The 2021 AFL National Draft is just around the corner (finally), but are you up to speed with exactly what to expect and when things will actually begin to happen?
Well, first of all, the second free agency period for delisted players will close this coming Monday (the 15th), however, with no action so far since it opened on Thursday any late signings at this stage will come as a welcome surprise in a dead news week.
On Wednesday the 17th the nominations for the draft close, which is normally pretty boring, but for Suns fans in 2020 it revealed a badly-kept secret in a pair of players from the academy who were quietly pre-listed without being announced and subsequently didn’t nominate for the draft. Will lightning strike twice?
Father-son prospects must nominate by this date, which seems a formality, yet just last year, Crows flag winner Tyson Edwards’ son Luke chose not to go down the same path as his delisted brother, although Adelaide came out and said they were not nominating him (you be the judge) and he is now a West Coast Eagle as a result.
In what has been the most boring week of the off-season, the only AFL news that has not been scandal or speculation has been the signing of international Category B rookies, so there could potentially be more movement on this front by Wednesday’s deadline.
Then it is one week, four hours and ten minutes until the draft commences, so triple check the time in your zone and tune in to your chosen coverage for the first round of selections, with father-son and possibly Northern Academy bid matching expected to take between 21 to 23 players.
After that, rather than a seemingly endless marathon like last year, the second round won’t commence until the following night, with live trading beginning in the afternoon before the first pick of the second round is placed.
This is the marathon session in 2021 with draft picks from later rounds coming in dramatically as picks used to match first-round bids get burnt, although the National Draft is only touted to feature a total number of picks somewhere in the 60s.
Next Generation Academy bids can be matched from the second round onwards, so the already scrambled draft order will be unrecognisable as bids are placed and matched, as with any further father-sons and Northern Academy bids.
(Photo by Russell Freeman/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
The AFL has predicted that this second draft session will take only three hours, but if it gets beyond the fourth round then proceedings will nudge four hours before list managers have to conduct late-night list adjustments before the following day’s preseason and rookie drafts.
For those needing to get to bed before midnight, the following morning will feature news of rookie upgrades for clubs that need to clear space for the rookie draft and any last-minute delisted free agency signings.
On the third day after the overnight list manoeuvres, there is a scheduled preseason draft but there likely won’t be any players nominating for it this time around, so it will be onto the rookie draft.
14 players have been designated to be re-rookied, which is actually facilitated before picks go live via a confidential listing process, then North Melbourne can have the first crack at undrafted players in the rookie draft.
In 2020, 15 genuine rookie draft selections were made and 11 re-rookied players were pre-selected while only 14 clubs made a selection with four clubs passing.
In comparison to Day 2, Friday will be neatly wrapped up in the afternoon, with the last order of business being the Category B rookie selections, which is the last chance for academy prospects to get onto their tied club’s list.
But even then, with the season’s player movement period finally over, there remains the preseason supplemental selection period for players training with clubs over the summer vying for final list spots, which eight clubs used to give lifelines to 12 players this season.
Big Fish
Guest
The biggest mistake the AFL made was setting up the Gold Coast Suns how they did. They should have bought back the Brisbane Bears and had them as a second Brisbane team, and got them to play 4 games a year on the Gold Coast.
Shinboner 1971
Roar Rookie
What were GC thinking delisting Greenwood? Surely there were other players they could have delisted instead. That said, as a NMFC supporter I’m happy with their error of judgement, I think he will be a wonderful pick up for us, who need an extra big bodied, experienced midfielder to go with our brigade of youngsters. Welcome to North, Hugh. And well done Brady and Nobes on the steal.
Chanon
Roar Rookie
I’m sure Suns were well aware of the risks pros & cons with what they did & for every action their is an equal reaction, l’m sure Thom would agree!
Charlie Keegan
Roar Guru
You jinxed it Thom. Hugh Greenwood has signed with norf.
Macca
Roar Rookie
Greenwood won’t be re-drafted by the Suns now, he has just signed a contract with North. While I’m sure this is part of some brilliant strategy by the Suns, it seems to me yet another in a long list of list management failures.
Vicboy
Roar Rookie
Losing Lyons and now Greenwood is really poor. Too easy to get players out of the Suns. Draft picks just don’t stack up against hard bodied mature players. I like the Suns, but part of that might also be that they are the little kids of the play ground that needs sympathy.
Jordan
Guest
AFL. The F is for Flexibility. Toby will play on and on. With a few weeks off each year. Edited after posting
O M
Roar Rookie
Me too RT. I haven’t read or seen anything which contradicts their Official Policy. It is something that probably deserves to be clarified since Tobes is getting close to the 16 game cliff!
RT
Roar Rookie
If that is the case, I am surprised the media hasn't made more of it.
Chanon
Roar Rookie
Feel sorry for Staker will be known for all the wrong reasons. That term is based on a players longetivity to the game not based on legalities off the field. A clear difference between the two but Yatt your a man that views the two worlds on the same page that’s ok that’s your perspective??????
O M
Roar Rookie
And besides Wiki is infallible. a Wiki page dated 2015 that admits it out of date….now I know you’re joking around. You haven’t presented any argument anyway, you’re going with the Dennis Denuto approach…..its the vibe! No need to argue though. The Offical AFL document dated July 2021 says you’re wrong. Toby will only keep playing if he stays under 16 weeks suspension.
Yattuzzi
Roar Rookie
Just reread it. I ‘m not going to argue a legal point with you. And besides Wiki is infallible. I think young Toby is odds on for another couple this year. So somebody will need to admit being w…….
Yattuzzi
Roar Rookie
Not sure Staker would agree. Jails are full of hot heads.
O M
Roar Rookie
1.3 Application (a) This Policy applies to ALL Football Bodies and their affiliated Leagues and Clubs and all Players and Officials. Football Body means a football body conducting a Competition, including the State Bodies, Leagues, and other unaffiliated football bodies, as the context dictates. That’s pretty unambiguous to me. The AFL is a Football Body so it does apply to AFL and Toby. There is no where in the document that says, this doesn’t apply to the AFL, in fact it says exactly that it does apply to AFL
Chanon
Roar Rookie
He wasn’t a thug he just had a temper a clear difference between being a nasty individual & a occasional hot head!
Yattuzzi
Roar Rookie
If you read 1.3a, and then look at the definition of body, you can see why the AFL don’t have to follow it and they don’t.
Yattuzzi
Roar Rookie
A bit soft, I only ranked him third on my all time thugs.
O M
Roar Rookie
I think that Wikipedia article is considerably out of date: This article needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (September 2015) The NATIONAL PLAYER & OFFICIAL DEREGISTRATION POLICY my link refers to is dated July 2021
RT
Roar Rookie
If you read the Wikipedia article, for what it is worth, it finishes by saying the AFL don’t apply the rule to their competition.
O M
Roar Rookie
It reads as though it does apply to the AFL (and Toby, of course) as I indicated above 1.2 Definitions AFL Competition (or AFL Competitions) means one or both of the elite national men’s or women’s competitions (as the context dictates). Also, the front page of the document contains all the States and Leagues Logos and it includes a stand alone AFL logo.