AFL players are infuriated at the multi-million deal which lured Israel Folau from rugby league, Port Adelaide defender Troy Chaplin says.
Chaplin says he's shocked and angry at how much Folau will be paid to switch codes and play for the AFL's newest entity, Greater Western Sydney.
"The figures that have been thrown up in the media, if correct, are going to infuriate fellow players," Chaplin wrote on website theroar.com.au.
Chaplin said the amount of Folau's deal, reportedly $4 million, was a "joke".
"I respect the AFL's decision entirely, it is the figure of money that is being speculated that hits a nerve with fellow players," he wrote.
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"The general consensus amongst our playing group is that it is a fantastic idea to lure another sportsmen from a rival code.
"The money is the key issue at the moment.
"We have guys on our list who have been playing football since they were seven years of age and who are earning $50,000 a year, which is still a significant amount of money for a 17-year-old kid.
"But that is ridiculed by what Folau will earn."
Chaplin suggested Folau's lack of AFL skills could be "detrimental".
"He has all of the physical attributes but I am most certainly sure he doesn't have the technical attributes, at the moment, to make it as an AFL footballer," he wrote.
"Folau is going to struggle to switch codes and learn to kick an Australian Rules football, and from my understanding he has yet to try it.
"The difference between him and Karmichael Hunt is that Hunt played some form of AFL at an early age before turning to a career in the NRL.
"Folau's ability to hit pinpoint passes on the run when his fellow teammate has a metre on his opposition is going to be detrimental to his fellow teammates and his own confidence.
"It is not an easy skill and one in which players struggle with today with the increased pressure in games now.
"It is going to take more than two years for him to be able to understand the mechanisms that go with playing Australian Rules."
