AFL Draft Auction?

[RUNVS]

So the AFL have valued a draft pick at

http://www.afl.com.au/staticfile/AFL Tenant/AFL/Files/biddingsystemfeedback.pdf
(page 2)

So I was wondering about a points system in the draft. For instance if a team finishes last they have pick 1, 19, 37 and 55 that means they have 4638 points. While if a team finishes 18th they have picks 18, 36, 54 and 72 which means they have 1726 points all up.

So what if we do this for all 18 teams so instead of giving a team draft picks they instead get points based on how they finished in the year using the above points system.

Then before the draft teams go into a silent auction using their points to bid on draft picks so if a team is just interested in getting the best available then they can put all their points into the bid for a single high pick or if a team would prefer a lot of picks they could bid on a lot of picks in the 15 to 25 range.

So the points would be a bit like this

18th position - 4638 points
17th position - 4088 points
16th position - 3740 points
15th position - 3478 points
14th position - 3263 points

5th position - 2077 points
4th position - 1983 points
3rd position - 1894 points
2nd position - 1809 points
1st position - 1726 points

It would give clubs more flexibility to go after the picks they actually want and would not need to spend more than they have to. For instance if St Kilda wanted a player they thought would still be around by pick 5 they would not have to spend overs to get him like with the current system as they would bid on pick 5 which in theory would be considerably cheaper than pick 1 would cost.

Also the points go over years so if a team does not want to use all their points they can use those points in future years if they wish.

What does everyone think?

 

[Art Vandelay_]

That's a weird system. I would actually like the afl to change rules less. Not more.

 

[joop]

Everyone would use all their bids on the highest position. Does that mean everyone would only get a first round pick?

 

[L_W_P]

I think he means you bid on the player, not the pick.

So instead of the Saints using pick 1 - 3000 points - on McCartin, we could bid 2000 and get him. Assuming no-one else bid higher.

It means Carlton could grab someone like Boekhorst cheap, as teams spend their points on the top players, and still have points left over to get a top player themselves.

I like this a hell of alot more than the system the AFL have come up with. The only caveat I would put on it is that points only carry over for the following year.

I wouldnt want teams to take below ave players for 3-4 years knowing they have a Daniher, Heeney/Mills etc coming through the system.

Great idea though!

 

[Docker82]

Honestly think the afl is happy with their draft as it is. The auction would a long process of most likely a few weeks, one the afl couldn't be bothered going through.

Wouldn't mind this a similar system for free agency though where we allocate points in a similar matter to a team based on their ladder position to sign free agents with teams only able to add to their points by either losing a free agent of their own or sacrificing draft picks.

It'd perhaps make it impossible for top four sides to sign the best free agent or at least very difficult. Wouldn't be against that at all.

 

[telsor]

2 problems..

How do you select which player gets auctioned next. Team with the most points picks a player then everyone bids?

Also, it would take forever.

 

[Rourke]

2 problems..

How do you select which player gets auctioned next. Team with the most points picks a player then everyone bids?

Also, it would take forever.

Just auction the first ten or twenty picks for excitement / TV, then let the rest of them revert to automatic order based on which club has the most points left (after removing each pick's points). Auction picks, not players. Clubs bid for the right to pick next, take the player, move on. Wouldn't take long.

 

[Albert Ross]

Allocate a team a number of points based on where they finished (5000, 4000, 3000 whatever), or games won.

Lowest finishing team names a player and a bid (so Patrick McCartin, 3000 points). Any other team would have to overbid by at least ... I don't know 20% or at least 10 points whichever is larger.

2nd finishing team would have a choice to bid 3600 points for McCartin ... if there was a third bidder they'd have to bid 4320 points.

So the bidding team still has an advantage as long as their initial bid is reasonable.

You'd have a rule that a minimum bid was say 10 points. So if you had 6 picks left you would have to keep at least 6x10=60 points in the bank so you could make 6 minimum price bids.

You could allow teams to bank and carry-over points from year to year to make it more strategic. A club could take 400 points worth of players one year, carry-over 2600 points and get another 3000 points the following year. Carry-over points would make tanking less likely in that even if you finished last one year there might be teams that have banked more.

Would also allow the AFL to give poor-performing clubs extra points without the all or nothing pick 1 / pick 17 system we have now. They could decide to give an extra 20, 40, 60, 100 whatever depending on how bad the team was. Also punishing / fining teams can become a lot more subtle. They can decide a team should be fined 1000 or 99 or 9 points etc depending on the offence.

Trading would be easier. Instead of getting stuck because you 1 club says a player is worth pick 12 and the other team only has pick 20, well you can negotiate and say the player is worth 1800 points, no 1950, no 1845, no 1878 etc until the deal actually happened.

I think it would make draft day decisions very interesting. It should see players going for their 'real' price. It puts pressure back on recruiters not to simply identify who is best, but how much better one player is than another.

It would also allow clubs to better target their needs. If you need a key position player you can get into the auction and possibly get him. Instead of like now where if you are sitting at pick 10 you can't.

 

[telsor]

Actually, a simpler version and akin to what happens in US drafts.

Just let clubs trade picks during the draft and allow some 'carry over' to the next year.

Club A trades pick 8 to Club B for pick 15 and 33 + 100 points to be worked out in next years draft. Example made without checking points table, but it doesn't need to fit the points...if club B really wants pick 8 they can offer club A 'overs' to get the deal done.