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Raponi questions points cap

WEST Perth president Brett Raponi has called for better policing, in light of rival club Swan Districts’ reported breach of the WAFL’s player points cap.

Raponi questioned the value of the new system, which replaced the complex and fallible salary cap system last year, saying it had no purpose if it was not monitored effectively.

“We have a serious beef with the administration of these points and who is watching them,” Raponi said.

“It is very flimsy to say the least. What is the WAFL doing when you have administrators of clubs having to go through and identify these things?

“The WAFL put it (player points cap) in place and they should make sure it is working properly.”

However, Swans chief executive Brendan Parker today defended the club, instead shitfing blame onto the WAFL.

“If you go on the points advised to us by the WAFL, we were not over for the first game,” Parker said.

“The WAFL allocates the points to the clubs and on the list the WAFL gave to us we were on 130 points at the start of the year.

“There is nothing clandestine about the points system, but it is managed and overseen by the WAFL, so they are the ones responsible for it.”

But it is understood Swans still exceeded their limit after a rival club noted they were on 131 points after their first game this season.

Following changes to the points system, the value of injured midfielder Brett Robinson and Ben Colreavy inflated that figure to 139 points, after they were reclassified to a higher level before the season started.

But Swans were not penalised for the breach after claiming they were not informed of these changes until after the first round.

Robinson has subsequently been placed on the long term injury list, allowing the club to tempoarily remove him from their squad, which wipes off 10-points from their cap.