter ones should be mandated.

‘Guys can sign like 10-year deals, which I think is ridiculous,’ he said.

‘To get a good player, it’s like, “We gotta offer him, like, nine years”. It’s like, this is going to kill your [salary] cap.

Players currently receive 28 per cent of the of the AFL revenue, and Pendlebury believes that’s not enough and that footy should be more like the NBA – which gives players 51 per cent (pictured, Richmond superstar Dustin Martin)

‘In AFL, the guy ranked 30th in the league can be making the most money, way more than everyone else because you traded for him.

‘The way their (NBA) contracts are structured — it’s reward based. Certainly levels you can get to if you’ve made (All-NBA) first team, second team, sort of stuff.

‘I think all the first-rounders should sign four-year deals, because otherwise two years in they’re like, “I just want to go home”.’