Opinion 1st Week of Trade Week a Dud

Remove this Banner Ad

Mar 2, 2015
18,940
33,921
AFL Club
Hawthorn
I don't know why we even have a "trade week" or "trade fortnight". The trade period should be for 6 months of the off-season.

The AFL loves to copy everything they do in American sports leagues, so why don't they copy the Americans' relaxed attitude towards trading players?

Why do we have to condense everything into this small window of intense pressure and Mexican standoffs?

The Yanks basically allow trading all year round - they set a trade deadline from midway through the season. No more trades from that point until the season's culmination (Superbowl, World Series, NBA Final).

Similar story for the soccer leagues in Europe. They have the entire off-season to buy & swap players, plus a couple of small windows within the season.

I wouldn't go quite that far if I was running the AFL. I'd put the deadline at 2 weeks before Round 1. I'd allow trades to be made from October 1st through to March 1st. Give the clubs six months to sort all this s**t out and stop trying to stare each other down to the final minute of trade week.

It's f**kin pathetic.
 
Last edited:
Sep 2, 2008
63,165
37,760
Melbourne
AFL Club
Essendon
I don't know why we even have a "trade week" or "trade fortnight"

The AFL loves to copy everything they do in American sports leagues, so why don't they copy the Americans relaxed attitude towards trading players?

Why do we have to condense everything into this small window of intense pressure and Mexican standoffs?

The Yanks allow trading all year round, but they set a trade deadline from midway through the season. No more trades from that point until the season's culmination (Superbowl, World Series, NBA Final). Similar story for the soccer leagues in Europe.

I wouldn't go quite that far if I was running the AFL. I'd put the deadline at 2 weeks before Round 1. I'd allow trades to be made from October 1st through to March 1st. Give the clubs six months to sort all this s**t out and stop trying to stare each other down to the final minute of trade week.

It's f**kin pathetic.

You should txt this Gilligan
 

Log in to remove this ad.

blitzer

Norm Smith Medallist
Aug 27, 2006
7,483
8,749
House
AFL Club
Essendon
Every year I post this in basically the same thread (normally has a slightly different title). The trade period is not for our entertainment. Pretty much every other aspect of the game is to some extent but trade period is all about the managers, clubs and players working out their futures. If the pacing isn't exciting enough for you then find some other hobbies to entertain yourself with as the action unfolds.
 
Every year I post this in basically the same thread (normally has a slightly different title). The trade period is not for our entertainment. Pretty much every other aspect of the game is to some extent but trade period is all about the managers, clubs and players working out their futures. If the pacing isn't exciting enough for you then find some other hobbies to entertain yourself with as the action unfolds.

I been doing that more this Trade Period then last few.

Doing other Things while still keep checking in every once in awhile
 

ItsAllAboutMe

Norm Smith Medallist
Dec 22, 2006
9,545
11,314
AFL Club
Carlton
Other Teams
Tottenham Hotspur
What a complete waste of time and resources.. Even Gill and the AFL would be disappointed as it was such a dud that most lost interest instead of the usual stage managed, ensure AFL is on the back page drop feed of big deals.
 
Weird this trade week has been so slow. There's still a good 20-odd players that are thinking of leaving but haven't yet. Usually by now we'd at least see a lot of movement even if the more complex deals haven't gone down. Is every deal this year either overly complex or not a massive concern?
 

Ash1337

Club Legend
Apr 11, 2009
2,933
2,637
Albany
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
Should be 3 short periods of trade. As well as another RFA and UFA period. 3 days of FA then 3 days of trade. Then the Same a month later and finally a 3 day period after the draft and rookie draft with restrictions that clubs cant trade those they drafted/rookied.
 

Purrfect pussy

AFLPA MVP
Apr 3, 2019
774
1,473
AFL Club
Geelong
Weird this trade week has been so slow. There's still a good 20-odd players that are thinking of leaving but haven't yet. Usually by now we'd at least see a lot of movement even if the more complex deals haven't gone down. Is every deal this year either overly complex or not a massive concern?
Seems to be less and less done during 1st week and more and more done in the last day or 2. The AFL really needs to shorten it!
 

Wally Walpamur

Norm Smith Medallist
Sep 23, 2016
6,150
11,930
AFL Club
Fremantle
We’re the problem and reason why trade period goes for so long. It gets everyone talking about AFL and they can monetise it through advertising $.

We’re all on here arguing and when we’re not on here, we’re talking about it at home, work and with friends.

Also, there’s no competition. State cricket has just started and is poorly broadcast, NBL just started, no soccer, no rugby, golf season has only just started.

AFL want us to be talking about them 24/7/365
 
I don't know why we even have a "trade week" or "trade fortnight"

The AFL loves to copy everything they do in American sports leagues, so why don't they copy the Americans relaxed attitude towards trading players?

Why do we have to condense everything into this small window of intense pressure and Mexican standoffs?

The Yanks allow trading all year round, but they set a trade deadline from midway through the season. No more trades from that point until the season's culmination (Superbowl, World Series, NBA Final). Similar story for the soccer leagues in Europe.

I wouldn't go quite that far if I was running the AFL. I'd put the deadline at 2 weeks before Round 1. I'd allow trades to be made from October 1st through to March 1st. Give the clubs six months to sort all this s**t out and stop trying to stare each other down to the final minute of trade week.

It's f**kin pathetic.
I'd agree except that with the system of list lodgements, the timing of the draft and the timing of the pre-season, it becomes a bit tricky.

List lodgement dates: Clubs cannot exceed the maximum primary list size on any of the list lodgement dates, and have to be able to show that they "have not exceeded and will not exceed their Total Player Payments for that Football Year".
  • We basically go straight from the AFL Grand Final to the Draft Combine (which is tied to the overlapping week of the school holidays in different states), then into Free Agency, which overlaps with the start of the trade period. Player trading finishes on October 16th, though they can continue to trade picks.
  • Contracts expire on October 31st, which is also the first list lodgement date. Pre-season training for 1st to 4th year players at 7th-18th placed teams typically starts the following Monday (individual clubs may vary).
  • Any players who qualify as delisted free agents can still find new clubs from the 1st of November. There is then another list lodgement date on the 12th of November (right before the main training groups for 7th-18th placed teams, and the 1st-4th years of grand finalist teams resume, others are staggered in between) and another DFA period which is open until the week before the draft.
  • On the Friday before the draft, all pick and player movement opportunities end. At that point, the draft order needs to be finalised, with clubs only allowed to have enough picks to fill their senior list to 40.
  • This year the draft starts on the following Wednesday. It is held at the end of November in an experimental format trying to make it marketable to television viewers, just in time for the rest of the players to start pre-season if they haven't already.
  • Monday following the pre-season draft is the final list lodgement date, at which point pre-season has already begun for most clubs.

A lot of those dates are working around deadlines set in the CBA, negotiated with the players and with the input from clubs. Given the budgets some clubs are working with and some coaches doing double duty in the recruiting department, it's hard to see them agreeing to further stretch their resources.

You could potentially extend the trade period a little, from the current end date in mid-October until the end of October when contracts expire, but that would be the limit of it I think. It could also be brought forward to the Monday after the Grand Final, if you wanted to extend it, though the aforementioned budget issue might catch some recruiters that want to be at the combine on those days.

I suspect the AFL would also like to monetise the trade period as a TV event, which is probably what all this trade radio and video stream of the paperwork lodgement room on the last day of trade period is about. They used to close the trade period at 2pm as well but now it closes at 7pm, almost perfect for prime time.

Ultimately they're working in a different environment, on a vastly smaller budget than American sports, so there are going to be different factors at play. We also have a strong union involvement, and input from clubs and media outlets as stakeholders that don't have billions of dollars to spend. It would also have implications for the salary cap and other entitlements that would need to be negotiated with all of the above.
 

(Log in to remove this ad.)

Mac kev

Draftee
Oct 11, 2019
2
1
AFL Club
Carlton
Reckon the footy public under play just how much work goes into trading and drafting. Each club has a folder of every single player and another with 100 draftable under 18s kids..

So when they rock up this week and find out club A has James Brown on the trade table they go away look at the tapes then go from there..

Example Adam bonar being happy for a trade.the hawks were surprised and went away and studied if they needed him and how to do so..
 
May 6, 2007
39,099
22,789
South East Suburbs
AFL Club
Essendon
Other Teams
Tottenham Hotspurs, Melbourne Vixen
Professional organisations usually don't give away secrets. It's good that club staffers have finally figured out to keep their mouth shut around sensitive issues. The journos talking nothing but crap all season long are the problem. But sadly trade week is still some footy fans pinnacle.

Journalism in this country is more about getting things first than getting things right. IT sucks and ultimately they seem to report more incorrect than correct information. It sucks but that is the starc reality we are in.
 
Could Crocmedia could be behind this Slow Trade Period as they want it to last the full time so people don't tune out?

Heard this Conspiracy Theroy a Few Times in last few years
 
You could potentially extend the trade period a little, from the current end date in mid-October until the end of October when contracts expire, but that would be the limit of it I think.

Extending it beyond contract expiry dates would only impact on players with contracts actually expiring.
Most of the players with no contract beyond the current season get traded for peanuts or without great hassle anyway.

IMO they should have a 365 day trading period.
A club in finals contention could then trade in players from non-finalists , then trade them back after the finals finish.
Would make the finals much more of a best-of-the-best.
We then wouldn't have the situation where gun players who play for dud clubs never get to experience finals footy.
+ it might be a solution to players leaving dud clubs for success.
 
Could Crocmedia could be behind this Slow Trade Period as they want it to last the full time so people don't tune out?

Heard this Conspiracy Theroy a Few Times in last few years

Oh god, no. That’s a ridiculous theory
 
Feb 24, 2013
45,365
37,740
The GoldenBrown Heart of Victoria
AFL Club
Hawthorn
Other Teams
Man Utd Green Bay Melb Storm
Could Crocmedia could be behind this Slow Trade Period as they want it to last the full time so people don't tune out?

Heard this Conspiracy Theroy a Few Times in last few years

Have you heard all the ads?....It's a huge money spinner for them....where there's $$$ to be made, then it wouldn't surprise me in the least.

Now to go out & get me some of that Tradie soap....t only $8 a bar, it's a steal.
1570919650830.png
 
Last edited:

raymond35

Club Legend
Jan 5, 2004
1,807
2,855
Brisbane
AFL Club
Collingwood
Other Teams
collingwood vfl
Serious question: is trade period on over the weekend? Due to nothing ever happening, i honestly can't tell the difference.
 
Serious question: is trade period on over the weekend? Due to nothing ever happening, i honestly can't tell the difference.

No. For some Weird Reason AFL House is Closed over the Weekend. When it was Open last weekend with Free Agent Signing happening on the Weekend
 

HurleyHepsHird

Ghost Stories for the End of the World
Oct 2, 2011
6,606
9,178
Between the Lines
AFL Club
West Coast
And this is why the industry as a whole needs to grow the fu** up.

10 days of nothingness has been kicked off with opinions being paraded around as facts with "journalists" going from job to job, podcast to podcast. Like seriously, how many times can Riley Beveridge, Mitch Cleary get there heads on radio/TV/Internet?


If the industry was mature enough we could accept players moving clubs and signing deals mid year. Would actually mean we can have a break from football for a few days over November/December. Unlikely to happen with AFL house's desperation to make it the only talking point in town
It's just s vehicle for betting advertisement.
 
Mar 2, 2015
18,940
33,921
AFL Club
Hawthorn
I'd agree except that with the system of list lodgements, the timing of the draft and the timing of the pre-season, it becomes a bit tricky.

List lodgement dates: Clubs cannot exceed the maximum primary list size on any of the list lodgement dates, and have to be able to show that they "have not exceeded and will not exceed their Total Player Payments for that Football Year".
  • We basically go straight from the AFL Grand Final to the Draft Combine (which is tied to the overlapping week of the school holidays in different states), then into Free Agency, which overlaps with the start of the trade period. Player trading finishes on October 16th, though they can continue to trade picks.
  • Contracts expire on October 31st, which is also the first list lodgement date. Pre-season training for 1st to 4th year players at 7th-18th placed teams typically starts the following Monday (individual clubs may vary).
  • Any players who qualify as delisted free agents can still find new clubs from the 1st of November. There is then another list lodgement date on the 12th of November (right before the main training groups for 7th-18th placed teams, and the 1st-4th years of grand finalist teams resume, others are staggered in between) and another DFA period which is open until the week before the draft.
  • On the Friday before the draft, all pick and player movement opportunities end. At that point, the draft order needs to be finalised, with clubs only allowed to have enough picks to fill their senior list to 40.
  • This year the draft starts on the following Wednesday. It is held at the end of November in an experimental format trying to make it marketable to television viewers, just in time for the rest of the players to start pre-season if they haven't already.
  • Monday following the pre-season draft is the final list lodgement date, at which point pre-season has already begun for most clubs.

A lot of those dates are working around deadlines set in the CBA, negotiated with the players and with the input from clubs. Given the budgets some clubs are working with and some coaches doing double duty in the recruiting department, it's hard to see them agreeing to further stretch their resources.

You could potentially extend the trade period a little, from the current end date in mid-October until the end of October when contracts expire, but that would be the limit of it I think. It could also be brought forward to the Monday after the Grand Final, if you wanted to extend it, though the aforementioned budget issue might catch some recruiters that want to be at the combine on those days.

I suspect the AFL would also like to monetise the trade period as a TV event, which is probably what all this trade radio and video stream of the paperwork lodgement room on the last day of trade period is about. They used to close the trade period at 2pm as well but now it closes at 7pm, almost perfect for prime time.

Ultimately they're working in a different environment, on a vastly smaller budget than American sports, so there are going to be different factors at play. We also have a strong union involvement, and input from clubs and media outlets as stakeholders that don't have billions of dollars to spend. It would also have implications for the salary cap and other entitlements that would need to be negotiated with all of the above.
I appreciate the detailed, educated reply.

However, these are just "details" relevant to the current system. They could be easily overcome. Where there's a will, there's a way. The salary cap, list lodgments and players contracts might be geared around October 31st, but if the AFL was to switch to a six month trade period, then surely they could tweak the various protocols to cater for all of that.

e.g. the salaries of established players should only count torwards the salary cap from March to October. If rookies are getting paid to do pre-season training, then that should also count towards the TPPs. But only them. Not the big money vets.

The NFL and NBA have many similar rules to the AFL and their extended trade period works perfectly fine. Them being multi-billion dollar industries is irrelevant - it's just rules & deadlines were talking about. No reason why it can't also work fine for the AFL, just like the draft & salary cap works here too.

If the AFL expanded the trade period, they could still have list lodgment date prior to the National Draft with all 18 clubs making the required minimum changes. They could then have another deadline of March 1st for the final list lodgment. The AFLPA would surely be all in favour of giving players greater flexibility and increased opportunity of finding a new workplace and improved conditions.

(List tweaks after Oct 31st have been happening by stealth anyway in recent years. Not only the mid-season draft and rookie upgrades, but also clubs signing category A and category B rookies from outside the regular talent streams)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

But I think you've also touched on the real reason we have the current 2 week trading hurly-burly. The media likes it this way. It gives them a concentrated 2 week period of high ratings, boosted circulation and clicks. It's become a mini-industry within the AFL. I can't even keep up with all the pop-up panel shows which appear at this time of year on Fox Footy, afl.com and other websites.

They've found a way to monetise the current process in what's normally a dead period for the Aussie sports media, so nobody wants to upset the applecart and move to a more sensible method of doing things.

It's just one more example of the tail (media) wagging the dog (AFL) when it comes to the footy.
 
Last edited:
I appreciate the detailed, educated reply.

However, these are just "details" relevant to the current system. They could be easily overcome. Where there's a will, there's a way. The salary cap, list lodgments and players contracts might be geared around October 31st, but if the AFL was to switch to a six month trade period, then surely they could tweak the various protocols to cater for all of that.

e.g. the salaries of established players should only count torwards the salary cap from March to October. If rookies are getting paid to do pre-season training, then that should also count towards the TPPs. But only them. Not the big money vets.

The NFL and NBA have many similar rules to the AFL and their extended trade period works perfectly fine. Them being multi-billion dollar industries is irrelevant - it's just rules & deadlines were talking about. No reason why it can't also work fine for the AFL, just like the draft & salary cap works here too.

If the AFL expanded the trade period, they could still have list lodgment date prior to the National Draft with all 18 clubs making the required minimum changes. They could then have another deadline of March 1st for the final list lodgment. The AFLPA would surely be all in favour of giving players greater flexibility and opportunities of finding a new workplace and improved conditions.



But I think you've also touched on the real reason we have the current 2 week trading hurly-burly. The media likes it this way. It gives them a concentrated 2 week period of high ratings, boosted circulation and clicks. It's become a mini-industry within the AFL. I can't even keep up with all the pop-up panel shows which appear at this time of year on Fox Footy, afl.com and other websites.

They've found a way to monetise the current process, so nobody wants to upset the applecart and move to a more sensible process.

It's just one more example of the tail (media) wagging the dog (AFL) when it comes to the footy.
They could definitely change the rules, but it would involve renegotiating a lot of things with a lot of people who may not necessarily be willing to agree to those sort of changes without other concessions being made. E.g. "you can trade at any time of the year but we want to be able to exercise free agency whenever we feel like it too". They're already talking about mid-season trade periods and that sort of thing so you'd anticipate that there's at least some idea of how it could be arranged, it would just take considerable forethought for it to happen.

As far as salary cap only counting during the season, I can't see any possible way for someone to take advantage of that... can you?
 

Remove this Banner Ad

Back