There has been a lot of discussion about adding a draft into the NRL as a way of distributing talent. It is interesting to look at how a draft would work in rugby league and what it would look like.
The idea of a player draft is common in North American sports and has been in place in the AFL for a number of years. Could a draft work in the NRL or would it jeopardise the important ties between local junior and club that make rugby league what it is?
Under the current set up, an NRL draft would almost certainly be counterproductive. Clubs fund the development of players from the age of 16 and even earlier in many cases. This continues through to the current Holden Cup competition for U20s players.
By adding a draft there would be no incentive for clubs to invest in the development of young players given that the rewards will mostly likely be seen by another team. We have seen this already simply through free agency.
The Canberra Raiders have long put resources into junior development, only to see young stars like Anthony Milford poached by rival clubs.
In American sports such as football and basketball, the development of players takes place at the high school and college level. Professional franchises evaluate the talent coming through these systems and take the best available player or select based on team need. There is little to no connection between the player and the franchise like we see in rugby league.
There are of course exceptions to this. Cleveland Cavaliers megastar LeBron James is a native of Akron, Ohio and was almost destined to end up with the Cavs who picked him first overall straight out of high school in the 2003 NBA draft. Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles is a Florida native, went to college at Central Florida and there was little doubt that the Jags would take him with the third pick in the 2014 NFL draft.
This is not to say the Jaguars took Bortles only because he was from Florida, and it was probably more coincidence than anything but the pick made a lot of sense.
This however is not the norm and rather than a connection that is created throughout the juniors, sports professionals in America often seem to create bonds with the city that they are drafted in. Louisiana native Peyton Manning is beloved in Indianapolis where he played from 1998 to 2010. See his retirement speech where he spoke of his love for the city of Indianapolis to know that this connection is real.
There are countless examples of this practice; long-serving players seem to ‘adopt’ their new city as their hometown. Players such as Tom Brady even take ‘hometown discounts’ for their teams. This is despite the fact that the New England Patriot Brady is actually from California and went to college at Michigan.
We see this concept in the NRL as well, Cronulla Sharks captain Paul Gallen is a Parramatta junior, but has spent his entire career at Cronulla and is beloved in the Shire.
While a draft is effective at spreading talent and fostering parity in sports leagues, the entire system of developing talent is different in America and similar style of draft would not be effective in the NRL as there is no other structure that could effectively develop large numbers of players in the way that high schools and colleges do in the States.
Closer to home, the AFL may have some clues in how a draft could work in rugby league. The AFL draft has a variety of concessions such as the father-son rule, academy picks and zone allocations.
In particular, zone allocations or academy picks could be applied to the junior catchment areas of NRL clubs so that organisations such as the Panthers with a large nursery could get first access to their developed talent.
Imagine the Wests Tigers selecting a young Mitchell Pearce under the father-son rule or the Newcastle Knights securing a fresh faced Greg Bird (a Newcastle junior) as a zone selection.
This of course doesn’t account for poor recruitment decisions by the clubs. Parramatta as an example have let many talented juniors walk out of the club only to see them become stars in another uniform – there is no guarantee that clubs will make good selections.
There are clearly some benefits to having a draft. Clubs with less of a junior base such or clubs with less resources would get access to talent they might not otherwise get.
If a draft was ever implemented it would be important to ensure that local juniors get a chance to play at their local club. It would be a shame to see Adam Reynolds, who grew up a grubber kick away from Redfern Oval, selected by the Warriors if he had aspired his whole life to play for Souths.
It is an interesting debate, the implementation of a draft and possibly an accompanying trade period and changes to free agency would no doubt create plenty of interest during the season. However, whether or not it would be good for the game is up in the air.
A great part of rugby league that is perhaps different to other sporting codes is the real connection that exists between the team and the community.
A young kid from Penrith can see locals such as Bryce Cartwright, Matt Moylan and Peter Wallace playing for the Panthers every week and be inspired to achieve his own goals in rugby league.
Would you be in favour of a draft in the NRL and what would it look like?
Steve
Guest
I honestly believe , that a draft system in the NRL , whould be benificial. I can however , see how some people wud see it differently. I have watched it work , for the most part , in the AFL. If a player gets picked up in the first round draft pick schedule , and doesnt want to play for that club , he can then be traded to a club , that he does want to play for. As for players bieng drafted to clubs , its the players choice if he wants to play for that club , or not. The club they get drafted to , is not always the club they end up playing for. For example : a player can enter the draft system under " free agncy " if he get picked up by a Melbourne based team , he doos NOT have to play for that team. He can then turn around , and say , that he wants to play for a team based in another state. If the club he wants to play for , offers him a contract , it is up to the player to accept that deal or not.
Jeff Morris
Guest
Not necessarily the case. NHL has a draft and there are other opportunities such as the KHL (Russia) or the Swedish Elite League, etc. Sure, they won't make anywhere near as much money as the NHL, so maybe its not the best comparison, but there's definitely alternatives to the NHL if a player doesn't like the team that drafts them.
3_Hats SSTID 2014
Roar Rookie
DON'T Print this one please.
3_Hats SSTID 2014
Roar Rookie
Would a draft work in the NRL? Not in this current environment. There are SO many different reasons for this. What hasn’t really been mentioned in this article is that if you are going to have a true and fair draft system then you must have 3 separate drafts within the DRAFT. The Internal draft is a bit easier to manage as players are already in the NRL. 2 External Drafts: One for kids/Juniors. The Kids from NZ and other states has to be included as well. One for Aged players from either England and/or Rugby or other sports. THE NRL are DEFINITELY working towards a Draft System with… SHANE RICHARDSON’S work for the NRLs Whole of the game strategy. The Platinum League is working towards a Draft System and the Platinum League which is due to be implemented in 2018 will actually be implemented in Queensland for the 2017 season as the Qld systems for their 16 different areas in Queensland is far more advanced than in NSW. Melbournes feeder club is in Brisbane. The QRL run the whole State but in NSW it is split in 2 with the NSW Country RL a different body. New Zealand has their own systems BOTH QLD and NSW will have 16 Clubs each incorporating Country Areas. I think Sydney will have 5 and Brisbane will have probably 3 or 4 I heard something about this but it is NOT official at this point. ***SO I am Primarily in referencing to NSW Clubs as I know how the systems work here. FIRSTLY: I would just like to remind everyone that less than 1% of all kids who start out playing League as say a 5-year-old go on to play First Grade at NRL level. *WHO and HOW do we term a Junior? a) A local who is born and bred in the Area? OR b) A young kid from say Werris Creek who is brought down as a 15-year-old and put into your Harold Mathews Cup team. When this kid goes through the 16s, 18s, the 20s, then your NSW Cup team and finally into the NRL, is he a Junior? NO, but many fans wrongfully think so! SECONDLY: There are way more areas than Just the 16 that is represented by the 16 clubs. In a specific area, you have to look at a City area in a far different light to Country areas. There are so many Sports available for kids these days and many kids just don’t do weekend sport at all. So many Sydney Clubs like the Roosters, Dogs, Manly, Sharks, Souths have way more quality than quantity as they always have at least 8 Juniors in their TOP 25 most seasons. the Dragons from Sydney the Tigers from Balmain and Ashfield North Sydney run their own Juniors even though Manly have been trying to pinch them for years. ALL of these areas have less and fewer kids to choose from every year Penrith, Parramatta, the Campbelltown part of the Wests Tigers Merger are pretty good in numbers with an influx of Islander families to keep the numbers up in the West of Sydney! There are developing Clubs in NSW like Canberra, Newcastle, Souths, Illawarra, Parramatta If there was a DRAFT, why should these clubs continue to pump money in for NOTHING? I can only speak for Souths but I do know that they pump INXS of $3M per year into grassroots. For those who think a draft would work in today’s environment and are basing their arguments on distributing the talent. Player A may want to play for his local club. Player B will go for the Money. Player C Just want’s an opportunity It only works that way for established players with NRL Contracts but for Juniors in Grassroot areas who have to uproot from say, Townsville and ordered to go and play in NZ or Melbourne or eventually a Perth Club then it is NOT so easy. The WHO is going to foot the bill? Certainly NOT the 16 clubs or the QRL or the NSWRL but the ARL Commission should have to. BUT Shane Richardson’s Platinum League will definitely put systems in place in Country Areas to eventually have a draft but it may take 5 years or so. The legal or in this case that the Draft is certainly Illegal considering the Terry Hill Court Case can easily be overturned with the support from the RLPA. The reason no one has challenged the Draft in AFL is because they have support from their Players I hope this works Print this one only.
3_Hats SSTID 2014
Roar Rookie
I seemed to have mucked up my editing with duplication...sorry.
Aem
Guest
Would a draft work in the NRL? No. End of article. For even the slightest bit of detail to the argument; drafts work in leagues that have no realistic competition for their players. NBA, NFL, AFL. Drafts definitely do NOT work when players can simply up and move to a different league (Super League, Union) if they don't like who they've been drafted by. This is just scratching the surface as to the reasons why a draft is horrible for the NRL. Frankly, it's a stupid idea. It works for some sports, it doesn't work for NRL.
Perry Bridge
Guest
The indigenous kids in the AFL is certainly an issue - largely because mostly they are drawn from WA, SA and NT. Going to the local big smoke would be one thing - but moving to Victoria is a world away. Some embrace it - at North Daniel Wells (not departing to Collingwood for a nice 3 year deal to probably set up his retirement) and Lindsay Thomas have slotted in on and off the field while others have had real trouble. Generally the drafters know about the kids before reading out their names.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Exactly Sleiman. Not very player will make it ,in fact a very small percentage do make it to the top. Hence why rugby league is involved in so many programmes to assist players ,for the future beyond their playing time. More still needs to be done ,but the NRL is aware of that fact.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
What you've alluded to there regarding the well being of players is the notion of a life and career through rugby league and not necessarily in rugby league. Players with even a modicum of talent, and players shown not to be up to the physical or mental rigors of professional sport (which is no shame at all) might still be able to have a life because of rugby league's association with various real world pathways via education, training and so on.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
Thinking outside of the chook raffle again Epiquin...
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
The draft has been challenged in the past and the admin lost.A precedent has been set.Meaning it could happen once again much to the joyous enthusiasm of the lawyers, The number of different premiership winners since the inception of the NRL ,is a fair indication the current system is doing its job.Perfection it is not, however I defy anyone to come up with a perfect system. In 2016 there was in fact only one team(ie 1 out of 16), one could classify as being not up to scratch.That was expected losing the experience and expecting miracles from inexperienced young players.Newcastle showed they have some exciting young players ,who need the guidance of about 3 or 4 additional old heads. My view is ,it's better to have a young or old player who actually wants to play for Team A and has a better chance of committing ,than a guy selected to go to Team B,which is far from home or for which he is rather half hearted. He has a choice ,unless he has a bad offield record the he take what is on offer. Also NRL players have the option of playing in the ESL,why bring in a restrictive draft.All power to the players and the freedom of choice.I might add with PNG and the PI,there are growing areas to source NRL and state players, why restrict these guys as to where they should go. Worth noting and harsh it may seem.In the last few years we have heard about depression and suicide with young players.Absence from home, did not achieve NRL status ,other reasons.As a code we need to do more for the emotional well being of players,and sending some to an area they may not want to go, is not one . A developing pool of future players from grassroots is IMHO the answer to a draft.You not only grow the game, you are able to expand the competition, giving players more opportunities to which they have some control.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
I agree with the bulk of posters who don't see merit in a draft for the NRL. Pointless introducing it if it's not needed. Why isn't it needed? Because the NRL has been a more equal comp than the AFL over the last 20 years (relatively), meaning clubs manage to put together competitive rosters without a draft. For a while, with the Raiders going through a bad patch, I stated thinking that only a draft could help a club like the Raiders, but they bounced back this season, and Cronulla broke their drought (Cowboys last year), so it doesn't really look like a draft is needed at all. However, if the NRL ever started contemplating teams in Perth, Adelaide and even a 2nd team in Melbourne, then I doubt that could be achieved without a draft.
Magnus M. Østergaard
Roar Guru
Player managers are a necessary evil. I can only imagine how much clubs would screw some players who didnt have managers to help them out.
Magnus M. Østergaard
Roar Guru
It sounds weird, but it is part of the ebs and flows of an even competition. It's not like the Knights have never won a premiership. Its also a sign of even a competition can be, when a team like the Knights, who were a game away from the GF in 2013, can just fall away with roster mismanagement. I think with what Brown is doing now they will have a strong team and should get a few more years of no Origin representatives and have a really strong team built up. They were basically laying a combined NSW Cup and Holden Cup team this year.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
VH That's really interesting, I didn't know that background. That is certainly a unique set of circumstances which you won't see in the AFL, where it's all about rookies or players out of contract.
matth
Guest
It would look like a court case
Epiquin
Roar Guru
Are you though? You'll have a much more experienced team this year and a lot of enthusiasm. Not saying you won't come last, but you'll be far more competitive.
PGNEWC
Guest
As a Knights supporter to say the comp is balanced is just cruel -- at the moment we are daylight and a half behind everybody else
Matto Dragon
Guest
Wabbit, I'm not saying a Draft would make it better or make it worse. I have a serious be in my bonnet about the way the Cap is rorted constantly and the use of undisclosed TPAs. I believe the one thing the Draft does, is allow an open and fair recruitment and retention system. It cannot be and is not rorted. It is an honest system. The NRL need to be more vigilant with the Cap. But more importantly, they need to be on top of the TPAs, because that is how clubs are getting around the Cap constraints. May be a Cap on TPAs???
Matto Dragon
Guest
I can assure you there is not a true Dragon's fan who feels 2010 was a Claytons Cup. We waited 31 years, we were Minor Premiers in 2009 and 2010. We were THE best team in the comp in 2010 and we deserved that Premiership; Melbourne or no Melbourne!