Why the NRL draft is already dead in the water
Roar Guru By Curtis Woodward, 14 Mar 2012 Curtis Woodward is a Roar Guru & Live Blogger
- Tagged:
- beau scott, Cameron Smith, Craig Bellamy, NRL, Rugby League
Mercurial Billy Slater for the Melbourne Storm in the NRL (Image: AAP)
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So the Melbourne Storm want a draft. If any club was going to re-ignite the debate it was going to be the Storm. It makes sense considering the Victorian club has a minuscule junior system and need to sign players from around the country to stay competitive.
But the draft doesn’t work. It just doesn’t. It may work in the AFL but it is not something that works in the National Rugby League.
Nevertheless, Storm captain Cameron Smith believes it’s time for a draft. “I think we need to bring a draft in, it’s fair for everyone,” Smith said.
“In other sports it’s spoken about as a bit of a joke the way we sign players mid-season and they’ve got to play a whole competition season knowing they’re going to be leaving in the next year.”
Well, it isn’t fair Cameron.
NRL clubs should be rewarded for developing kids and bringing them through their system. A salary cap exemption should then be made to keep that player at the club. That’s the key word in all of this. Exemption.
Melbourne would have never lost Greg Inglis if exemptions were made to keep him. A junior who becomes a superstar should never have to leave his club.
Beau Scott signing with the Newcastle Knights is another story altogether. Scott didn’t like the offer from the Dragons so he looked elsewhere.
Would it be fair for Queensland legend Darren Lockyer to have packed up his bags and move to Auckland as a teenager?
I am sure Newcastle fans would have been in uproar if, in the early 1990s, a young prospect by the name of Andrew Johns had had to move to Sydney and play for Cronulla or Balmain.
Let’s not penalise our heartlands or good junior development areas.
Storm coach Craig Bellamy also stirred the pot. “I think we should have a draft, I’ve thought that for a long time” he said.
“We’re about evening out the game and that’s one way of doing it. I know there’s some negatives to it as well with guys brought up in one area having to go somewhere else and play.”
“But at the same time I think guys going to another club, when they have to play the whole year or half the year at the club they’re at before they leave, I don’t think that’s good for our game”.
“It’s what we’ve been used to for so long and I think we’re a bit blasé.”
Well, fine. Bring in a two-week transfer period. Or even free agency. But let players go where they want and play where they want.
Terry Hill took the draft system to the High Court in 1991 because it was a restraint of trade. That was in ‘91, when the average player salary was a lot less than what it is now.
Imagine the field day a kid like Jack De Belin and his management would have if he was told he had to move to Canberra for half the pay he could make somewhere else.
It’s clear that a rugby league draft just wouldn’t work.
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- Explore:
- beau scott, Cameron Smith, Craig Bellamy, NRL, Rugby League
March 14th 2012 @ 2:53am
AndyMack said | March 14th 2012 @ 2:53am | Report comment
Curtis,
I would love to see a draft system in the NRL. I don’t mind the fact that youngsters might have to move to Auckland or Melbourne or Townsville if they get drafted. They are professional sportsmen, that would be part of the deal (I had to move 400km down the road to find work, so I’m less inclined to have sympathy on this one).
The reason the draft wont work in the NRL is because there is an alternative, ie: head to the Super League in the UK. If a kid in Victoria wants to play AFL footy, he has to sign up to the system of the draft, and the salary system they have for first two years of being drafted (a limit on how much they can earn in reality), he can’t say “stuff this i’m going to go play AFL in the UK”.
Your point on developing youngsters is a good one, I agree there. Might be a way this can be accommodated though, in the similar way to the Lions and Swans have a leg up in recruiting talented youngsters from their catchment areas. Just a thought, don’t know quite how it would work.
March 14th 2012 @ 3:24am
Timmuh said | March 14th 2012 @ 3:24am | Report comment
Speaking as an Australian Football person, I wish the AFL would get rid of the draft. Let the salary cap do its work (and, yes, that means effectively policing it – something the Storm know does not happen until well after the fact).
The draft briungs about the perception, perhaps the reality, of tanking for picks and enforces a cycle. Allowing the salary cap to be the great equaliser would allow well run clubs to stay at the top for years, and those at the bottom shoiuld have more rom in the cap to entice the better juniors with to set themselves for the future.
If the NRL could police the cap properly, something both the AFL and NRL have failed dismally at, your system would be far better than the one we have.
March 14th 2012 @ 4:57am
peeeko said | March 14th 2012 @ 4:57am | Report comment
true, its not going to happen. comparisons with US sports drafts are not that useful in that the players are massively paid and the development of players is done by huge college systems
March 14th 2012 @ 5:24am
MG Burbank said | March 14th 2012 @ 5:24am | Report comment
This issue is complex and without a detailed knowledge of the potential inner workings of a draft, it’s hard to form an opinion. First off though Curtis, you said the draft ‘doesn’t work. It just doesn’t’.
You simply don’t have the evidence to support that. The draft lasted about 6 minutes in League so we don’t know how it might have worked.
The argument for keeping juniors in their local area is a strong one. I also completely agree with your stance on cap exemptions for locally developed players, whether they are from that part of the world or were developed in the club’s system, such as Storm players like Inglis, Slater, Cronk and Smith. That foursome should never have had to be broken up. Champions team that are made, not bought, are great for the game and encourage other clubs to develop their own legends.
Having said all that, the draft could go a long way to solving the inequity that exists in accessibility to quality juniors, something Brisbane has taken advantage of for years. I think the Warriors are starting to gain through that inequity as well. A draft would be tremendous for future expansion to places like Perth and Adelaide in addition to helping struggling clubs every year.
Yes, the ‘tanking’ element could be a problem. All in all, I agree that a focus on cap exemptions for developed juniors and a strict policing of the cap is where things should remain for the moment.
March 14th 2012 @ 6:21am
kiwidave said | March 14th 2012 @ 6:21am | Report comment
A draft is a great solution to a competition with a highly uneven distribution of talent. But by and large the NRL is actually pretty even. If the storm are suffering from a lack of access to quality juniors I’d hate to see them if they did have good juniors.
The draft is being proposed as a solution to players moving mid season, when in actual fact I can’t see how it would solve this problem on it’s own. If you want to stop players shifting mid season then simply rule that moves can only take place in the off season
If the problem is players playing for one team having already signed with another (e.g. Jame Maloney) then institute a transfer system where clubs can control when a player is moved or institute a rule that players cannot be under contract with more than one team at the same time, neither of which would require a draft.
Mid-season moves are still fairly common in sports that do have drafts and transfer systems like the NHL and NBA.
March 14th 2012 @ 7:50am
Rodney McDonell said | March 14th 2012 @ 7:50am | Report comment
The only reason the call for a draft has come up this time round is due to the early announcement of players signing with other clubs. In the most recent case, an entire season before the player in question starts work with his new club. There are ways to fix this problem and ways to not. Implementing a draft is an incredibly heavy handed way of trying to fix it and as noted in previous posts its not a full proof solution.
Even the AFL is looking at bringing in a more equal free agency transfer system like the NRL that would sit on top of the draft.
I don’t see what the big deal is when players signing contracts when they have another year to run on their current.
If the NRL was really concerned about, they’d outlaw the practice if it wasn’t a constraint on trade.
March 14th 2012 @ 7:55am
oikee said | March 14th 2012 @ 7:55am | Report comment
Well written Curtis. I mentioned the other day that our commission, or clubs, or whoever, has to come up with a better system, but there is no way we should ever, ever introduce a draft. So what the other codes laugh at us, at least our game can never be taken to court over the draft system. Now imagine one day if the AFl have a islander who wont move because he wants to be near his family. One court challenge, the precedent set, bingo, bango, its all over for this silly draft system. I liken it to the stolen generation but with cash involved.
Plus the indigernous kids would be the most vunrable of any. You brought up a couple of good examples, here is another, Chris Sandow drafted to NZ. ?? Come on, he would have gone stir crazy not being with family near-by, not to mention having to rip families up and move them all around. Some of our players are married at 20.
Oh god no, no way, the Storm should be ashamed of themselves for even backing the idea. I can see how they are only thinking of themselves. Shame, shame Storm.
No to Draft, throw it on the fire, burn the sucker, lets laugh at other codes for having the draft. More fool them.
March 14th 2012 @ 8:34am
Paul said | March 14th 2012 @ 8:34am | Report comment
The NRL wont bring back the draft, Good. The commision needs to come out and say they are looking into it and will have a resolution before next season. I look at it from a fans point of veiw but, what if you were a sponsor who signed with the dogs becuase Jamal Idris was someone you would like associated with your brand and then he announces 1 month into your 3 year sponsorship agreement he is leaving to go to another club with a sponsor that is your competition, Personally it would make me think twice before id commit that sort of money in sponsorship. Sure maybe you could pull out of the deal but even if you did you wouldnt then sponsor someone else. you would walk away thinking the NRL is a basket case.
As for juniors, what alod of hogwash. We want a national competition, how is that going to work with that kind of narrow minded thinking. For example Boyd Cordner is considered a Newcastle Junior becuase he is from Oldbar but Old Bar is a 90minute drive at 110klm from newcastle. Hardly a local imo. It is only becuase there is no club between newcastle and brisbane. And what about all the country players of which there are many, does that mean they cant play NRL?
March 14th 2012 @ 8:44am
turbodewd said | March 14th 2012 @ 8:44am | Report comment
If you want a level playing field then you must support a draft. How can a small-town team compete with a big city team if the local talent always stays local. The Brisbane Broncos are always competitive and its amazing that they havent won more premierships.
March 14th 2012 @ 10:30am
Will Sinclair said | March 14th 2012 @ 10:30am | Report comment
I find this obsession with an “even” competition extraordinary.
Not only is it impossible – will the NRL force the Broncos to share their sponsorship money with Cronulla? Will News Ltd prop up every team in the comp like they prop up the Storm? Will Tinkler give millions to every club? – but it’s not desirable.
Clubs should be encouraged to innovate and excel, not sit back waiting for the NRL to give them a leg up.
Don’t have a big leagues club? Bad luck, start finding innovative new ways to generate income.
Don’t have a big junior base? Bad luck, start working harder with the juniors you do have, and develop a good scouting system.
Don’t get shown on Friday nights? Bad luck, start winning games and Channel Nine will be beating down your door.
It’s not Russia guys. Not everyone will have the same resources, nor should they.
March 14th 2012 @ 10:39am
Matt F said | March 14th 2012 @ 10:39am | Report comment
Very true. Besides having 9 different competition winners in the past 11 years would suggest that the competition is actually very even anyway (8 from 9 when you take out the 2 Storm years.) I’d like to know a competition anywhere in the world which has a better spread of champions then the NRL.
March 14th 2012 @ 10:59am
oikee said | March 14th 2012 @ 10:59am | Report comment
Why dont you rip into them Will. Your right, if we had the draft the clubs would sit around like baby birds looking for a feed.
Forever with their mouths open, not caring about anyone but themselves. Much like the Storm have with News propping them up.
The Storm have got to start working hard on growing the game in Melbourne, stop sucking up to AFL clubs.
March 14th 2012 @ 8:52am
Ian Whitchurch said | March 14th 2012 @ 8:52am | Report comment
This article’s another example of why rugby league is in trouble, because it’s only about rugby league and ignores anything that happened ever in any other code.
“Imagine the field day a kid like Jack De Belin and his management would have if he was told he had to move to Canberra for half the pay he could make somewhere else.”
In the previous NFL contract, high NFL draft picks were getting paid stupid money in their first deal – for example, given a 60 player roster and an $80m salary cap, former #4 pick Aaron Curry, a linebacker (!), signed an inital 6 year, $60m contract in 2009 – roughly 10% of the teams cap for an unproven kid. I’d imagine a gun kid would be quite happy with that system thank you very much.
He failed to develop, and was traded to Oakland for a conditional seventh round pick, which is the equivalent of a can of coke and packet of winfield blues.
“Terry Hill took the draft system to the High Court in 1991 because it was a restraint of trade. That was in ‘91, when the average player salary was a lot less than what it is now.”
The AFL has a draft that has mysteriously not been legally challenged, mostly because their players recognise that a growing code is good for everyone. Im sure the NRLPA can be brought on side, in exchange for better wages and conditions.
The NFL draft was similarly challenged in court in Brady et al vs NFL, but that court case was dropped when their labour dispute was resolved.
“NRL clubs should be rewarded for developing kids and bringing them through their system. A salary cap exemption should then be made to keep that player at the club. That’s the key word in all of this. Exemption.” This will completely and utterly destroy the salary cap, as a club with a strong financial base and two or three elite players can then use their free cap room to pillage talent from other teams with a weak financial base. Just saying. For the concequences of no salary cap, see Glasgow Rangers.
“NRL clubs should be rewarded for developing kids and bringing them through their system.” Kids, by defintion, arent ready to play first-team footy. The NFL is probably the exception, but they draft their kids at 22 or 23, after they’ve pretty much finished growing and building muscle mass – but even then, a ready-to-play draft pick is a rare thing to be prized. 18 year olds arent ready to play contact footy, or indeed ice hockey … so is the kids are drafted at 18 and the reward is that as clubs develop them, they get turned into first graders. I’d quote Richmond Football Club as what happens when you stuff up player development over a period of a decade or so.
Finally, “Let’s not penalise our heartlands or good junior development areas.”
By not having a draft, you peanalise teams from non-traditional areas. At the moment, this is just Melbourne, but if League ever goes to Perth, Adelaide or Darwin, they will have the same issues.
If you want to leave the great game of rugby league locked into it’s current heartlands, then good luck to you.
I think it’s a great game, and I’d like to see it grow.
And that means enabling teams from developing areas to be competitive on the paddock.
March 14th 2012 @ 10:13am
Australian Rules said | March 14th 2012 @ 10:13am | Report comment
“By not having a draft, you peanalise teams from non-traditional areas. At the moment, this is just Melbourne, but if League ever goes to Perth, Adelaide or Darwin, they will have the same issues.”
That’s what stands out to me the most. Rewarding clubs for nurturing junior players into senior ones is a fuzzy idea but if the base isn’t even to start with (i.e. roughly the same number of juniors in each area) then it will be remain uneven. A draft equalises that.
March 14th 2012 @ 12:43pm
CurtisW1908 said | March 14th 2012 @ 12:43pm | Report comment
Why do we have to look at other codes?
March 14th 2012 @ 1:16pm
Ian Whitchurch said | March 14th 2012 @ 1:16pm | Report comment
Because sometimes they stuff things up in a really big way as a warning (*waves to Gold Coast United*) and sometimes they do things right that you can copy (*waves to the AFL Independant Commission*).
Sometimes they also do things that are a mixed blessing (*waves to State of Origin and the Kick a Vic campaign*).
Ignoring what they do is simply the kind of narrow minded, dumb, ignorant and incompetant thinking that has left rugby league where it is today.