THE PLANE from Sydney to Melbourne was just about to take off when Chad Warner had the type of jump scare that has struck so many passengers before, hit by the sinking feeling that he'd left something very important at home.
"I realised I didn't bring me boots," Warner laughed.
Scrambling for a backup plan, the Sydney superstar used the hour-long flight to brainstorm what he'd do. After all, the very next evening he was due to face reigning premier Collingwood in a Friday night blockbuster at the MCG.
Upon touching the tarmac in Melbourne, Warner immediately took his phone off airplane mode and already had a message waiting for him. Somewhat bizarrely, without even knowing Warner had left his boots at home, Nike's long-time Australian Football Sports Marketing Manager Damian Everetts had left him a voicemail wanting to discuss a plan for the weekend.
"He'd randomly just called me asking if I wanted to wear a pair of TNs, because he had a spare pair. I just thought, 'Well, that's perfect because I've forgotten my boots'. I didn't really have many options, to be honest," Warner told AFL.com.au.
What followed turned into an overnight sensation. Wearing a bright orange and black-ribbed football remake of the popular Nike TN Air Max street sneaker, made famous in the 1990s and the early 2000s but undergoing somewhat of a cultural revival in recent years, Warner put the Magpies to the sword.
He won 27 disposals and kicked three goals in a statement win for the Swans, but it was online where he was registering his biggest numbers. A post of Warner cooking in the TNs went viral across the AFL's social media accounts, amassing more than 1.2 million impressions on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok and generating a further 191,000 engagements and 114,000 likes across the three platforms.
Everyone was obsessed. Well, not everyone. "Chad wearing the TNs was the worst thing that could happen to us," one high-profile player agent joked with AFL.com.au. "I got about 30 messages that weekend alone from my guys, asking if I could get Nike to send them a pair."
For many players, the boots they wear on the weekend are vital. Warner, for instance, agreed to the plan to wear the TNs in part because they were an exact replica of the faded pink Nike Mercurials he normally struts around in. Aside from the visual look of the TNs, there would be no discernible difference in feel to the boots he had left in Sydney.
Max Gawn is another fussy about his footwear. Up until recently, the Melbourne captain would only wear a pair of red Asics DS Lights that matched perfectly with the Dees' bright red socks. They're the boots he's proudly sporting when he and Simon Goodwin lifted the 2021 premiership cup together.
But if you're after a pair yourself, don't bother looking. A few years ago, Asics announced they were retiring the short-lived DS Lights from the shelves. Shocked at the news, Gawn bought every available pair in his size to ensure his unique look would last for as long as possible.
It's believed Gawn managed to extend the existence of the red DS Lights for four or five years past being discontinued, quite the achievement considering one long-time property steward told AFL.com.au that players generally swap boots every four to six weeks. A rare few will only use a pair for a fortnight at most, before moving on to a fresh set.
That's also the reason why, no matter how many times Gawn walked past young supporters in the crowd carrying signs that read 'Max, can I have your boots?', he had to ignore the requests. His might have been the only pair remaining, anywhere in the world.
Greater Western Sydney's Harry Himmelberg is another with a keen eye for boots, even if he doesn't always wear them. One of the defender's most prized possessions is a pair of Nike Phantom VSNs with gold soleplates, one of just 1000 ever made, that was a gift following his 100th AFL game. For the record, Himmelberg has pair No.952 and no, you won't ever see him trotting out in those.
Multiple player agents asked by AFL.com.au told of how boots can be a lucrative business for players. Managers generally catch up with brands in November to educate them on potential clients. Brands, in turn, tend to gravitate towards footballers at the bigger, more high-profile clubs.
Those deemed as elite, marketable players representing high-drawing teams like Collingwood, Carlton or West Coast can subsequently earn deals of around $40,000 to $50,000 per season for brand deals. Beyond that, they can also take home around $10,000 in product as part of their arrangements.
As well as ensuring the player shows off the boots on his or her feet every weekend, those deals can also involve a series of social media posts throughout the season, as well as photoshoots, television advertisements and marketing events to guarantee bang for the brand's buck.
Some companies have even been known to put exclusivity clauses into any boot and apparel deals signed by a player, ensuring that the footballer doesn't wear a rival brand's gear at events like club functions or in any social media posts.
The brands themselves are well known. Nike, Adidas, Puma, Asics and New Balance are renowned among the most popular footwear providers for players across the AFL. Mizuno have also enjoyed a recent resurgence, while Skechers are now branching into the Australian football boot industry.
Hawthorn's highly skilled forward Dylan Moore regularly promotes Skechers on his social media platforms, making him one of the company's first AFL ambassadors and earning him the cheeky nickname of 'Harry Kane' among his Hawks teammates after the England football team's captain became the global face of the brand late last year.
"Harry Kane's wearing the Skechers in the Euros at the moment so I do a few social media posts with Skechers," Moore told AFL.com.au earlier this year. "They’re bringing a boot out which I potentially might wear. We'll see how it goes next year."
Apparel sponsors are also becoming as big, as influential and as lucrative as boot deals for players and agents, with Cotton On and Lululemon extending their interest in the football landscape recently. Multiple prominent player agents suggested an apparel deal with a well-known sportswear or gym brand can now sometimes pay double that of one signed with a boot manufacturer.
Despite such riches being on offer, boot deals for AFL players still pale in comparison to their elite sporting contemporaries overseas. For example, in 2015 NBA superstar LeBron James signed a lifetime contract with Nike worth a reported $1 billion USD. It has been reported that Argentina's World Cup hero Lionel Messi has a lifetime contract with Adidas worth a similar fee, topping the $1 billion USD mark.
But aside from the financial benefits, why would a player sign for one boot company over another? According to a series of player agents back on Australian shores, brand loyalty plays a significant factor in the decision. Youngsters recently drafted into the AFL often choose to continue wearing the same boots they wore as juniors, instructing their managers to only negotiate with that brand regardless of the cash on offer from other outlets.
West Coast's superstar young midfielder and the 2023 AFL Draft No.1 pick, Harley Reid, has had a deal with Puma since his under-18s days, such was the hype surrounding his talent even before he joined an AFL club. Reid wore the brand as a kid and has posted pictures of his younger self in Pumas across social media.
Circumstance can also play a part. One young key forward, recruited to an AFL club in recent seasons, was offered a lucrative brand deal at a major boot manufacturer. However, they had to turn down the offer after finding out the company didn't produce boots bigger than a men's size 13. In their case, the shoe simply didn't fit.
Another player, midway through their career, had developed a growing list of niggling foot problems. Already signed to one boot manufacturer, they were advised by a podiatrist to start wearing Asics – considered a more protective boot – to extend their longevity on the football field.
There is also a significant portion of footballers, mostly younger prospects and rookies, not offered brand deals. In their situations, every AFL contract now stipulates that a club must provide four pairs of boots and two pairs of runners per player every season. Such an offer can be delivered in a variety of ways.
Clubs can either provide the footwear courtesy of their own apparel sponsor – for example Collingwood is represented by Nike, Carlton has a deal with Puma, while Essendon wears Under Armour equipment – or the player can source their own football boots. The latter process tends to be as simple as the player walking into any department store, buying the boots, then expensing the club.
One question commonly thrown around by your everyday punter, and increasingly among the more old-fashioned football fan, revolves around boot studs and why players don't adapt their footwear to the conditions they're playing in. Quite simply, though, rules have changed and football boot technology has evolved.
An incident in 2020, which saw Collingwood's Isaac Quaynor split open with a gruesome eight-inch gash through his shin, came about after Sydney's Sam Wicks was found to be wearing non-compliant boots that featured a hybrid soleplate consisting of plastic and aluminium stops.
It led to the AFL writing to all 18 clubs to reiterate that football boots with "exposed metal studs have the potential to cause injuries and have no place across any level of the game". The penalty imposed on clubs and players who breach such rules can now rocket up to $40,000.
That issue threatened to rear its head last year, when one player – named as an emergency for a game against their bitter rival – was hanging by the boundary line when players from the opposition team ran from the race. Hearing the distinct clang of their boots against the concrete below, he reported to a nearby umpire that he thought they might be wearing metal stops. The issue was then investigated before the game started.
Players therefore now tend to gravitate towards three studding techniques. The simple screw-ins are renowned for mobility, comfort and carry a smaller risk of plugging into the ground and subsequently causing injury. Blades are used by those who want speed through traction and cutting into the turf, helping change of direction and improving agility. Hybrids are for the footballers wanting a bit of both.
Club personnel, unlike in years gone by, have little say in what a footballer wears on their feet each weekend. A veteran property steward suggested only "one or two clubs" across the competition would still employ an old-school boot studder. Instead, it's become solely a player's call and is generally predicated on business decisions made in conjunction with their agents.
One long-time general manager of football, when asked by AFL.com.au, backed up such claims and suggested it was very rare for members of the football department to get involved in what boots their players wear, even when the conditions would have previously suggested they should.
Of course, all boots carry their own set of unique risks and rewards. For every demand for speed comes the potential for a slip. For every desire to look flashy comes the prospect of being mocked by a few cheeky teammates. Fortunately for Warner, he had no such issues. "All the boys actually loved the TNs," he said. "But they were pretty much saying that if I wore them, I had to play well."
Luckily for the supremely talented Swans star, he does that more often than not.