Dragons dismiss salary cap rumour as "laughable rubbish"

SANDHURST has labelled the football rumour mill over the weekend suggesting the Dragons were in breach of the Bendigo Football Netball League's $125,000 salary cap as "laughable rubbish".

The Dragons - who finished on top of the senior ladder with 16 wins from their 18 games - addressed the rumour that was the talk of football circles from Saturday in a letter to club members on Sunday.

"With the level of success this year comes an element of envy from outside our club," Dragons' president Mark O'Farrell wrote.

"We have disappointingly seen this develop into unfounded false rumours swirling around the BFNL circles in relation to our club being in breach of the salary cap and currently under investigation.

"I can assure everyone this is laughable rubbish. Initially we did not plan to comment on such false rumours as they did not warrant a response, but due to the amount of garbage being thrown around on social media, a response to our members was warranted.

"To have to address this issue in the lead up to the finals is disappointing, but the simple facts are as follows:

* The SFNC is not in breach of the 2023 salary cap;

* The SFNC is not aware of any investigation for any such breach;

* The SFNC has made enquiries with the BFNL and have been advised that the BFNL has no knowledge of any such investigation;

* The SFNC has made enquiries with AFLCV and have been advised the commission is not aware of any breach or investigation (AFLCV is the body responsible for auditing salary caps at seasons end, usually in October);

* The SFNC is under the Total Player Payments allowable for the 2023 season;

* The SFNC welcomes the annual review of the TPP that each club encounters at the appropriate time as the end of the season;

* The SFNC have submitted all required salary cap documents to AFLCV this year and is happy and open to providing the TPP figures to the Commission as early as tomorrow should the commission seek such information;

* The SFNC has no issue with any form of enquiry the commission or BFNL wishes to make to the club or players;

* The SFNC has not and never would make any payments outside of the salary cap to any player;

* The SFNC has a long history of adherence to the TPP;

* The SFNC denies any allegation of a salary cap breach; and

* The SFNC will closely monitor any social media comments already made or made in the future that are false, misleading and in breach of social media rules.

Meanwhile, AFLCV released the following statement as a result of the speculation:

AFL Central Victoria confirm the following:

1. We have not commenced any investigations into the Sandhurst Football Netball Club's

(SFNC) player payments for the 2023 season, and as such there are no hearings planned.

2. The SFNC have submitted all required Play Payments documents for the 2023 season within the timelines required under the rules.

3. As required under the Player Payments Rules, for every league in AFL Central Vic both competing Grand Final senior men's teams in 2023 will be subject to a compliance review (audit) of their player payments. Therefore, audits will be conducted for the two teams who compete in the Bendigo Football Netball League 2023 Senior Grand Final.

4. All clubs are required to submit their final declaration of player payments for the season by 31st October 2023.

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