This seems harsh :)
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Saints have little choice other than to go down the path of a first time senior coach. For a club that survives on massive AFL handouts and reportedly still ten million dollars in debt the AFEL surely would not look too kindly on big dollar offers to Lyon, Cameron or Bevo when the Saints already have two years of payment now owing to Ratten. Yze has to be favourite (and a bit cheaper).
I think that may be an AFL imposed rule in all soft cap situations. I'm sure I read somewhere that after Hawthorn had to pay Clarkson a year's salary to sit on the couch they bought in a rule that a senior coach only gets six months of his contract payed out no matter how long he has left.
That is an appalling outcome after signing a 2 year deal. While understanding he would have signed off on that when he agreed to the contract at the very least he should get a 12 month payout.
It's hard to understand why the Saints appear to have jumped back on to the Ryan Lyon bandwagon given the way he left them to go to Fremantle.
There has to be a to more to this than what they have shared so far.
Wasn't Ratten at Hawthorn during the Pagan / Clarkson era? Is there a chance Ratten's name has come up in the AFL investigation?
Perhaps the Saints have been tipped off. Maybe clutching at straws but I can't explain why he would be sacked so suddenly.
I think a more responsible change would be that clubs still have to pay out the remainder of the coach's contract but only 6 months count towards the soft cap. Gives the coaches financial security without ruining the clubs off field cap if that coach needs to be let go.