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An introduction to the AFL Draft: Everything you need to know

Expert
18th November, 2015
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2015's top draftees. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
Expert
18th November, 2015
40
2993 Reads

Have you ever wanted to know more about the AFL Draft? Personally, I’ve always thought that it’s probably the most important event of the year.

Think about it – the majority of the players at your club came there through the draft. The names you scream in celebration, this is where they began their journey.

The draft is where teams are built and where dynasties are made, and that to me makes it fascinating.

But, to the newcomer, it will just seem like a bunch of names being read out – boring, and at times confusing.

That’s what this article is for. Here, I have assembled everything – I hope – that you will need to know in order to understand and enjoy watching the draft.

The top talent? The new father-son and academy bidding system? The simple stuff – like when is it on? All here.

The key facts

Okay, straight to the point. The AFL draft will be held this coming Tuesday – November 24 – at the Adelaide Convention Centre, with the proceedings beginning at 5:30pm local time, 6:00pm AEDT.

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Of course when I say proceedings I mean a lot of waffle, from AFL execs reading out the rules to never-ending analysis from the commentary team. Like going to the movies, you could probably turn up a little late and only miss the ads.

When we do get into the swing of things, clubs will take in turns to pick from the new pool of players eligible to enter the AFL. To be eligible, players must turn 18 before New Year’s Day, 2016.

WHO PICKS WHERE? THE FULL 2015 AFL DRAFT ORDER

In previous years the clubs have sat in a row, calling out their picks publicly. However, this year will be a little different.

Instead, club recruiters will be hidden away in separate rooms, where they will enter their selections via a computer system. The selections will then be announced on the big screen at the front of the room.

The players

The draft, of course, is all about the new players. Who are they, and what will they add to their new clubs? I won’t bore you to death with a thousand player profiles, but let’s look at some of the standout prospects.

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Who is the best key defender?
Without a doubt it is nominal number one pick Jacob Weitering who has just about everything you could want in a defender – not only is he great at shutting down an opponent, but he can also provide great drive as an attacking force out of the back half.

On top of that, he’s considered a great leader, and many are making the early tip that he will be a future club captain.

He’s going to the Blues, baring a sudden change of mind from their recruiting team.

In the conversation: Kieran Collins is the next best key backman in the draft pool and will fit somewhere into the latter half of the first round.

Who is the best key forward?
Josh Schache is the best-performed tall forward in the draft by a comfortable stretch and looks guaranteed to join the Brisbane Lions at pick 2 in the draft.

He kicked a record number of goals in the national championships and generally has been compared Travis Cloke – except unlike Cloke, he is an excellent shot at goal.

In the conversation: Sam Weideman and Charlie Curnow are both key position forwards who likely also go in the first ten picks, but neither has proven themselves like Schache has.

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Who is the best inside midfielder?
This year the best ball-winning mids are all tied to either the GWS or Sydney academies – Jacob Hopper, Callum Mills and Matthew Kennedy have all shown the ability to dominate as inside midfielders. Hopper is the most proven of the three.

In terms of the players who are available on the open market, Rhys Mathieson is probably the best at winning the ball as a dedicated clearance player, but isn’t super versatile.

Hopper, Mills and Kennedy will all be first-round picks, as should Mathieson as well.

In the conversation: Oliver Clayton is also a prolific ball winner and has a point of difference, showing elite agility at the draft combine.

Who is the best outside midfielder?
The best outside mid in the draft and probably the most promising midfielder not tied to a club academy is Darcy Parish.

He’s proven himself as an excellent player over the last two years and would add a bit of class to any side – there’s a good chance he goes to Melbourne at their first pick, and if not, I don’t expect him to last past Essendon’s back-to-back selections that follow.

In the conversation: It’s more a draft of ball-winners than it is ball-users. Wayne Milera and Mitch Hibberd are both ‘flanker’ types who could eventually develop into quality outside midfielders.

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Who is the best ruckman?
It’s not a draft for ruckmen. There are some players like Harry McKay who will go early on that can pinch hit in there, but as far as your genuine ruckmen go, they won’t be getting looked at until late in the piece.

Gach Nyuon might be the most promising of the bunch, a 200cm prospect with some serious athleticism, he finished second in the 30m repeat sprints at the draft combine – remarkable for his height.

Really though, you wouldn’t place a large bet on any of the ruckmen in this draft becoming genuine number one rucks for the clubs they join. There’s potential there but not much proven talent.

In the conversation: Mabior Chol similar to Nyuon is a very athletic ruckman, Matthew Flynn and Andre Parella are more traditional ruckmen.

Who is the most versatile?
If you love versatility you will love 191cm South Australian Aaron Francis who can play just about anywhere.

Generally his best form has been as a rebounding third-tall defender, but he has also had some big games kicking goals up forward, and clubs are excited about his potential to become a tall midfielder.

He has a lot of elite traits and that will see him picked up early in the draft, maybe as early as the first five picks. His future is uncertain, but full of promise.

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In the conversation: Eric Hipwood is a great versatile tall player who will head to Brisbane via their academy. They don’t know if he will become a backman, a forward, or a swingman – but they’ll be excited regardless.

Who is the best kick?
Consensus is that South Australian Riley Bonner is the best kick in this year’s draft. The classy defender models his game on Hawthorn’s Grant Birchall as the kind of guy who can set up a penetrative play off half-back.

Like Birchall, Bonner may well wind up a Hawk, Hawthorn love good kickers after all and he’s likely to be available in their range of picks. If they let him slip, he won’t last much longer.

In the conversation: This draft isn’t necessarily packed with elite kicks, but Darcy Parish as mentioned before is a very good user of the footy.

Who has the most pace?
It depends a little on which measurement you want to go by but I think most would agree that if you’re looking for pace in this draft, Daniel Rioli is the first name that will come to mind.

Rioli – the cousin of Hawthorn’s Cyril – was equal third in the 20m sprints at the draft combine (at a time of 2.89 seconds), and first in the 30m repeat sprints (at a time of 24.15 seconds).

Every club at their recruiting table would say “we could use more pace” and as a result even though he hasn’t dominated games this year, Rioli will definitely get picked up likely somewhere in the second round of the draft.

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In the conversation: David Cunningham has a good deal of pace too, and will probably be drafted around the same mark – maybe a little earlier.

Who is the tallest?
It’s hard to say right now who the tallest player drafted will be but there’s a good chance it’s Andre Parella, a 204cm tennis-player-cum-ruckman who averaged 28 hitouts at the national championships this year.

He probably gets drafted but it wouldn’t be until late, he might have to wait until the rookie draft to get his chance.

In the conversation: Eric Hipwood at 202cm is the tallest of the players you’d lock in and say he will definitely get picked up, with Harry McKay and Gach Nyuon both also hitting the two-metre mark. Funnily enough, only Nyuon is a genuine ruckman.

Who is the smallest?
There’s always something inspiring about a little guy making the cut isn’t there? Big Boomer Harvey fan talking here.

This year the little man of the draft is Tasmanian midfielder Kieran Lovell. This guy’s stats are simply insane, he averaged more than 34 possessions per game at the national championships.

He’s 173cm which would make him one of the shortest in the league but for a point of comparison is still 5cm taller than last year’s shortest player Caleb Daniel.

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In the conversation: William Snelling is also 173cm and probably gets drafted. Hisham Kerbatieh and Jade Gresham are both 178cm and should both get picked up, Gresham could be a first-round pick.

Who has the funniest name?
Easily the most important category, something I love to do every year is pick out the best – and by best I mean funniest – name in each draft crop, and this year, wow, I must say, it came down to two highly-credentialed candidates.

In the end, I just have to give the nod to Harrison Himmelberg, a key forward who will likely go to the Giants through their academy, with draft smokey Wylie Buzza a close second.

Himmelberg becomes my new holder of the John Brinkkotter Medal, named in honour of the funniest name of the 1986 VFL Draft, the first ‘modern’ draft.

Recent winners include Dillon Viojo-Rainbow last year, and Orazio Fantasia the year before.

In the conversation: Yestin Eades, Thomas Jok.

The big change – the new father-son and academy bidding system

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You won’t have heard people talk about the draft this year without having heard about the new father-son and academy bidding system. It’s new, it’s big, and it’s mighty confusing.

In the past, clubs who had players eligible to join them as father-son or academy selections had a relatively simple time of it.

The process was that before the trade period, the clubs would all sit down and go through the pre-trade draft order, and the other clubs would all have the opportunity to ‘bid’ on a club’s father-son or academy prospect.

When a bid was made, all the club with the father-son or academy player had to do was agree to use their next available pick in the draft order to select that player.

The system worked well enough for some time but had a number of issues and the one that has led to this big change is that some clubs – particularly those with academies – began getting very talented players for cheap.

Isaac Heeney was the face of this controversy – he was bidded on by Melbourne as early as pick two last year, but because Sydney had finished runners-up their first available pick wasn’t until 17. It made Heeney a huge bargain.

Well, no one likes to see other clubs getting big bargains and Eddie McGuire in particular huffed and puffed in the media and he blew the current father-son and academy bidding system down.

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The AFL instead decided to implement a new supposedly fairer system that would ensure that clubs drafting father-son or academy players pay market value, or close to.

So how does it work? Essentially, every pick has been assigned a points value, and instead of just matching with their next available pick, clubs need to pay the points value required to secure their player, using multiple draft picks if need be.

WHAT’S IT WORTH? THE POINTS VALUE OF EVERY PICK

The other major change is that instead of occurring before the trade period, bidding on father-son and academy players will now occur live at the draft.

This means that those clubs looking to pick up multiple highly-rated players were able to swing trades seeking to afford them during the trade period this year.

It also saw some questionable deals go down as a result, as clubs traded individual high picks for multitudes of low ones in order to get more points value.

In theory
On draft night, the process will work like this. When a club’s pick comes up, they will have the chance to either take a player available on the open market, or make a bid on a father-son or academy player tied to another club.

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If they make a bid, the club who that player is tied to will then need to match the appropriate amount of points.

However, there is still some value in it for the club looking to match the bid, because they don’t have to match the full price of the bid.

If the bid comes in the first 18 picks – what would be considered the first round, if not for potential compensation or priority picks – they need to match the value of the pick that was bid, minus 20 per cent.

If the bid comes after the first 18 picks, they need to match the value of the pick that was bid, minus 197 points, which is what the discount would be on pick 18 – meaning the same discount is then kept pick after pick from 18 onwards.

They must use their next available pick or picks to match the bid – they cannot choose to keep an early pick and only match with later ones.

If the value of their first pick in line is used up and still more points are required, they move on to the next pick in line, and so on.

Once the required points have been spent, and only after this, the draft order is updated.

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The first pick they used is moved up in the draft to come in front of the pick that the bidding club used to bid.

Any other picks that they used the full points value of move to the end of the draft order.

Any pick that they only used part of the points value of moves back in the draft to the appropriate place given its new points value.

And depending on which of the matching club’s picks have moved up or down, the other draft picks in the order will shift around to accommodate that.

For this reason the picks that your club takes into the draft will not be the picks you finish with. Hawthorn for example has picks 15 and 18, but there could be as many as five academy players bid on before that, moving them down to 20 and 23.

However, some of the picks above might also be used to pay for those players, seeing them move back up – in this case, the Giants would probably use pick 10, and the Hawks would move back to 19 and 22.

Picks later in the draft will move up the order as more and more picks are used to pay for players.

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Hawthorn for example hold pick 48 as their next pick after those two, but it could move up six or seven spots as Sydney, Brisbane and the Giants use a slew of picks in the 30s and early 40s to pay for academy players.

After the bidding process is complete, the club who made the bid then gets to use their pick – they can move on to selecting a player from the open draft, or even make another bid if they wish.

Example
Confusing no? It’s a complicated system but it will make more sense once it is seen in action.

For an example let’s say that Melbourne choose to bid on Sydney academy player Callum Mills at pick 3.

Pick 3 is worth 2234 points, minus 20 per cent, that’s 1787 points that Sydney need to match.

Sydney’s first available pick after that bid is pick 33, which is worth 563 points. It’s not enough to match the bid, but it brings us down to 1224 points left to match.

Sydney’s next pick in line is pick 36, which is worth 502 points. Again – it doesn’t get the job done, but we’re chipping away. There’s 722 points left to pay.

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Sydney’s next pick after that is pick 37, worth 483 points. You know the drill. We’ve got 239 points left to go.

Finally at Sydney’s next pick in line at pick 44, they’ve got 362 points, enough to finish matching the bid and with 123 points left over.

So, with the bid matched, the picks now move. Sydney’s first pick – 33 – moves up to pick 3, and is used to secure Callum Mills.

Picks 36 and 37 were used up entirely, so they go straight to the end of the draft.

Pick 44 still has some points left, 123, and moves down the order to the appropriate place based on that value.

Most of the other picks then move a little – everything below Sydney’s new pick 3 moves down a spot, but everything after the picks Sydney spent moves up a bit.

Melbourne now have pick 4. They can go and grab a player from the open draft pool now if they want, but they could also make another bid, say for Jacob Hopper or Matthew Kennedy.

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Deficit
Of course, the major question remaining is, what if a club simply can’t afford to pay the points value required to match a bid? Do they miss out on their player? No, because they have the ability to go into deficit.

Essentially, if a club runs out of points to spend, they can have some points taken off their draft picks next year in order to match the bid.

These deficit points will be subtracted from their picks in the next draft, relevant to where the original bid came.

So say for example the Giants were unable to fully match a first-round bid for Matthew Kennedy, then the deficit points would be taken off their first-round pick next year.

On the other hand if the Saints were unable to fully match a second-round bid for father-son Bailey Rice, then the deficit points would be taken off their second-round pick next year.

Well, actually they wouldn’t – because the Saints have already traded away their 2016 second-round pick. That being the case, we move to the next pick, and the points come off their third-round pick instead.

There’s also a maximum amount of deficit clubs can go into, which is 1723 points, equivalent to the total number of points a club would have available if they won the premiership.

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Essentially, this is to ensure that no club can go so far into deficit that they are still paying it off two years later.

The good news
The good news is, the bidding system will be handled entirely by computer – you’re not going to have to whip out the calculator every time a club makes a bid (though you certainly can if you want to) and neither will club recruiters.

As soon as a bid is made, the computer will calculate the cost of matching that bid in picks terms, so it’ll be very clear what’s happening.

It is a complicated system, but on draft night, it will seem simple – simpler, at least.

If you’ve any further questions about the bidding system, or anything about the draft, just let me know in the comments, and I’ll do my best to help.

Tomorrow: Who should your club consider with their picks? I’ll go club-by-club and look at what your club recruiters might be planning.

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