Priority pick rule under review Mark Stevens and Jon Ralph
From: Herald Sun
August 03, 2011 THE infamous priority pick will face unprecedented heat at the end of the season.
With speculation about tanking rearing its ugly head again this week, the AFL is more bullish than ever about reviewing the way it rewards poor performance.
The AFL executive will undertake an in-depth review of the rule, which rewards clubs with four or less wins.
Any recommendation for change will then be put to the AFL Commission for final approval.
"It is something we need to give serious thought to," AFL football operations manager Adrian Anderson told the Herald Sun.
"We haven't made up our minds in terms of what will happen with priority picks."
Port Adelaide, Gold Coast and Brisbane could be the last clubs to benefit from the contentious priority pick system this year. All are on track to gain a bonus pick at the end of the first round.
Under the current priority system, the clubs could receive the prime No.1 pick in 2012 if they win four or less again next season.
Sacked Melbourne coach Dean Bailey this week said he coached for good draft picks, experimenting with players in "different" positions.
A group, chaired by the AFL legal affairs chief Andrew Dillon and Anderson, last reviewed the priority system in late 2009.
They considered pushing the two-year qualifying period to three years or leaving it to the AFL's discretion.
This time, it seems a far stronger chance that the rule will be either scrapped or watered down.
Greater Western Sydney coach Kevin Sheedy said he was fearful he was about to get shafted by a priority-pick rule change again for the second time in five years.
When Sheedy's Essendon won three games in 2006, the Bombers were hit by a changed priority-pick rule with their extra selection coming after the draft's first round, not before it.
They missed out on Joel Selwood, and Sheedy says changing the regulations again would be making "rules on the run".
The gambling industry continues to attack rules that encourage teams not to try, with leading bookmaker Alan Eskander last night calling for priority picks to be reviewed.
"In any sporting code, when you (give teams an incentive) to lose you have a problem," he said.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/priority-pick-rule-under-review/story-e6frf9jf-1226107004966
