The Herald Sun is reporting West Coast is set to re-sign Nic Naitanui to new deal worth as much as $5 million over five years.
At, 23, it will make him one of the richest young stars in AFL the history of the AFL.
West Coast list manager Craig Vozzo said negotiations with Naitanui’s manager Paul Connors were well advanced.
“We have commenced discussions with his management and we are confident there is good faith from both sides and that we will achieve a really good outcome fairly soon,” Vozzo said.
Meanwhile Richmond is intent on locking away key forward Tyrone Vickery.
Footy cap coming
Daryl Timms says in the Herald Sun the AFL will announce a luxury tax aimed at restricting football department spending next week when club officials gather for the season launch.
A footy spending threshold is expected to be set in the $20-21m range.
Clubs will pay 50 per cent of each dollar they spend over the “cap”, with the tax used as an equalisation measure to bring the football department spend of poorer clubs up to that of the league’s financial leaders.
Last season footy spending ranged from $16.9 million to $22.5 million.
The move is not without its detractors and The Age suggests Collingwood president Eddie McGuire refused to sign off on a number of new equalisation principles and is leading the charge against a tax on club revenues.
A fair call
The Age newspaper says greater resources and clear explanations about rule changes should help improve the standing of unpires among football supporters.
While most feel respected by AFL coaches and players, it's understood far fewer feel respected by supporters and the media.
''It's low but we understand there is always a cultural element to that,” AFL national umpiring director Wayne Campbell said.
“What we can control is to put out the best possible performance we can, and also inform supporters about rule changes and things like that.''
The umpiring department has been bolstered with AFL operations manager Mark Evans introducing a structure similar to a club football department.
