AND IT GETS BETTER.........
Pick 26 for Gary Ablett? * Mark Stevens
* Herald Sun
* February 19, 2010 GEELONG would have to accept a draft pick as low as 26 if it wanted immediate compensation for a successful Gold Coast raid on Gary Ablett.
If Ablett walks later this year, the Cats' compensatory pick in the 2010 national draft will have to be pushed back to the end of the first round.
With Gold Coast's raft of concession picks stretching the first round out to 25 picks, that leaves 26 as the magic number for a Ablett "freebie".
It is a scenario that will be difficult for Geelong fans to stomach, given the Brownlow medallist is clearly the competition's No. 1 player.
But the AFL's complex compensatory rules would also give the Cats a Plan B.
Geelong could decline to use the pick this year and store it away for use at any time in the following four years, potentially taking advantage of a better compensatory pick.
The Cats, believing they are still in the premiership window, could also trade pick 26 for a ready-made player.
The AFL's compensation formula, overseen by the AFL's salary-cap watchdog Ken Wood, will grade players at five different draft levels - first round, end of first round, second round, end of second round and third round.
Ablett, clearly, would be considered a premium first-round player.
But because the next two drafts will be compromised to allow birth to Gold Coast and Western Sydney, all elite "first-round" compensatory picks must be taken at the end of the first round in the 2010 and 2011 drafts to help give the new clubs a kick-start.
It means the Cats may have to be patient and wait to use their Ablett compensatory pick in 2012 or beyond when the drafts are freed up.
Under the rules, from 2012 all first-round compensatory picks can be taken immediately after a team's first pick.
If the Cats extraordinarily finished last in 2012, they would get pick No. 1 and then No. 2 for Ablett - as long as they flagged before the start of the season that would would use their compensatory pick.
Andrew Dillon, the AFL's general manager of legal and business affairs who has overseen the compensatory modelling, yesterday confirmed Wood would play the major role in rating players.
Wood will not subjectively rate players leaving for Gold Coast, but will rank them by factoring in salary, best-and-fairest finishes and original draft selection.
Dillon said Wood was charged with the responsibility as he was the only staffer with access to each club's salary list.
The AFL has already tested the formula, which is sure to be contentious, on 50 to 60 random players.
"We're pretty comfortable with the results it has shown," Dillon said.
There will be no option for clubs to appeal a player's rating under the formula.
"It's a pretty simple calculation. It will spit out what it spits out," Dillon said.
Clubs will inevitably complain that the compensation is not enough for losing players, but Dillon is confident it will be fair and equitable.
"I was part of the list establishment group way back when it started and I think the original proposal that was sent out to the groups in early 2008 didn't include compensation - that was something the clubs pushed for," Dillon said.
"I remember it being high on the list in West Coast's submission and for other clubs and I think it's a good thing to have.
"At least it provides something for a club that loses a player."
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/pick-26-for-gary-ablett/story-e6frf9jf-1225831972227
