Priority picks to change + one Sydney kid per club (the Age)

[one-eyed]

AFL to alter priority pick order
By Caroline Wilson
November 11, 2005

THE contentious issue of priority picks in the AFL draft will soon become a thing of the past in a matter of days with the commission now certain to remove the rule in its present form.

The AFL commissioners and their executive team will this weekend spend two days at Moonah Links on the Mornington Peninsula deliberating over a long list of on and off-field issues, but most have already privately resolved to accept the recommendation from Adrian Anderson's football department to rid the game of the extra first-round draft pick.

Carlton, Collingwood and Hawthorn — which all won the right to a priority pick this season — will be the last three teams to be given the chance to draft two elite young footballers before higher-placed teams have taken a choice at all.

AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou is also expected to address the commission on behalf of his sub-committee, which has been negotiating the next round of AFL broadcasting rights.

The rights are expected to run from 2007 until 2011, but could be extended until 2012 should channels Seven and Ten win the rights and agree to alternate the broadcast of the six grand finals to be contested in those years.

It is understood that Seven and Ten and the AFL are now engaged in serious and practical talksthat would result in the networks televising five free-to-air games each week during the home-and-away season and all AFL finals, with the legal problems surrounding the AFL's opening offer apparently resolved.

Other key issues to be raised by the commission over the two day meeting include:

■ Reforms to the new AFL reporting and judicial system;

■ Extra funding towards game development particular in NSW and Queensland and strategies to expand the Sydney market following the Swans premiership;

■ The Sydney player apprenticeship scheme, which will be launched next year and have every AFL club take charge of at least one Sydney teenager respectively.

The AFL executives had planned to scrap priority picks earlier this year but their proposal was rejected by the commission, which insisted that further research on the issue was required.

The feelings from the commission was that it was unwilling to eradicate any rule that had generated such positive publicity and hope for supporters. Richmond, Hawthorn and the Bulldogs all benefited last year when those clubs were able to bolster their lists significantly.

Richmond's priority choice, Brett Deledio, won the Rising Star award. But as several clubs have argued, successful teams such as West Coast have been able to recruit future champions such as Chris Judd following one poor season.

Judd won the Brownlow Medal in his third AFL season.

As a result of the AFL's ongoing consultation with clubs, it appears likely the priority picks will be retained for clubs winning five games or fewer, but the priority choice will not be taken until after every club has taken a player in the national draft.

A second option to be considered would result in a rolling three-year system under which unsuccessful clubs would need to demonstrate three poor years in succession before being entitled to a priority pick.

The commission will also debate the option of creating a system in which clubs could make one-off submissions in a bid to recruit extra talent by demonstrating consistent poor performances.

http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2005/11/10/1131578172743.html

[bluey_21]

Lucky we got the priority pick when we did otherwise we wouldn't have gotten both lids and tambo

[Razorblade]

We wouldn't of gotten Tambo, but definetly had gotten Lids!

[WilliamPowell]

AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou is also expected to address the commission on behalf of his sub-committee, which has been negotiating the next round of AFL broadcasting rights.

The rights are expected to run from 2007 until 2011, but could be extended until 2012 should channels Seven and Ten win the rights and agree to alternate the broadcast of the six grand finals to be contested in those years.

It is understood that Seven and Ten and the AFL are now engaged in serious and practical talks that would result in the networks televising five free-to-air games each week during the home-and-away season and all AFL finals, with the legal problems surrounding the AFL's opening offer apparently resolved.

Who cares about the priority picks

I have to say these latest round of TV rights negoiations are better than a soap opera - it's like two little kids fighting over the last piece of cake. Andy D, JOhnno from Ch 7, Ben Buckley and waiting to swoop on his new dragster with training wheels one Eddie Mc Everywhere 

[mightytiges]

A second option to be considered would result in a rolling three-year system under which unsuccessful clubs would need to demonstrate three poor years in succession before being entitled to a priority pick.

That's the way I would go. Stop clubs who played finals the previous year or two from scoring a PP when the have one bad year due to injury (Dees and Pies). It would also stop clubs like Hawthorn from tanking a couple of seasons to build up their list through PPs.

[one-eyed]

Priority picks: the lowdown
6:40:49 PM Thu 17 November, 2005
Matt Burgan
Exclusive to afl.com.au

Although a special assistance rule was first adopted in 1993, it wasn't until 1997 that the priority selection rule - as we know it today - was initiated.

Clubs were given priority selections before the first round of the NAB AFL Draft, if they had claimed 20 points or less in any one season. This will remain the case until the end of the 2005 NAB AFL Draft. But from 2006, a new special assistance rule will be introduced.

These are two examples:

- If a club claims 16 points or less after one season, a selection will be awarded before the second round of the NAB AFL Draft. That club will then receive selections No.1, No.17 and No.18, plus the first pick in the NAB AFL Pre-Season Draft.

 
- If a club claims 16 points or less after two or more years, a selection will be awarded before the first round of the NAB AFL Draft. That club will then receive selections No.1, No.2 and No.18, plus the first pick in the NAB AFL Pre-Season Draft.

Originally, the special assistance rule/priority selection was designed to assist the 'perennial poor performer'.

But over time, it was strongly debated in the football community that one poor season did not necessarily equate to a club being a 'perennial poor performer'.

It was also felt that clubs that had poor seasons, because of a number of injuries to key personnel, had the ability to bounce back the following year. The question then posed was: "Is this team a cellar-dweller?"

The perception - although totally unproven - was that clubs could 'tank' matches or 'lay-down' in order to gain priority selections. This was seen as unhealthy for the overall game as the perception was that losers could be winners.

The re-jigging of priority selections can still provide some benefit for some clubs, but virtually eliminates the 'lay-down' factor in home-and-away matches late in the season.

It is rare these days that players taken as priority selections don't fulfill their potential, such is the amount of data available to clubs about players selected in this bracket in the NAB AFL Draft.

Carlton, Collingwood and Hawthorn will all have priority selections in the 2005 NAB AFL Draft, which will be held on Saturday November 26, before the new rule is brought into place for next year's meeting.

The following list proves how beneficial priority selections have been since 1997, as these players were all acquired via this rule.

1997 - Melbourne (Travis Johnstone)
1998 - No team qualified for a priority selection
1999 - Josh Fraser (Collingwood), Paul Hasleby (Fremantle)
2000 - Nick Riewoldt (St Kilda)
2001 - *Fremantle traded its priority selection to Hawthorn. It received Trent Croad and in exchange Hawthorn drafted Luke Hodge. Luke Ball (St Kilda), Chris Judd (West Coast)
2002 - *Carlton was stripped of its priority selection due to salary cap breaches
2003 - Western Bulldogs (Adam Cooney), Carlton (Andrew Walker), Melbourne (Colin Sylvia)
2004 - Richmond (Brett Deledio), Hawthorn (Jarryd Roughead), Western Bulldogs (Ryan Griffen)
2005 - Carlton? Collingwood? Hawthorn?

http://afl.com.au/default.asp?pg=news&spg=display&articleid=237544

[Razorblade]

Why not scrap the entire priority pick system?

NBA doesn't have it, NHL doesn't have it, MLB doesn't have it, NFL doesn't have it and they are all the major sports i can think of that have drafts!

It'd be SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much simpler, and then there would be less motivation for teams to tank, and thus less accusations of it!

[bluey_21]

I'm a bit worried about the Sydney Player apprenticeship. From this year's draft i think only one player got drafted from Sydney. This scheme should be called 'give a dud a go' 

[Razorblade]

It's a good idea, the AFL are actually putting money into junior development which can only be a positive!

The main reason it's been done is so NSW kids will focus on AFL rather then rugby and soccer, you throw the sort of money thats been talked up in a 16yo's face, and he'll just about do anything for it!

It's not like every kid in NSW sucks at footy, is just that a lot of the good ones (also any guy who's pretty dam athletic) chooses to play other sports!

[mightytiges]

I'm a bit worried about the Sydney Player apprenticeship. From this year's draft i think only one player got drafted from Sydney. This scheme should be called 'give a dud a go' 

Maybe initially but the AFL needed some way for Aussie Rules to break into Sydney's private schools and into rugby/rugby league heartland. People would have said the same thing about footy in Queensland 20 years ago but now despite the other codes still having the dominant public support, it's a chance to find a diamond or two who doesn't get the profile and attention that a kid from the Southern states would.

Remember Hird and Carey came from NSW initially .