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Get tanking for the draft out of AFL

15th July, 2009
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Roar Guru
15th July, 2009
41
1584 Reads

Tanking is an ugly word in the AFL. No one likes to hear it, but it is reality. And the time has come for the league to make some adjustments to its draft system.

Simply, it is not right for such heavy attention to be focused towards the fight at the bottom of the table.

Melbourne (currently three wins) and West Coast (four wins) are two teams that could benefit greatly this season if they each win four games or less.

The Eagles have no room to move, but if each team satisfy the requirement, they will gain a prized priority draft pick before the first-round.

Teams who win four games or less in two consecutive seasons are eligible for a priority draft selection.

Adding to the intrigue is the fact that, in 2010, the Gold Coast team will enter the draft. The new side will be given a number of concessions that will affect other clubs.

The Gold Coast will receive nine of the first 15 picks in 2010, making this year’s draft crucial for the competition’s bottom teams as they seek to bolster their lists.

What, then, is the motivation for Melbourne and West Coast to win?

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They both can’t make finals and winning, apart from the two hours of joy after the final season, is insignificant given the positions of the two clubs.

Tom Scully is touted as this season’s No.1 draft choice. The best young kid in the country could further enhance the Demons’ chances of climbing further up the ladder. Ditto West Coast.

So, firstly, the priority pick must be banished. There is little doubt that it encourages teams to play for picks. And why wouldn’t they when the rules allow it to happen?

Whether teams say they are putting players in for surgery early or playing kids for their future, it all, sadly, relates back to the same thing.

The AFL must, as a result, remove the carrot. And not just the priority draft pick.

Currently the team that finishes in last position after the home-and-away season receives the first pick in the first-round of the draft (after the priority selections).

The team that finishes second-last receives pick two, and so on.

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To put a stop to the tanking discussion at this time of the season, there needs to be no guarantees. As a result, the bottom-four teams should be placed in a hat and the first removed gets the No.1 selection.

It may be a team which finished in 14th position, but at least all debates and talk of tanking will be removed.

In essence, under this system, the team that finishes 12th will always receive pick five (as is the case now). But it is the early draft selections which cause the most controversy.

Regardless, the side lucky enough to receive the top-pick will need it.

The wooden-spoon team, at worst, receives pick four. But, in the second-round, the order will return to normal, according to ladder positions (as is the case now).

This minor change will ensure that winning becomes a priority for clubs.

Remember the farcical situation in 2007 when Melbourne and Carlton played a Round 22 encounter, dubbed the “Kreuzer Cup”, that no team wanted to win?

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We can only hope there are no repeats of that day, because the game, and its fans, deserve better

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