Time for AFL pay deal to get done: Scott
North Melbourne coach Brad Scott has urged the AFL and the players' union to quickly resolve their pay standoff so clubs can get on with their planning for next season.
The AFL says it will not be able to sign off on funding for clubs over the next five years until it resolves the players' collective bargaining agreement for the same period.
Scott said players deserved to be paid well.
But he also said it was time for both parties to agree on a deal so 2012 planning for clubs was not adversely affected.
"Players should be really, really well rewarded for what they do - they are the lifeblood of the game," Scott said.
"Our best players should be paid more than coaches, more than anyone else in football because they are the superstars of the game.
"For clubs, it's starting to get a little more difficult to plan for next year - that's for sure.
"It's in everyone's best interests just to sit down (and) get this done as quickly as possible."
The average AFL player will earn more than $250,000 a season from next year if the players' union says yes to the deal tabled by the league.
The offer of $1.144 billion over the next five years will lift players' average salary by 11 per cent to $262,000 in 2012, and beyond $300,000 by 2016, according to the AFL.
The major sticking point in the negotiations is the league's refusal to budge on the players' demand that they are paid a fixed percentage of revenue - between 25 and 27 per cent.
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