WESTERN Bulldogs president Peter Gordon has rejected any suggestion that he insinuated the Sydney Swans were "cheats" over their use of the Cost Of Living Allowance (COLA).
However, Gordon has refused to back down on the broader issue of achieving greater equalisation among teams.
Gordon reiterated his view that the Swans' COLA should be removed and, in response to Lance Franklin's unprecedented nine-year contract, proposed that the AFL consider introducing a six-year limit on deals.
He told Nine's Sunday Footy Show that he regretted causing offence to the Swans, as he was simply using their example to highlight the gulf between richer and poorer clubs in an era in which the AFL was trying to achieve greater competitive balance.
Gordon said that in 2012, the combination of COLA, the veterans' allowance and the capacity to pay meant the Swans paid $2 million more to their players than the Bulldogs.
"We, the clubs, are a confederation of sworn enemies who will exploit them rules in any way we can within the law. I don't assert that they broke any law. I don't assert that they are cheats … they are a very canny and professional organisation," he said.
"I was really trying to bring into attention two points: one is that we need to move from the current COLA arrangement, and I think there's broad agreement about that … and the longevity of the (Franklin) contract.
"I think there might be a case for introducing a rule which limits the terms of contracts in AFL to make it (a maximum length of) six years, so that there is a little bit more realism to the commercial reality in AFL of what the foreseeable value of the contract is at any one time."
On Saturday, Swans chief executive Andrew Ireland leapt to his club's defence after Gordon had earlier accused the Swans of exploiting the COLA.
Speaking on 3AW, Ireland labelled Gordon's comments as "very offensive".
Gordon had claimed on Friday that the Swans had "tested" the AFL's rules and "exploited" the COLA, insinuating the extra 9.8 per cent allowance in their salary cap was used to lure star forwards Kurt Tippett and Franklin.
Gordon's comments came after the Swans – led by a combined nine goals from Tippett and Franklin – crushed Geelong by 110 points at the SCG on Thursday night.
“I think we all recognise the cost-of-living allowance was completely unfair and, with respect to (former Swans president) Richard Colless, it is almost farcical to see the way Sydney has used it over the last little while,’’ Gordon said.
“You only need to look at (Thursday’s) game to see how well Sydney has exploited the cost-of-living allowance."
Ireland fired back by saying every Swans player had COLA payments in their contract.
"We deny it (Gordon's allegations). We think Peter's comments are very offensive," he said.
"The fact is he's effectively saying we're cheating, and the reality is when we did the 'Buddy' deal the AFL came and sent an investigating team to look at it and passed it fully.
"If you spoke to the AFL, every player on our list gets COLA. It's in their contract as required. There's no pool to be able to recruit players."
Ireland called on the AFL's football operations manager Mark Evans to confirm the Swans were using COLA as it was intended.
"I think it would be good if someone from the AFL, maybe Mark Evans or someone who has got visibility of the contracts, confirmed exactly that," he said.
"We've asked the AFL to do it and we're still waiting."
Ireland said Franklin and Tippett would only receive about $40,000 combined from COLA this year.
He added that the Swans were only spending "just over a million dollars" combined on the glamour forwards this year.
Ireland said Gordon should "worry more about his own club than worry about what we're doing" and revealed that the Swans wrote to the AFL because they were concerned that not all clubs were getting a "fair go at it".
The Swans CEO also had outgoing Carlton chief Greg Swann firmly in his crosshairs.
The Blues boss told SEN radio the best way to stop the dominant Swans was to “give us all an (extra) million bucks and we might be a chance".
Ireland fired a shot at Carlton's own salary cap issues in the past.
"Last time I looked Carlton haven't won too many premierships without breaching the salary cap," he said.
"They've been good tankers and the last time I looked (Chris) Judd's VISY deal seemed to be hanging around somewhere."
COLA is reportedly set to be scaled back to a rent assistance package by 2017 that will provide $15,000 to lower-paid players.
