AFL's expansion plans kill tanking / Richmond equal favourites for spoon (H-S)

[one-eyed]

AFL's expansion plans kill tanking
* Jon Ralph
 * Herald Sun
 * February 10, 2010

TANKING is dead for the next two seasons, with this year's wooden-spooner potentially ending up with a pick as low as No. 6 in November's national draft.

The incentive to lose games for a better draft order has vanished, the victim of the league's expansion plans rather than AFL interference.

Despite high-level discussions to tighten eligibility for the priority pick, the bonus selection will remain this year at No. 4 in the draft.

But Melbourne is the only club eligible for a first-round priority pick, as it was the only side that won four games or fewer last year.

The Gold Coast has first-round picks 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15 and the first pick of every subsequent round in the draft.

If the Demons replicated last year's horror season, they would receive selections four and six in the draft, with the Gold Coast locked into picks one, two and three.

The draft has already been weakened by Gold Coast having had access to the best 12 17-year-olds, making it a poor time to rebuild through the draft.

Richmond, Fremantle and Melbourne are equal $4 favourites for this year's wooden spoon, followed by North Melbourne at $5.

A group chaired by AFL executive Andrew Dillon and football operations manager Adrian Anderson reviewed the priority pick late last year.

They considered pushing the two-year qualifying period to three years or leaving it to the AFL's discretion before deciding priority picks would stay, but not as a pre-draft selection.

Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse last week again called for their abolition, saying the league had its "head in the sand" on priority picks.

Melbourne took player experimentation to new levels last year, with its approach ultimately rewarded with the first two picks, which it used to draft Tom Scully and Jack Trengove.

But AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou condoned the Dees' approach, saying speculation about the experimentation was "absolutely disgraceful".

The Herald Sun's Issues Survey of more than 5000 people last month showed 70 per cent believe clubs deliberately lose games to get better draft picks.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/afls-expansion-plans-kill-tanking/story-e6frf9jf-1225828483791

[mightytiges]

Pretty sure there's no priority picks anymore. In any case given the difference between a couple of spots on the ladder will mean 4 to 6 spots in the draft order this year there's still an incentive for bottom clubs to "tank" at least towards the end of the season. Why win a couple of meaningless games at the end of a poor year to finish with a mid-range first round pick that screws your future.

[WA Tiger]

The whole system is a mess IMO, priority picks, new teams being given so many more picks, it's just a big freaking mess and they do have their heads in the sand.

[Smokey]

....... and they do have their heads in the sand.

Yes they do.

[WA Tiger]

You know something I have no doubt that with all those picks and players like Ablett going there they will win a premiership before us. Gazza will go and so will some other very talented footballers from other clubs. How the hell is that a fair and transparent system....

[mightytiges]

Going into new markets where Aussie Rules isn't the No.1 code, the AFL needs both GC and GWS to be successful (top 4 sides at least) as quickly as possible. Even then it's going to be hard enough to pick up local fans especially in Western Sydney. Hence the charity of a stack of first rounds picks, uncontracted players and other concessions they are receiving.

No way can we compare ourselves to these new clubs. We aren't building a club from the ground up nor do we get these concessions. We can only focus on getting an advantage over the 15 other existing clubs who we have an even playing field with at draft time. If we finish bottom or near bottom and then trade an expendable player to GC say for another first round pick then we pretty much have a "normal" draft situation whereas other clubs are stuck with a mid-teen or early top 20 first pick (effectively losing a first round pick).