Opinion Priority Picks - Moving Forward

Feb 21, 2006
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North will likely need a PP but it is still only round 3. If they do I'd say it's likely to be end of round 1 pick and then revisit next year.

The problem for North is the AFL won't be keen to see them improve as they will be trying to white-ant them down to Tassie just like they did with Fitzroy. They'll get the picks..... once they relocate - that's the feeling I get anyway.
 

Sphynx

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North are only absolutely horrible at the moment because of their own doing. They delisted guys that could still be playing at a competant level because they could see they weren't going to take them to a flag. When this happens you drop fairly swiftly. The list management has been appalling.

They have got some talent on the list. Just need the right coach to develop them. From what I've seen of their current gameplan I'm not sure about Noble.


How many of the guys we delisted got recruited?

Mason Wood is the only one.

Sorry, but they weren't AFL standard and didn't deserve 1 or 2 year extensions simply because they are slightly more physically competitive than someone else.

We still recruited 5 x previous AFL listed players.
 

Kreuuuzeurns

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Sep 25, 2013
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You forgot the GC - Darwin Zone, which netted them 2 first round prospects last year also, without even having to match bids.


The current irony is GC currently hold a 2021 end of first round PP and they beat us by 10 goals 2 weeks ago.

The GC concessions were a joke, and they gave away Martin for nothing in the same off season.

The AFL will do anything for that franchise to be great. This years PP should be taken off them but I’m not holding my breath.
 
May 3, 2007
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Round 13 last season and Adelaide looked like some sort of a candidate with how poorly they were running, and then the AFL double downed on not helping them out with Brad Crouch not netting a first round compo (bet you if they finished, say, 8th, and compo pick was pick 11, it would have triggered it, anyway i digress)

12 months later and they've turned it around rather quickly

PP shouldn't exist
I look at the crows 2020 season when they went 0-13. They should of been 0-10. they lost 2-4 games narrowly by 2 goals or less. even the percentage was only 64%. They win 2 more games, they would of been 17th and jumped over North. But fall behind swans and hawks by bad %.

Had they got one more win and posted a 6 win and 11 defeat record, they would of finshed 14th and leap frogged the suns as they had 5 wins and a draw.

Timing is everything sometimes. Had Brad Crouch been a free agent the year before in 2019, The compo pick of brad crouch might of been different.

Crows finished 11th in 2019 so they had Pick 8. So if the AFL handed out a 1st round compo pick to the crows, it would of been pick 9 that would of been overs. Pick 27 might of been unders.

Priority pick to me is irrelevant.

You trade and draft your way out.....

Just an example.... Say if freo finish 15th and have pick 4. Crows finish 7th and have pick 12.

Crows want freos pick 4 to get a gun player for that final piece of their puzzle for a flag... Freo say ok we will make you a deal. We will hand you pick 4 and 40, our 1st and 3rd. Crows hand over picks 12, 30 and 48. which is a mid 1st, 2nd and 3rd.

In some cases I would accept that deal. Pick 4 and 40 is good but pick 4 can end up being an injury riddled player. Picks 12, 30 and 48 can get you 3 B-graders that can play 200 games each.


GWS went from last in their first season in 2012 to top 4 in 2016.

That is the system working perfectly, although supercharged by other concessions.

Not everything is about winning a premiership, you can't solely measure success off of that.

If anything, they proved that volume of quality young players can propel you up the ladder quickly.


The answer isn't for North to suddently win 10 games in 2022, it's gradual improvement and competitiveness. We tried to do the "right thing" under Brad Scott in his final year and topped up to remain competitive and it's f’ed us even more. It will probably cost us the PP.

We've been "competitive" for 22 years. Awesome.
GWS had a lot of 1st round picks in that 2011 draft. Saying that, a few guys got picked up between picks 30-40 in Shane Kersten, Joel Hamling and Brad Hill.

In the 2010 AFL draft, Suns had 9 picks in the 1st 15. Yet west coast recruited well getting Andrew Gaff, Scott Lycett, Jack Darling and Jeremy McGovern.

Some teams got the occasionall solid player past pick 20 in that 2010 draft.


It took GWS five seasons, and their first couple of seasons were putrid.

Five seasons is not quick.

They also didn’t have one additional top talent like a priority pick per year, they had many, many top picks gifted to them at the same time to start up.

5 seasons is 110 games down the track....

you can have a bunch of 18-21 year olds in 1 draft and 5 years later they are a bunch of 23-26 year olds.
 
Sep 19, 2015
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How many of the guys we delisted got recruited?

Mason Wood is the only one.

Sorry, but they weren't AFL standard and didn't deserve 1 or 2 year extensions simply because they are slightly more physically competitive than someone else.

We still recruited 5 x previous AFL listed players.
Completely agree. The guys we delisted were almost all dead weight or constantly injured/unavailable. Few stiff ones like majak but the clean out was long overdue, none of those guys were taking us forward. If we kept them we would no doubt be more competitive, finish 15th and be in no man's land getting games into c graders instead of younger guys. I think it was the right call but we are definitely in for a few years of self inflicted pain to hopefully move forward out of the dead zone we have been in. Don't think we will get a priority pick this year anyway, we will snag a couple of wins a long the way and be better long term for getting games into the kids.
 

Topkent

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Seems the afl invented priority picks because interstate clubs were winning too many flags.

Between that and dodgy father/son rules they soon sorted that out and created the hawthorn and Geelong dynasties.
What the * lol.
 
Feb 21, 2006
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Completely agree. The guys we delisted were almost all dead weight or constantly injured/unavailable. Few stiff ones like majak but the clean out was long overdue, none of those guys were taking us forward. If we kept them we would no doubt be more competitive, finish 15th and be in no man's land getting games into c graders instead of younger guys. I think it was the right call but we are definitely in for a few years of self inflicted pain to hopefully move forward out of the dead zone we have been in. Don't think we will get a priority pick this year anyway, we will snag a couple of wins a long the way and be better long term for getting games into the kids.

Same thing could be said of Melbourne circa 2008-10. Not many if any of the guys we delisted were picked up but it still would have been beneficial to have some mature bodies and senior leaders around the club to nurture the new kids coming through. Otherwise you end up with a VFL level side where Matt Jones and Dean Terlich finish top 5 in your B&F.
 
May 3, 2007
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Seems the afl invented priority picks because interstate clubs were winning too many flags.

Between that and dodgy father/son rules they soon sorted that out and created the hawthorn and Geelong dynasties.
I can see your point.....

Carlton finished bottom in 2005-7 and got some good priority picks.

got 2 top 6 picks in 2005 and used them on Murphy and kennedy.

Got 3 picks in the top 20

then Picks 1, 3 and 20 in 2007 in which 3, 20 and Josh Kennedy were used to trade for Chris Judd.

Port finished 2nd bottom in 2011 instead of getting pick 2, they got pick 5 or 6 due to GWS and got wingard. Port did get a 2nd round priority pick but they traded that for Ebert I think.

Port then finished 14th which should of been pick 5 but that was pushed to 7 due to demons getting pick 5 compo for tom scully and dogs getting pick 6 for a compo pick for callan ward. Port used pick 7 on Ollie wines.
 
Jul 25, 2019
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I think they should get one, but I think at least this year they will only be allowed access to a couple of decent state league players (Which Carlton got a couple of years ago with Gibbons and Cottrell, which has actually worked out surpisingly well for us, esp with Gibbons)

I do tend to agree with the sentiment that because they have never had one before, that North do deserve a Priortiy Pick, unfortunately i do not believe Gil and the rest of the AFL board will see it that way.

Having enemies in the media like Carowhine and Purple only makes the case harder for North as well.
 
Jul 13, 2015
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Seems the afl invented priority picks because interstate clubs were winning too many flags.

Between that and dodgy father/son rules they soon sorted that out and created the hawthorn and Geelong dynasties.

Name the Hawk F/S over the last 15 years please.

We took Dew, Burgers and Clarko. Thats why we won a bunch of flags.
 
North will likely need a PP but it is still only round 3. If they do I'd say it's likely to be end of round 1 pick and then revisit next year.

The problem for North is the AFL won't be keen to see them improve as they will be trying to white-ant them down to Tassie just like they did with Fitzroy. They'll get the picks..... once they relocate - that's the feeling I get anyway.

Haven’t you been banging on about uncompromised drafts and only 1 pick per club in the first round in another thread
 

Foucault1989

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I think priority picks in the national draft should be abolished altogether.

Given the success clubs have had with identifying mature age talent in the state leagues, that should be the priority pick. A free hit at a mature age player without using a draft pick.

That should help struggling clubs get a ready made player into their club without compromising the draft due to shocking list management. And let's face it, if you're in the position to ask for a priority pick, you have stuffed up. You shouldn't be rewarded for that.
 
Jul 25, 2019
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I personally believe (for the sake of argument) if we allow the Swans and Northern club's to keep their Academies (Which I am fine with), we or the AFL need to be more mindful/and flexible with regards to handing out PP's to struggle Eastern and Western clubs if they have a few truly lean years (Which is what North are going through)

If North keep getting belted every week and Bont though the season winless (unlikely but it's possible) we need to have a serious discussion about giving them one.
 

Blue1980

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Here we are again and this time it's North on the table.

How about a different approach.

8 wins or less in two seasons grants an end of first round priority pick
13 wins in three seasons grants a start of first round priority pick. (no more than 5 wins in one season)

Statistically this has only happened twice since 2010 with Brisbane and Gold Coast.

Carlton is the only time I've seen in my lifetime lingering on the bottom for more than 3 seasons.

No, any win/loss criteria means sides will game the system.
 

Dockeroo

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But if priority picks didn't exist, Richmond still would've got Brett Deledio. Technically they got Tambling due to PP's.
Wasnt Alex Rance an end of first round PP in 2007?
Also pretty sure Luke Shuey was an end of first round PP for west coast in 2008 too.
 

Daka

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I reckon giving them extra salary cap would be more beneficial than just giving them picks all the time so than they could actually keep their current players happy or go out an get a really good player free agent.
 

Lampers

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I reckon giving them extra salary cap would be more beneficial than just giving them picks all the time so than they could actually keep their current players happy or go out an get a really good player free agent.

If North’s problem was they were haemorrhaging their higher end talent I think this would be part of a solution, however they aren’t (yet) and if anything I suspect their list is so young that they can probably pay their higher end players more than they’d get elsewhere already.

If they start to lose their more promising players it won’t be because of money, it will be lack of competitiveness that makes them leave.

And if players are only staying or being attracted to the club simply because of money, well those aren’t the sorts of players that would build a good culture anyway.

I think they need to look to get some players from other clubs who are on the verge of retirement and have an interest in a coaching career. Lure two or three with the carrot of extending their career for a couple of years longer than if they remain with their current club, plus the prospect of buying in longer term as a coach. That won’t require massive dollars, and if they have a genuine interest in coaching they will have the right sort of attitude too.

If they can lock away a defender, mid and forward like that it could do wonders for game day stability and onfield coaching, and also not throw their younger players to the wolves and potentially destroy their confidence and hurt their development.

Neville Jetta, both Josh Kennedys, Jack Riewoldt, Joel Selwood, Callan Ward, those types.

I think if quality free agent and out of contract players in their mid twenties see a few of those name veterans at the club then they are more likely to want to come and play too as that helps with a vision for them to buy into.

If they are down the bottom of the ladder for a few years they will naturally get the draft picks to keep bringing in high end youth, it’s making sure they develop in a good environment that will be critical.

This may all be panic though, results this year have been so unpredictable North come out and win several games anyway and look promising without assistance.
 

Matto01

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i like the salary cap increase instead on pp. however it seems north have cut costs in every department so they stay relevent because they are financial so they wont use it.
 
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