The $2 million men: Is any player really that valuable yet?

April 12, 2026 — 5:30am

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Without St Kilda’s preparedness to go where no club had gone before, Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera may have been running out in Port Adelaide colours against his old mob on Sunday night at Adelaide Oval.

Instead, the Saints stumped up a two-year, $2 million a year contract for the 23-year-old to keep him as both South Australian clubs put in mega offers to lure the former Glenelg reserves premiership player back home.

On Sunday night at Adelaide Oval in the final match of Gather Round, Wanganeen-Milera will line up against the game’s next potential $2 million man Zak Butters, who is set to receive offers in that range from many of his pursuers as the best free agent to consider returning to Victoria since Tom Lynch joined Richmond in 2018 after eight seasons with Gold Coast.

It’s going to be a fascinating subplot to a match that carries such importance for the Saints, who should, on exposed form, win.

That top liners can now consider commanding $2 million a season – which will be about 11 per cent of the salary cap (about the same percentage Lance Franklin earned at Sydney in only the most lucrative year of his game-changing nine-year deal in 2021) – is not just due to Wanganeen-Milera’s quality.

He became the Saints’ identity, and was able to benefit from........

© The Age