Where YOUR club sits in the top 100 highest paid AFL players

Does the best current team have the least amount of top-earning players?

WRITER | September 11, 2024 - 1:48pm

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Does the best team in the AFL currently have the least number of players in the top 10% of the pay bracket?

Hawthorn are definitely proving the case in their 2024 run, with their brash young Hawks taking September by storm. Only two players, Karl Amon and James Sicily, sit among the top 100 highest-paid players in the competition, and neither in the seven-figure tally.

Does this stat dismantle the argument that premierships are won at the trade table, or is big-fish recruiting (Jeremy Cameron, Tom Lynch) still the way to go?

Hawthorn is not yet premiers, and most clubs competing for the flag do have a big fish in the arsenal, but not a heap who are on big money, at least.

Geelong is next in line for the lowest amount of players in the top 100, holding Jeremy Cameron, Tom Stewart and Patrick Dangerfield on lucrative deals but no one else.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - SEPTEMBER 24: Jeremy Cameron of the Cats celebrates a goal during the 2022 AFL Grand Final match between the Geelong Cats and the Sydney Swans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on September 24, 2022 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)

Only one of these guys, however, sits in the top 80: Jeremy Cameron.

These two clubs have a strong case as the two best in the AFL at the moment, each coming off convincing finals victories and one already through to preliminary final weekend.

Neither club skews the wealth of their playing group to the top end, and these teams are on opposite ends of the experience spectrum, showing that success can be achieved without an abundance of million-dollar deals and high-profile recruits.

Sydney and GWS sit in a different set of circumstances than the other top premiership contenders, each paying up for their players to meet cost-of-living equity. GWS have eight players listed in the top 100 highest paid to Sydney's five.

Other clubs with only three top 100 representatives are only found in South Australia, where both Adelaide and Port Adelaide reside.

The three crows listed (Izak Rankine, Rory Laird, Jordan Dawson) are all South Australian, as is Connor Rozee, who features on the list beside Victorians Zak Butters and Ollie Wines.

It may be concerning for Melbourne fans to learn that their club shares top spot on leaderboard with GWS, holding eight players on their list within the top 100 paid, including retired premiership player Angus Brayshaw.

The concern is amplified by which players are listed: Christian Petracca, Clayton Oliver, Kysaiah Pickett, Jack Viney and Steven May, all of whom have featured in trade speculation in an off-season yet to begin.