The AFL have released a new payment proposal to the AFLPA, with the total player payments set to jump by 11% next year, and to total $1.144 billion over the next five.The offer is a jump of $54 million from the original $1.09 billion proposal in May.They have given the AFLPA until September 15 to review and respond.Players will be given 11% more pay in 2012, another 5% on 2013 on top of that, and another 3% over the three years that follow, an increase of roughly 27%.The average wage of a...

 Every year, at this stage of the season, the finals talk kicks off. Not necessarily who’s going to make it and who won’t – for what it’s worth, I think the top eight is finalised – but who will play who, and how good it has the potential to be.This year, that potential is off the charts.Let’s say that, for the sake of an exercise, the favourites win from here on, and that there are no upsets.This will no doubt leave the top two at Collingwood and Geelong, in first and second...

One of the main topics of discussion in the off-season is predicting where teams will finish in 2011. Whether it’s with friends, workmates or family, people always talk up their own team as finals material and talk down the teams they despise. So, this will be the first of four articles featuring my tips for the ladder next year and the reasons why. To start us off, the bottom four:17. EssendonReview: Any club who sacks their coach after three years on the job must have a problem on their...

It’s that time of the year again. Supercoach time, of course.The best fantasy footy game out there is back, and here’s my guide to kick it off, where I’ll cover every position from defense to the forward line on who you should and shouldn’t pick and my reasons behind those decisions.In a nutshell, the main idea when it comes to winning in Supercoach is to get the best value out of every single player. By that, you need to pick players who should rise in price and average points, barring...