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The Brisbane Lions are set to request a priority draft pick this season, following Melbourne’s unsuccessful request last year.
Since the rule changes, moving away from the automatic granting of a priority pick based on number of wins for the season, no club has been given a priority pick.
So would a priority pick for the Lions be justified, or lead to yet another highly rated young player leaving the Lions in two years?
Despite the club’s bounty of high draft picks, Melbourne had a sustained period of mediocrity, finishing down the bottom of the ladder year after year.
First-round picks between 2006-2010 netted them Cale Morton (pick 4), James Frawley (pick 12), Jack Grimes (pick 14), Sam Blease (pick 17), Tom scully (pick 1), Jack Trengove (pick 2), Jordan Gysberts (pick 11) and Lucas Cook (pick 12). Eleven top-20 draft picks in five years should have provided them with the nucleus of a successful squad.
Fast forward to 2015 and only Jack Watts, Jack Grimes and Jack Trengove are at the club, and each could have been traded away in the past few seasons. Clearly, throwing draft picks at Melbourne didn’t help, because it wasn’t a lack of access to quality players but poor recruiting and development that led to years of pathetic performances.
Brisbane have likewise picked highly rated players with their early picks, only to have them leave the club after two or three seasons. Would receiving picks one and two in the draft (likely to be two key position Victorians) provide any real benefit to the club if they return home to Victoria in two years time?
Brisbane’s main argument for receiving a priority pick is the number of first-round picks to have left the club – but hey, why not give them two more talented kids to develop for the benefit of propping up a Victorian club’s list in two years’ time.
If Brisbane had made smarter management decisions and retained required players, their list would look much different. Imagine having Billy Longer, Jared Polec, Elliot Yeo and Lachie Henderson (traded to Carlton along with pick 12 in a year Nat Fyfe was drafted at pick 20) in their side. They wouldn’t need a priority pick.
The AFL needs to review its priority pick system and develop a more flexible and diverse plan to assist those clubs that are genuinely struggling. The Brisbane Lions have obviously struggled this year, but for a club who traded a first-round pick last year, as well as pick 21 for Allen Christensen, can they really argue that they don’t have enough first-round draft picks?
Their first-round pick from the previous year, James Aish, is also set to leave, so clearly the issue isn’t access to high draft picks. If they are losing their talented players to other states why not have a system to address this – in this situation they could ask for access to a local academy player without the new tighter restrictions?
The AFL needs to address the real issues surrounding a club’s under-achievement. Melbourne for example was criticised for its development program as well as its list management/recruiting. The appointment of Peter Jackson led to a push for a quality coach and the appointment of Paul Roos.
This is the type of assistance the AFL should have offered – appointing or attracting quality staff to lead the football department or offering financial assistance/exemption outside the ‘soft’ salary cap of football department spending to enable a club to recruit quality staff to address their areas of weakness.
As with any system there would need to be checks in place to prevent clubs abusing such a system by poaching staff from other clubs, but as was the case with the appointment of Peter Jackson as CEO – who was not employed with another AFL club at the time – there could be long-term benefits in this approach.
If the Lions’ issue is player retention, the focus needs to be on addressing this. The Lions have already taken a step in the right direction with the reported signing of Craig Lambert, who has been credited with playing an influential role in helping the Giants retain the majority of their playing list. Instead of throwing another early draft pick at the club, why not promote the development of local players on their list?
I know the AFL have tightened northern academy drafting requirements, a strange decision in itself, but a priority pick to be used on an academy prospect at the end of the first or second round could hand a struggling interstate club the opportunity to top up their local talent without using their first pick.
Another option could be for the AFL to provide financial assistance to set up a welfare program for a club struggling to retain players.
It is a far too simplistic view by the AFL and its clubs to cry poor and request a top draft pick to help improve on-field performance. As Port Adelaide and the Western Bulldogs have shown, appointing quality individuals can quickly turn a club from disaster zone into the next big thing.
The AFL needs to take responsibility for ensuring the success of all clubs and providing a more thorough and individual assistance program to address the needs of any clubs experiencing a sustained period of poor performance.
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