AFL 'caught off guard' by Geelong coach Chris Scott's new role with major sponsor

Geelong coach Chris Scott's new deal with a club sponsor has been placed under investigation by the AFL.

The league told 9News that it will be looking further into the terms of Scott's new role as chief of leadership and performance at Morris Finance, a major sponsor of the Cats.

The company has been a long-term partner of 14 years and has been a direct sponsor of the coach for the past five years.

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Morris Finance detailed Scott would assist in mentoring the team, "enhancing client engagement and drive business growth."

The role is not intended to interfere with the 48-year-old's duties at the helm of the senior team but concern has been raised about the club's soft cap limits.

All AFL coaches and assistants are paid under the 'soft cap', with a total of $7.675 million set for the 2025 season.

Nine's Tom Morris said the league "was caught off guard" by the unveiling of Scott's new role, having not yet "ticked off" the third-party deal.

"The question the league will answer is whether Scott's new gig breaches strict soft cap rules," Morris said on 9News Melbourne.

"It is also possible that the third party arrangement sits separately or is part of an existing agreement within the eight million dollar soft cap."

Speculation ran rife that the deal could be an method to pay Scott outside of the salary restrictions imposed by the AFL.

But Kane Cornes could not see why other clubs have not considered adopting similar partnership deals.

"Clubs need to be innovative to find extra dollars so they can pay the best (coaches) the best wages," he said on SEN Breakfast.

"Chris Scott doesn't get paid enough anyway when you compare what the best players are earning.

"There is a focus on Geelong because they keep signing players and they keep being under the salary cap... We start sceptical about Geelong for that reason.

"They do what teams shouldn't be able to do and that's remain competitive pretty much every year.

"I'm not critical of this, I just want to know what the rules are. If the rules are good enough for Geelong to do it, why isn't every team doing it?"