3QT. Calder are up 33-50. It looks like Northern are recording their goal kickers, but Calder are not, unfortunately. Hopefully it is updated shortly after the game.
Ignoring academies (which aren’t meant to be equalising).
F/S may not be equal in outcomes, but they are in opportunity. And heaps of things aren’t equal in outcomes. Look at our luck with the draft quality of the years we went crap.
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I would agree with you @Ants
I think the bigger issue is less about the price paid, but more a bigger issue concerning how compromised the draft has become. It has become really hard for mid to lower table teams to rebuild through the draft as their picks get pushed so far back.
In 2024, the first round lasted 25 picks because of all the f/s and academy selections. Then there were two additional priority selections given to North. In 2023, the first round was 29 picks!
So for example, Dons finish 11th and if it was a fair draft we would have picks 8 and 26. On draft night, these picks are actually 11 and 35.
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I just don’t under stand this ‘compromised draft’ angle that people keep banging on about.
If a father/son player is not available to you, you ignore them. It makes zero difference to the outcome of the draft…… just like it was when all father-son players were a third round selection.
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Something simple could be 10 years without a finals win and you get an allowance of an extra list spot. SO suns and Essendon can carry an extra player on the list until we win a final. North too next year.
Or allow those clubs to list a NGA player pre draft.
Similar to when gold coast had those concessions and listed multiple.
So we could just add our top rated NGA kid, doesn’t throw out the draft. as we don;t need to match. Would have meant we could have listed KAKO and then picked at 9.
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This and the fact that so many of them were first round selections. Then you add that players are not actually being picked where they should be because teams simply know they can’t get the player and then add that they also get a 20% discount on that player, makes it a shambles.
I’ll also add that Free Agency is also a shambles. Why not force the team getting the free agent to pay with picks? So Essendon get McKay for nothing, then the rest of the clubs are compromised by being moved down the draft order. Why not force Essendon to come up with 2234 points including using their first round pick to get McKay?
I just think that the draft needs to go back to if you are last you are guaranteed pick 1 and if you are premier, you are guaranteed pick 18.
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I would remove free agency compensation picks entirely or change it so picks are only given in certain circumstances. For example, they can only get the pick if they offer a matching contract to their player, but they reject it anyway
FA become this weird system where bottom teams have become incentivised to not hold their players, or not force a trade, because they know they can get a top pick by letting them go.
If Carlton loses TDK as a free agent because they can’t match Saint’s deal - then why should they get a compensation pick? Isn’t the whole point of the salary cap to lead to equilisation?
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Yeah, I’d be happy with that too. Ultimately, the trade and draft should be there to make the weaker clubs better, not the stronger clubs stronger.
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I have no issue with 30+ year olds chasing success later in their career, but if you a RFA under 30 you shouldn’t have so much power to go where you want.
If you’re an RFA, you should be treated like you’re under contract - if your current team can match, and is willing to match, the offer from the other team.
This allows poorer sides to keep their players and chase others more easily than top ones
Bewick kicked 1 up to 3/4 time
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delist
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Like I said, it’s part of a bigger issue where pick 19, which you are meant to get if you come last, isn’t pick 19 anymore.
In the last two drafts, pick 19 has become 28 and 29. There’s historically a big difference in the value of those picks.
It gets worse for the teams who finish mid table, as often their first pick is getting pushed back a few spots and their second rounder is now coming in the mid 30s
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With FA I would make it that a side that finished top 4 can’t sign a FA unless they lose a FA.
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I absolutely agree there are issues with equalisation and the draft. But father-son as a philosophy is (most years) not the driver of that. It is the cost, the academies and free agency compo.
The fixture which has bottom teams doubling up against each other also contributes.
I’d note some of these issues could be offset by changes such as priority picks before round 2 for teams finishing bottom 6 and having a more randomised fixture.
This ignores that the only reason FA was brought in was to make it easier for players to move clubs. Easier movement was the goal.
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But if the same players are still available, who cares if it’s pick 19 or pick 27.
Finish your academy and…
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The point is if the rule didn’t exist, those players wouldn’t be tied up and they would be available. And clubs that need quality would get a better draftee instead of being pushed in front of in the queue by other clubs.
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Movement was the goal, but the chosen system was intended to “maintain the evenness of the competition” and “protect the integrity of the draft“ (Demetriou’s words, not mine).
You can argue that the current system is not working as intended
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Yeah, movement was the goal.
The AFL ■■■■■■ up with a system plenty of us (me included) said at the time wouldn’t work. I’ve no issue with ideas to change the system, but laugh at suggestions that will hit player movement too hard. Or get rid of FA.
The AFLPA wouldn’t allow it.
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