jonnymagic
Draftee
As a Scotsman who moved to Adelaide 10 years ago and loves AFL footy, I have some HUGE problems with the laughable way it is operated. I completely understand that due to so many clubs in Melbourne it's a hard job to manage the 'fairness' but if you're going to call it a 'National' competition things are not good enough. Here's my issues and how I'd fix some of them.....
Drafting
Salary Cap/Free Agency/Trades
I have a love of all things American sport and of course you get exceptions like the Patriots who are dominant for long periods but generally the fairness and equality is there to see. As I said I love AFL and I'm sure I will continue to do so but it really is a shocking operation for a national competition!!!
Drafting
- 2yrs min contract for a drafted player is too short and needs to be 4yrs. You have to give clubs longer to develop a player and avoid this awful embarrassment of Melbourne clubs picking and choosing which Interstate clubs to pillage promising players from
- AFL draftees are too young to understand the world and much of the 'homesickness' stems from uprooting an 18yr old kid from their family before they're ready. Move the draft age back to 19/20 and allow these kids to play VFL/SANFL/WAFL and boost those comps while also letting 'kids' grow up a bit before joining an AFL list
- The AFL needs to say in no uncertain terms to draftees that they are part of a 'National' comp and if they get drafted it's their responsibility to give it their best wherever they end up
Salary Cap/Free Agency/Trades
- The salary cap is too low. If you increase the salary cap enough, Interstate teams can easily offer lucrative contracts to Victorian players. I guarantee the number of 'homesick' players drops dramatically once a half decent player can command $1 million a year! If this means clubs like Port Adelaide can't survive due to costs then so be it....18 teams is a lot for a country this size!
- After the initial 4yr contract is served, everyone is a free agent
- Absolutely NO compensation for losing a free agent or a player who's contract is up.....this is one of the most laughable aspects of the AFL from an outsiders point of view
- Once this is set up there would be no such thing as a player 'nominating' the club he wants to play for! The players do 4 years service (which isn't that hard!!!) then they can drive their future
I have a love of all things American sport and of course you get exceptions like the Patriots who are dominant for long periods but generally the fairness and equality is there to see. As I said I love AFL and I'm sure I will continue to do so but it really is a shocking operation for a national competition!!!