Hawthorn Football Club backs 12-month coach security as pay hits $200,000
Hawthorn Football Club sits inside a coaching market where assistant coaches are now averaging $200,000 a year, yet 65 per cent of assistant and development coaches remain on termination periods of three months or less. The latest AFL Coaches' Association salary benchmarking survey lays out a split picture: pay has improved, but the security attached to it still trails badly.
AFL Coaches' Association survey
The annual survey, delivered to members, shows assistant coach pay has risen 20 per cent over the past four years after being reduced during the pandemic. Director of coaching roles are averaging $250,000, while head of development positions are close to $200,000 and development coaching roles sit at an average of $125,000 a year.
That spread shows a coaching market that is moving in different directions at once. Assistant coaches have regained ground, but the termination terms attached to those jobs have not kept pace with the pay rise.
Three months or less
The sharpest friction point in the data is the contract length. Sixty-five per cent of assistant and development coaches are on termination periods of three months or less, and the association says the inconsistency across clubs affects competitive balance.
The group has called for the length of termination clauses to be reviewed by the AFL and is pushing for up to 12 months as a standard termination payout for in-contract coaches who are sacked. Only five assistant and development coaches have been sacked in contract in the past four years, which makes the short notice periods even more striking for a sector built around job turnover and succession planning.
Player pay comparison
The same conversation sits against a wider pay backdrop. Average player wages last year were $506,000, more than the average assistant coach salary and well above development-level earnings.
The survey also splits the coaching cohort into seven categories, and more than 90 per cent of coaches complete it. That gives the AFLCA a broad snapshot of how clubs are valuing different roles, from senior assistants through to academy and development staff, and why Hawthorn Football Club and every other club is being asked to weigh pay against security rather than one without the other.
