AFL clubs to pay higher draft price for father-son, academy stars
Sam Landsberger
Herald Sun
January 27, 2015 7:09PM
CLUBS will be forced to pay what the AFL says is a fairer price for father-son and academy players under proposed radical changes.
Sydney is the first club set to be stung. The Swans have access to Josh Dunkley (son of former star Andrew) and academy gun Callum Mills (rated a possible No. 1 pick) and could need to cash in a multitude of picks — possibly over two seasons — to secure the pair.
Bidding would shift from the start of trade period to live on draft night under the scheme tabled to clubs late on Tuesday.
The new system could be ticked off at the AFL Commission meeting in March, before Round 1.
The Moneyball-style concept allocates draft picks a declining points value, with No. 1 worth 3000 points.
Some clubs are unconvinced with Brisbane Lions chief executive Greg Swann saying the changes are a knee-jerk reaction.
“We spend a lot of money on (academies) and if you can’t get some sort of benefit out of it then perhaps we should hand them back to the AFL to run,” he told the Herald Sun.
“The Swans are paying $1 million a year for their academy. We’re not that high, were in the hundreds of thousands … recruiters have to be prepared to let players go if they don’t meet the value.
“It’s almost the first stage of trading future picks.”
The AFL created the points system using player salaries from the past 15 years.
Discounts will be applied to ensure the father-son tradition remains and to provide incentive for the four northern clubs to run their talent academies.
The AFL is considering applying a 25 per cent discount to academy players and either a 25 or 15 per cent on father-sons.
It has given clubs until next month to give feedback on the discounts.
AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said on the eve of last year’s draft the system was “so mathematically based it blows your head off”.
Some recruiters yesterday said they would lobby the AFL to keep the father-son and academy discounts in line.
“We invest a lot of time and effort (in father-son programs), so it should be the same. No doubt about that, it must be consistent,” one chief scout said.
But they agreed the current system needed “tinkering” and was too generous to clubs with multiple players available in one draft.
An example is 2010 when the Western Bulldogs picked up Mitch Wallis and Tom Liberatore for picks No. 22 and No. 41.
The Bulldogs snared Mitch Wallis for a bargain pick 41 after using pick 22 on Tom Liberat
The Bulldogs snared Mitch Wallis for a bargain pick 41 after using pick 22 on Tom Liberatore in 2010.
Recruiters say Gippsland Power’s Dunkley — if he chooses the Swans — could command a pick in the 10-25 range.
That could see the Swans charged about 3000 points for him and Mills.
They would have to build a “points bank” by trading in picks to cash in on draft night, or potentially roll their leftover debt into 2016. The debt would have to be paid, by shifting one or more picks to the back of the draft queue, before the trade period.
When Geelong handed Adelaide picks 14 and 35 for No. 10 and 47 last year the draft value index showed the Cats were the slimmest of winners, 1711 points to 1682.
Under the new system, after Adelaide bid pick 29 for Billy Stretch last year the Demons would have needed to buy that pick to use on Stretch and then pay it off by shifting No. 42 to 51 and having No. 40 tossed to the end of the draft.
But the current system simply allowed them to select Stretch with pick 42.
There is an expected spike in academy players drafted in the next few years and the overhaul could see the format of draft night drastically altered.
With a handful recruiting bosses and club powerbrokers overseas, some clubs say it is too early to form a stance.
Collingwood president Eddie McGuire launched a stinging attack on the academies last year but the AFL believes they are crucial to developing markets.
PAYING THE PRICE
How the Isaac Heeney case would have played out under the AFL’s proposed new father-son/academy bidding system
— Melbourne bids pick No. 2 (worth 2517 points) for Swans academy member Heeney.
— Sydney matches the bid and lands player, but “owes” 1888 points (2517 points, discounted by 25 per cent) to the draft.
— Points are matched to Sydney’s original first pick, No. 18 (985 points), and that pick is moved to the back of the draft. The Swans still owe 903 points.
— Remaining points are matched to Sydney’s next pick, No. 37 (483 points) and that pick is moved to the back of the draft. The Swans still owe 420 points.
— Remaining points are matched to Sydney’s next pick, No. 38 (465 points). The 45 leftover points entitles Sydney to “buy” pick No. 70 rather than go to the back of the line.
— Sydney would have effectively sold picks 18, 37 and 38 for 2 (Heeney), 70, 88 and 89. The Demons then would have taken Christian Petracca and Angus Brayshaw at No. 3 and 4.
— Last year they were able to select Heeney at No. 18 and retain picks No. 37 and 38. They selected two more academy players, excluded from this scenario.
KEY POINTS
— AFL proposes points discounts of 25 per cent for academy players and either 15 or 25 per cent for father-son picks.
— Clubs can go into points debt if all picks are cashed in, but debt must be paid before next season’s trade period.
— Father-son and academy bidding will be live on draft night with a rolling updated order
— Points system calculated on average player salaries from 2000-2014
— The system developed with consultation from the Player Movement Advisory Group and incorporates research from some American sports including the NFL
AFL DRAFT VALUE INDEX
Pick 1: 3000 points (Start of Round 1)
Pick 19: 948 points (Start of Round 2)
Pick 37: 483 points (Start of Round 3)
Pick 55: 207 points (Start of Round 4)
Pick 73: 9 points (Start of Round 5)
Hmmm. And not in a good way.
There’s a lot of holes in this.
I can see what they’re trying to do, but in very typical AFL style they’re ignoring the major problem (the appalling bias inherent in the Academy system, especially for Sydney and Brisbane who are also entitled to f/s selections!) and screwing over the clubs who just happen to get lucky with f/s picks. Beef up the interstate clubs, screw over clubs who try to keep tradition alive. Very, very standard AFL move.