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It’s not too often I applaud the AFL, but the league’s decision to establish an official pre-season draft in March is both a smart move and an indication we might not be far away from a mid-season draft in the AFL. The new rules allow clubs to add a player of any age to their rookie list after next year’s NAB Cup.
In the past, clubs had to make pre-season and rookie selections by December 15, but now they can leave one rookie spot open and are not required to finalise the playing list until March.
This system is a win for the clubs and the players.
The pre-season competition is designed to help clubs experiment with players, formalise game plans and gain important match practice. Unfortunately, a side product of this is the inevitably of injury, and in some cases, a season ending injury.
On the eve of the season, this can potentially have major ramifications on a clubs season.
This year Hawthorn was the perfect example when the clubs’ ruck stocks were decimated during the pre-season.
Had the Hawks had the option to recruit a VFL or former AFL player to fill the clubs specific needs they might have won more games early in the season.
It also provides clubs with a fantastic amount of flexibility too as they can have as many as three players outside their primary list training through the pre-season if they decide to leave open a rookie spot.
If more than one club wants to rookie-list the same player after the pre-season competition, reverse ladder order applies to the selection to avoid any confusion.
The pre-season draft also gives a club the retrospective chance to fix a problem that might not even be injury related. A club might realize a need for speed, or deficiency of tall defenders and through a pre-season draft, they can have the opportunity to fill the gap.
This also has the potential to prolong the career of ageing stars as well, a player like James McDonald or even Josh Fraser if he is de-listed by Collingwood at seasons end, could be examples of players that might be picked up and given a life line under this system.
The March draft takes the AFL one step closer to the possibility of a mid-season draft.
The clubs have been campaigning for a mid-season draft to allow them to cover cracks in their lists for years, and football operations boss Adrian Anderson indicated recently perhaps its closer than we thought.
”We’re exploring a number of options, we have no proposal as yet but I was interested to hear the view of the player managers. Several are very keen on the idea of short-term contracts but it wasn’t unanimous.”
The sooner the AFL introduces a mid season draft the better.
I know it’s not a new concept, but the impact of two new teams on the competition and the player movement revolution that has now begun, puts it squarely back on the agenda.
And so it should be.
It would be exciting for the fans, practical for the clubs and beneficial to the players.
Surely it’s a win, win, isn’t it?
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