The AFL’s priority pick has long been a cause for debate, ever since the years of speculation about clubs tanking in order to get themselves a prized draft pick.
Now the AFL have changed the priority pick rules where they may hand out the picks at their discretion, and it’s become an issue.
This is the first year the AFL has had the call as to which club the priority pick will go to, and the Melbourne Demons have made it crystal clear they want the pick for themselves after their poor year thus far.
Melbourne’s request has yet again opened the priority pick debate. Instead of the tanking theories of previous years it has been asked, does Melbourne actually deserve a priority pick?
People like Brisbane Lions coach Michael Voss have argued against Melbourne’s request, pointing out other clubs also deserve the draft concessions:
“We’ve just come out of the greatest compromised draft in the last two or three years,” Voss said during the week.
“Our teams that have been struggling through that time have received no leg-up whatsoever and all of a sudden we find out at the back of that compromised draft that apparently priority picks are now back on the table.
“If that is the case then I think quite rightly our football club should be asking the same question as well as Port, Western Bulldogs and a few other teams.”
Some have argued Melbourne have lost their right for priority picks given their past draft failures, and that awarding Melbourne with a high draft pick would be rewarding the club for mediocrity, especially after this year’s tanking investigation into the club.
Others like Western Bulldogs president Peter Gordon have argued the priority pick should be scrapped altogether.
“The sooner we have an unencumbered draft system without priority picks of any kind, the better off we will be in the long term,” said Gordon.
I for one like the priority pick, and while it may not guarantee success in any way for clubs who ‘earn’ them, they do create excitement for fans of struggling clubs.
They provide some hope that maybe the dark days are close to an end.
However they key argument for the priority pick is: just how should they be dealt out to clubs?
The AFL’s new rule of handing them out based on an AFL formula has already caused great debate, and the AFL can’t go back to a team who wins less than five games for the year earns a pick, which would only open up the tanking theories yet again.
I think the way the AFL can avoid both debates is to give the priority pick to the club that finishes ninth on the ladder and the draft order could make its way down from there.
Ninth could get the first pick and 18th would get pick 10, it then goes on to eighth with pick 11 and so on.
This would reward clubs who have had reasonable seasons but just missed on finals with promising draft picks.
It would also mean every game of the season means the four points are vital, every goal/point for percentage means something as clubs strive for higher ladder positions for higher draft picks.
It would also get rid of the tanking debate, as no club would choose to miss finals just to get a high draft pick.
This draft system would ensure clubs earn their picks.
It has been argued to me by a few mates while sitting at the bar that this would just leave struggling clubs to keep struggling, but as we’ve seen with Melbourne already priority picks don’t always equal a climb up the ladder.
What struggling clubs would need to do is look at their development and recruiting structures rather than constantly relying on AFL draft concessions to drag them out the mire.
I think this draft system would lead to a much more exciting and rewarding competition for all clubs.
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