Race to wooden spoon is wide open Greg Denham
The Australian
June 16, 2010 RICHMOND'S mid-year resurgence and the stuttering of several non-Victorian clubs poses the question of whether the controversy of tanking will come into play before the end of the season.
For obvious reasons, the AFL does not believe tanking exists. Never has, because to accept its existence would be tantamount to saying the competition is corrupt.
But it is wrong to treat it as a dead issue because of the Gold Coast's favourable draft concessions this year.
Poor-performing clubs have no access to a priority selection before the start of this year's national draft as they have in the past, including the blatant efforts of Melbourne last year to get Tom Scully and Carlton in 2007 with Matthew Kreuzer. Melbourne's draw with Collingwood on Monday eliminated it from a priority selection this year as it was the only club in line for help due to successive years of failure. The threshold requirement for a priority pick in that fashion is to finish with 16 points (four wins) or less for two years running. The Demons have 18 premiership points.
The incentive, however, to lose games to improve a club's draft order has not vanished because of the Gold Coast's participation in the November draft prior.
Gold Coast receives selections 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15, and the first choice in subsequent rounds. At this stage, before the AFL finalises compensation for losing out-of-contract players to the 17th licence, this season's worst performed clubs will be vying for picks 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12.
Lowly clubs seeking to get better next season will be trying to secure the draft's fourth best player.
Until just over a fortnight ago, it was considered a formality that pick No 4 was the winless Richmond's for the taking.
But with two wins in the past three rounds, and the dismal form of West Coast, Adelaide, Port Adelaide and Brisbane, the wooden spoon now appears wide open.
Where the wooden spoon was once considered an embarrassment, there is no shame any more because it does guarantee the best available live pick in the draft.
In this year's national draft, the difference in quality between picks four and six is "massive" according to a recruiting manager of a Victorian-based club yesterday.
He said the four teenage standouts were West Australians Harley Bennell and David Swallow, who has signed with the Gold Coast, South Australian Sam Day and Victorian Andrew Gaff.
The recruiting manager described Bennell, from WAFL's Peel Thunder and who is set to be snapped up by the Gold Coast, as a "freak show".
"He's (North Melbourne's) Daniel Wells, but better," he said. "Bennell is so good that he could play for Geelong now and play well. He's predominantly a midfielder, but he could play full-forward, ruck and take the kick-ins, and do all positions justice."
At the moment, the bottom club's first two selections are 4 and 27 as the premier's first pick is No 26, followed by the Gold Coast (27) to start the second round.
The wooden spoon is most likely to go to either Richmond, Adelaide or West Coast. The Tigers are on two wins, and the Crows and the Eagles are on three, and trail 13th-placed Melbourne by six points.
First-year Richmond coach Damien Hardwick has no previous track record. We might get a feel for his intentions when he plays Neil Craig's Crows in round 18. West Coast hosts Adelaide in round 15. Craig made his position clear during the is-he-or-isn't-he Tyson Edwards' retirement saga - he's a team player.
The Crows coach revealed his initial decision not to guarantee Edwards a farewell game was based on his principle that selection must be earned at Adelaide.
"I had to make a (later) decision that was best for the club rather than my selection principles that I uphold," he said. "It is a decision on what is best for the Adelaide Football Club."
With John Worsfold's position on a knife's edge at West Coast, any "experimenting" with "list management" - the AFL's description of tanking - might not be in his interest. He said yesterday the Eagles would not run last.
Whatever, sometimes to win in the AFL, you need to lose.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sport/race-to-wooden-spoon-is-wide-open/story-e6frg7t6-1225880122858
