Axed St Kilda coach Scott Watters to pocket $500,000 package. Source: News Limited
SACKED St Kilda coach Scott Watters will receive a $500,000 payout from the club as Mark Williams firms as his replacement.
Watters, who has left for country Victoria to come to grips with his termination, will pocket the sum after he was fired on Friday with a year to run on his contract.
It's understood Watters was being paid in the vicinity of $400,000 to $450,000 a season by the Saints.
But, like most coaching contracts, it is an agreement bound by several performance-based clauses. Given the St Kilda board has made it impossible for Watters to achieve those KPIs next year, it is bound by law to pay them out.
It is unclear what clauses exist within Watters' contact, but it's understood that once they are paid it will take his payout to beyond half a million dollars.
St Kilda chiefs are expected to move quickly, settling the financial obligation by the end of next week.
Watters, 44, remains "raw" over the manner of his dismissal and despite denials by Saints president Peter Summers on Friday, Watters has told friends he believed he was "done over" by head of football Chris Pelchen.
But it's Pelchen's close relationship with Port Adelaide premiership coach and Richmond's current head of development Williams that has the latter a white-hot favourite to take the reins.
Williams and Pelchen worked together as coach and recruiter during the Power's rise to the 2004 flag. But the pair are more than former colleagues, with some saying they are best mates.
The Saints, who want to appoint their new coach before the national draft on November 21, would be heartened by the knowledge Williams and Pelchen can work well together.
St Kilda champion Robert Harvey is the romantic option and would win back member support, but he would appear a long-shot to get the job. Whether he is willing to return as an assistant remains to be seen.
Leigh Tudor, who is due to start as an assistant coach at North Melbourne this week, was interviewed by Essendon, West Coast and Brisbane in recent times and is also a contender.
02 Nov, 2013
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Source: http://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/scott-watters-set-to-pocket-500000-payout-following-shock-sacking/story-fnelctok-1226751898277?from=public_rss
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