News Coronavirus and the draft

[GUMBLETRON]

First step

Community football gets green light, training rules revealed

AFL Victoria is permitting community footballers to train in groups of 10 from Monday

www.afl.com.au

 

[philthy05]

You just answered your own question.

No. As discussed above where the 19yr olds play is a logistical question requiring changes be made at club level across the country

That isn't the argument. It's a straw man you created.

People have raised “mature bodies” as a reason to raise the draft age many times. It’s relevant to raise it as an issue In this discussion and it’s reasonable to ask how a 18 yr old not in a professional full time programme is better off either by the end of the year or during the year if he has to play against men in a league like the sanfl.

This is a fair point, but one year's salary being lower because they play in a state league rather than the AFL is not going to be a major factor. If it is, those kids' hearts clearly weren't in the game anyway.

How many 18 yr olds do you think are getting paid to play at state level and how much do you think they’re getting paid?

Yes, it's called getting out of high school and making a personal decision about your future.

So there is a gifted bonus of maturity that comes from coming out of school and making a decision to get a job or go to uni that doesn’t exist for the kid coming out of school and choosing to play afl?

NGAs aren't full-time jobs for the players in them, they're in place alongside study.

I wasn’t talking about the work life school balance, I was talking about the conflicting principles of the afls vocal pushing of ngas and their benefits and the pushing back of a draft.

get them in early / get them in later and presenting cases for each undoubtedly presents conflicting information at least to some degree.

There isn't, because that was never the argument. The idea is that they see some of what the real world is like at 18, and do something that isn't football for a bit to get a sense of perspective and maturity rather than simply leaping into the AFL bubble.

That is an argument I’ve seen raised many times in support of raising the draft age.
as for your “seen a bit of the real world” comment. What are they seeing of the real world in 12months that they can’t see in afl? It’s such an incredibly unique thing to each individual and incredibly hard to measure. You can’t force it. Besides, every afl club has had community programmes in place for decades now. Why couldn’t a club offer a player something like what you suggest through community work?

The issue isn't stress, it's that the draft can be a distraction from studies.

yeah it’s a tough one. And incredibly hard to work around. If that’s your single biggest gripe with the draft age then is all the work and problems that incur from shifting the age back, just to swap the distraction from studies back worth it just for the chance, and that’s all it is chance, that the next year they have no concerns going on at that time because their job / uni life is smooth sailing. Is it the best way to deal with it?
what if a player leaves school? Can they then enter the draft? Would moving the draft and champs be harder than moving the draft age? (I suspect they are hard to move but harder than the alternative

The irony is that half of your post is anecdotal, or loudly making claims with no evidence.

you have confused what anecdotal is.

‘(of an account) not necessarily true or reliable, because based on personal accounts rather than facts or research.’

I have not offered anecdotal evidence. I’ve raised logistical issues and showed why they would be difficult, and asked for evidence to support claims people are making.

 

[philthy05]

All this talk has given me an idea on what I would set up for a lift in the draft age, I’ll be nutting out the details later today but the plan would involve a national u19 comp tying it all with AFL clubs with the potential of all games being curtain raisers aswell

Like your enthusiasm. When you find the tens of millions of dollars needed to fund that can I have some? Also kinda negates the pro- raising the draft age guys assertions that a ‘taste of the real world will make them better men’ when they basically have to enter a semi professional league that flies interstate to play while apparently also have jobs or going to uni.

 

[eDPS]

Like your enthusiasm. When you find the tens of millions of dollars needed to fund that can I have some? Also kinda negates the pro- raising the draft age guys assertions that a ‘taste of the real world will make them better men’ when they basically have to enter a semi professional league that flies interstate to play while apparently also have jobs or going to uni.

More than happy for them to keep things as they are but if they want to do it right they might have to put in the money to make it work. Think my hypothetical will also help the Rowells and Walsh’s of the world, still being able to be drafted despite being a year younger as the whole drafting process I’d look at changing aswell.

 

[philthy05]

To field another team, what extra team?
u16 become u17 and u18 become u19.

Isnt u18 already weakened in sa with many kids playing either reserves or seniors, not sure it will make a difference to current situation. In Victoria if they raised it to u19 all kids would stay in the competition and if anything make it stronger than it already is with kids not missing large chunks of the season to private school football.

Ah okay so you’re shuffling all the age grades up?

actually a new problem came to mind.

in Sa how do you keep enough players in the leagues under 19’s teams to keep it strong enough? The drop out rate for that age range when they enter the workforce and uni must be pretty high and the bleed off to local clubs like goodwood etc willing to pay and requiring less time would be an issue. I’m not talking about future afl players, I’m talking about the fringe under 19’s that will never play professional footy that would still be needed to have a under 19’s league strong enough to develop good players in. Hmmmm. it’s something that would have to be considered.

 

[RUNVS]

I say lift the draft age to 32 to make sure the players are really mature before playing in the AFL. If players are young enough to of ever done the Fortnite dance then they should not be eligible for the AFL.

 

[andleanback]

Ah okay so you’re shuffling all the age grades up?

actually a new problem came to mind.

in Sa how do you keep enough players in the leagues under 19’s teams to keep it strong enough? The drop out rate for that age range when they enter the workforce and uni must be pretty high and the bleed off to local clubs like goodwood etc willing to pay and requiring less time would be an issue. I’m not talking about future afl players, I’m talking about the fringe under 19’s that will never play professional footy that would still be needed to have a under 19’s league strong enough to develop good players in. Hmmmm. it’s something that would have to be considered.

I think youre stretching mate, if the draft age is risen most kids playing in u19 aren't going to be dropping out, so many kids have the dream to play afl regardless of talent and only reassess when they arent picked. Do you know how many nominate to be drafted each year (think it was about 800 last year)... with a majority being nowhere near afl standard.

 

[philthy05]

Do you know how many nominate to be drafted each year (think it was about 800 last year)...

Do you know how many of that number were 19+yr olds?

 

[andleanback]

Do you know how many of that number were 19+yr olds?

A few, its not the point. I'm just rebutting your comment saying kids who wouldnt have yet entered their draft year would be leaving the system because they dont believe they can make it. Kids love being in the talent pathway system regardless of where they are placed on the list talent wise, its kind of a social stature "i play cannons" ive seen it first hand.

 

[GUMBLETRON]

There’s a bucketload of unanswered questions that these pro-raising the draft age campaigners never answer.

One further question your honour:

If a year playing state league and studying or working produces better-prepared, more-mature footballers, why aren't clubs having their draftees spend a year playing state league and studying or working?

 

[eDPS]

AFL U19 National Competition – A hypothetical….


So what’s all this about the draft age?

Alright so there has been talk of raising the draft age, first of all what are some of the reasons as to why?

- Some potential draftees are doing their year 12 which is an important year of education, how well they do in their education could be of great benefit if their AFL career never gets started or is cut short
- Some draftees aren’t mature enough and don’t have enough experience in dealing with the AFL lifestyle

Well that’s pretty much it for why it should be raised but here are a couple of reasons as to why many feel it shouldn’t be raised

- Players like Matt Rowell, Sam Walsh and Connor Rozee in recent times have shown that they are not only ready for AFL but can contribute at the top level extremely well, there has been many examples of this over the last few decades even going back to Tim Watson who debuted at age 15!
- Clubs value draftees who can excel in their football preparation while also excel in their schooling showing they have a solid mental aptitude already, someone like Andrew McGrath would have had no trouble finding good work if he wasn’t able to be drafted.

Both sides have their merits and personally I’m of the belief that it should stay how it is and I would possibly go even further to suggest some players can be drafted even as 17 year olds in some cases, I will go into this in more detail later.

So why a National U19 competition and how will it work?

If the AFL decide to lift the draft age I would want them to do it properly and make it the best format it can be and I know how much making something like this would cost and I wouldn’t imagine being able to implement this idea anytime soon but as a hypothetical and if the funding was able to be done this is how things would shape up.

So each AFL club would now have an Under 19 side, not every player will be eligible to be drafted by that club when the draft does happen but I will go into draft eligibility later on. This is how the current developmental clubs would be split between the AFL Clubs and will work similarly to how the NGA works. The Queensland and New South Wales clubs will be tied to their whole states with Northern Territory prospects linked with Gold Coast, more likely NSW and QLD with be the teams to make it a 16 club comp.

Adelaide
Central Districts
Glenelg
North Adelaide
Sturt

Carlton
Northern Knights

Collingwood
Oakleigh Chargers

Essendon
Calder Cannons

Fremantle
Claremont
East Fremantle
Peel Thunder
South Fremantle
West Perth

+ Could split one of these club with West Coast to keep it even

Geelong
Geelong Falcons

Hawthorn
Eastern Ranges
Gippsland Power*

North Melbourne
Bendigo Pioneers
Tasmania

Melbourne
Dandenong Stingrays

Port Adelaide
Norwood
South Adelaide
West Adelaide
Woodville West-Torrens

Richmond
Murray Bushrangers
Gippsland Power*

St Kilda
Sandringham Dragons

West Coast
East Perth
Perth
Subiaco
Swan Districts

Western Bulldogs
Western Jets
GWV Rebels


Recently drafted players under the age of plenty can play for their respective clubs, they are still eligible to play for their state sides so for example recent draftee Hugo Ralphsmith can play Richmond VFL or U19 and will be at the clubs discretion.

So each team will obviously have a player list which will be capped for every club and this is where the potential for younger players to be drafted comes in, so each club will get a maximum of 2 players that are under the age of 19 to add to their list, any player on a club U19 list will be eligible to be drafted and they cold even be 17 and ill give the following example below

- Matt Rowell has been ready to be on an AFL list for awhile now, he won best on ground honours in the NAB League Grand Final as a 17 year old and went on to dominate his draft year with nothing left to prove.

Now this could fly in the face of the whole education debate which is why I have limited the amount of younger players to 2 per club as this should only effect a limited few players, Tim Watson played AFL at 15 and the effect on his education certainly hasn’t had any effects on his ability to get good work. Clubs could find a loophole in year somewhere and other measures may need to be taken like amount of games played as a bottom ager to be make draft eligibility.


Anything else we should know?

If there are any queries you want to discuss that I don’t acknowledge here feel free to let me know and we can discuss them, open to a lot f other ideas and improvements. A few notes below and re-affirming certain notes

- Ideally every game will be televised or at least streamed and with commentary.
- Only NGA tied players are tied to their club for the draft so if you’re an Oakleigh player that doesn’t mean you can only be drafted by Collingwood on the senior list.
- If you are under the age of 19 and are not on a club U19 list you will not be eligible to be drafted
- This could include 20 year old players similar to how 19 year olds are allowed to play in the Nab League, WAFL Colts ect
- Certain incentives for players might have to be discussed especially to compensate for travel, accomodation ect
- The current completions like the Nab League could still go ahead as normal and be used for players who don’t make the best 22 each week for the club U19s


Well that’s it for now, let me know what you think, certainly sounds like a pipe dream and not likely to happen but was fun trying to figure out a plan that could benefit all types of young players.

 

[philthy05]

A few, its not the point. I'm just rebutting your comment saying kids who wouldnt have yet entered their draft year would be leaving the system because they dont believe they can make it. Kids love being in the talent pathway system regardless of where they are placed on the list talent wise, its kind of a social stature "i play cannons" ive seen it first hand.

I’m not talking about the kids aiming for the afl. In order to have an under 19’s you need infinitely more players than the guys that even think they’re in contention.

Would there be a run off of players with no afl aspirations leaving league clubs when entering uni / the workforce and others heading to cashed up local clubs with lesser time demands?

 

[andleanback]

I’m not talking about the kids aiming for the afl. In order to have an under 19’s you need infinitely more players than the guys that even think they’re in contention.

Would there be a run off of players with no afl aspirations leaving league clubs when entering uni / the workforce and others heading to cashed up local clubs with lesser time demands?

That would be the same now then? What difference would being a year older make to these kids, they would still be on the same timeline as before in draft terms. A year out from their draft most kids in the system would give themselves some sort of chance and If anything staying in the pathway when they are 19 would add extra value to the contracts they sign when local clubs come calling/ decide high level football isn’t for them.

 

[RUNVS]

I’m not talking about the kids aiming for the afl. In order to have an under 19’s you need infinitely more players than the guys that even think they’re in contention.

Would there be a run off of players with no afl aspirations leaving league clubs when entering uni / the workforce and others heading to cashed up local clubs with lesser time demands?

Also school takes up less than 7 hours of a teenagers day, at least an hour of which is them having recess and lunch, so they are doing less than 6 hours a day of learning where they are sitting down most of the time so at the end of school they would sphave the time and energy to train with their Aussie Rules club. Compare that to 19, where they could be working full time, meaning a minimum of 8 hours work, of potentially tiring work, so at the end of the day they are far less likely to have the energy to go to training for Aussie Rules.

I mean think about how many under 18 AFL teams there are, and compare that to how many adult teams there are. A lot of kids are lost to the system after they leave school as adult life is suddenly more pressing and important.

 

[Mego Red]

Also school takes up less than 7 hours of a teenagers day, at least an hour of which is them having recess and lunch, so they are doing less than 6 hours a day of learning where they are sitting down most of the time so at the end of school they would sphave the time and energy to train with their Aussie Rules club. Compare that to 19, where they could be working full time, meaning a minimum of 8 hours work, of potentially tiring work, so at the end of the day they are far less likely to have the energy to go to training for Aussie Rules.

I mean think about how many under 18 AFL teams there are, and compare that to how many adult teams there are. A lot of kids are lost to the system after they leave school as adult life is suddenly more pressing and important.

I agree with this. I think you'd have dramatically less players in an U/19 comp compared to U/18. You'll still have those kids who definitely have an AFL career ahead of them playing - but they're also the kids that probably most want to be getting into an AFL environment.

 

[TradeDraft]

AFL U19 National Competition – A hypothetical….


So what’s all this about the draft age?

Alright so there has been talk of raising the draft age, first of all what are some of the reasons as to why?

- Some potential draftees are doing their year 12 which is an important year of education, how well they do in their education could be of great benefit if their AFL career never gets started or is cut short
- Some draftees aren’t mature enough and don’t have enough experience in dealing with the AFL lifestyle

Well that’s pretty much it for why it should be raised but here are a couple of reasons as to why many feel it shouldn’t be raised

- Players like Matt Rowell, Sam Walsh and Connor Rozee in recent times have shown that they are not only ready for AFL but can contribute at the top level extremely well, there has been many examples of this over the last few decades even going back to Tim Watson who debuted at age 15!
- Clubs value draftees who can excel in their football preparation while also excel in their schooling showing they have a solid mental aptitude already, someone like Andrew McGrath would have had no trouble finding good work if he wasn’t able to be drafted.

Both sides have their merits and personally I’m of the belief that it should stay how it is and I would possibly go even further to suggest some players can be drafted even as 17 year olds in some cases, I will go into this in more detail later.

So why a National U19 competition and how will it work?

If the AFL decide to lift the draft age I would want them to do it properly and make it the best format it can be and I know how much making something like this would cost and I wouldn’t imagine being able to implement this idea anytime soon but as a hypothetical and if the funding was able to be done this is how things would shape up.

So each AFL club would now have an Under 19 side, not every player will be eligible to be drafted by that club when the draft does happen but I will go into draft eligibility later on. This is how the current developmental clubs would be split between the AFL Clubs and will work similarly to how the NGA works. The Queensland and New South Wales clubs will be tied to their whole states with Northern Territory prospects linked with Gold Coast, more likely NSW and QLD with be the teams to make it a 16 club comp.

Adelaide
Central Districts
Glenelg
North Adelaide
Sturt

Carlton
Northern Knights

Collingwood
Oakleigh Chargers

Essendon
Calder Cannons

Fremantle
Claremont
East Fremantle
Peel Thunder
South Fremantle
West Perth

+ Could split one of these club with West Coast to keep it even

Geelong
Geelong Falcons

Hawthorn
Eastern Ranges
Gippsland Power*

North Melbourne
Bendigo Pioneers
Tasmania

Melbourne
Dandenong Stingrays

Port Adelaide
Norwood
South Adelaide
West Adelaide
Woodville West-Torrens

Richmond
Murray Bushrangers
Gippsland Power*

St Kilda
Sandringham Dragons

West Coast
East Perth
Perth
Subiaco
Swan Districts

Western Bulldogs
Western Jets
GWV Rebels


Recently drafted players under the age of plenty can play for their respective clubs, they are still eligible to play for their state sides so for example recent draftee Hugo Ralphsmith can play Richmond VFL or U19 and will be at the clubs discretion.

So each team will obviously have a player list which will be capped for every club and this is where the potential for younger players to be drafted comes in, so each club will get a maximum of 2 players that are under the age of 19 to add to their list, any player on a club U19 list will be eligible to be drafted and they cold even be 17 and ill give the following example below

- Matt Rowell has been ready to be on an AFL list for awhile now, he won best on ground honours in the NAB League Grand Final as a 17 year old and went on to dominate his draft year with nothing left to prove.

Now this could fly in the face of the whole education debate which is why I have limited the amount of younger players to 2 per club as this should only effect a limited few players, Tim Watson played AFL at 15 and the effect on his education certainly hasn’t had any effects on his ability to get good work. Clubs could find a loophole in year somewhere and other measures may need to be taken like amount of games played as a bottom ager to be make draft eligibility.


Anything else we should know?

If there are any queries you want to discuss that I don’t acknowledge here feel free to let me know and we can discuss them, open to a lot f other ideas and improvements. A few notes below and re-affirming certain notes

- Ideally every game will be televised or at least streamed and with commentary.
- Only NGA tied players are tied to their club for the draft so if you’re an Oakleigh player that doesn’t mean you can only be drafted by Collingwood on the senior list.
- If you are under the age of 19 and are not on a club U19 list you will not be eligible to be drafted
- This could include 20 year old players similar to how 19 year olds are allowed to play in the Nab League, WAFL Colts ect
- Certain incentives for players might have to be discussed especially to compensate for travel, accomodation ect
- The current completions like the Nab League could still go ahead as normal and be used for players who don’t make the best 22 each week for the club U19s


Well that’s it for now, let me know what you think, certainly sounds like a pipe dream and not likely to happen but was fun trying to figure out a plan that could benefit all types of young players.

Isn't that what they use to have when Clubs had u-19 Teams when it was the VFL?

 

[briztoon]

I agree with this. I think you'd have dramatically less players in an U/19 comp compared to U/18. You'll still have those kids who definitely have an AFL career ahead of them playing - but they're also the kids that probably most want to be getting into an AFL environment.

It’s not like teams will have an U18 team and an U19 team.

The U18 team simply becomes an U19 team.

The best kids, regardless of age, will still go up and play SANFL, WAFL, or VFL. Or reserve level.

Those that aren’t likely to have a footy career drop out.

Meaning the U19’s is still made up of mostly 17 and 18 year olds, and those 19 year olds chasing the dream.

Up in the NEAFL, if we’re are playing with reduced lists, most weeks will see upwards of 11 to 15 or more academy kids playing in the AFL reserve team. Probably the best kids from U17 through to U19.

 

[briztoon]

I have a theory.

If we keep seeing AFL media articles on the draft age being raised. You can pretty much lock it inthat Gil has already said it’s happening behind closed doors.

Maybe just a shortened, 2 round draft this year, and same again next year, but with the U19’s who didn’t get drafted from this year.

Gives clubs time to adjust to list sizes being cut. And next years U18’s time to get their head around what it means for them.

 

[andleanback]

I have a theory.

If we keep seeing AFL media articles on the draft age being raised. You can pretty much lock it inthat Gil has already said it’s happening behind closed doors.

Maybe just a shortened, 2 round draft this year, and same again next year, but with the U19’s who didn’t get drafted from this year.

Gives clubs time to adjust to list sizes being cut. And next years U18’s time to get their head around what it means for them.

I just think the afl media are trying to find anything to write about atm, to justify their jobs.

 

[philthy05]

Pushing back the draft age is the low hanging fruit of 2020 sports reporting.

 

[TheGrizz]

I think an easy solution would be (assuming list sizes are cut):

2020 draft
1. A 2-round national draft is held sometime after the grand final.
2. Any pick swaps that involves a 3rd round pick or later is pushed to 2021
3. Any pick swap that involves ONLY picks in round 1 and 2 are enforced in 2020. (So if for example teams swapped a 2nd for a 3rd as part of a trade, that trade would be enforced on the 2021 draft)

2021
1. Lift the limit on the amount of 19yo allowed to play for TAC cup/SANFL colts/WAFL colts for 2021 ONLY. (This will mean late bloomers like Oliver, McGrath, etc that would have had big top age years can have a chance to run around again and prove a case)
* Remember the top 40 players from 2020 are gone, so there will be a limited amount of players talented enough to be picked over the regular 16/17yo that normally play. Also, bottom agers are the ones likely to be disadvantaged by this and they have 2022 to press their case, although if talented enough they will play.

2. 2021 will have a very strong crop, as it will have the late bloomers/players rated 40-60 this year in that crop on top of the normal crop.

 

[andleanback]

I think an easy solution would be (assuming list sizes are cut):

2020 draft
1. A 2-round national draft is held sometime after the grand final.
2. Any pick swaps that involves a 3rd round pick or later is pushed to 2021
3. Any pick swap that involves ONLY picks in round 1 and 2 are enforced in 2020. (So if for example teams swapped a 2nd for a 3rd as part of a trade, that trade would be enforced on the 2021 draft)

2021
1. Lift the limit on the amount of 19yo allowed to play for TAC cup/SANFL colts/WAFL colts for 2021 ONLY. (This will mean late bloomers like Oliver, McGrath, etc that would have had big top age years can have a chance to run around again and prove a case)
* Remember the top 40 players from 2020 are gone, so there will be a limited amount of players talented enough to be picked over the regular 16/17yo that normally play. Also, bottom agers are the ones likely to be disadvantaged by this and they have 2022 to press their case, although if talented enough they will play.

2. 2021 will have a very strong crop, as it will have the late bloomers/players rated 40-60 this year in that crop on top of the normal crop.

I think it’ll end up being a minimum 2 pick draft, geelong and north both have 3 early picks that they’ll most likely use.

 

[TheGrizz]

I think it’ll end up being a minimum 2 pick draft, geelong and north both have 3 early picks that they’ll most likely use.

Thats why i said a two round draft, as opposed to two pick draft.

If you have more than two picks in the first two rounds you can use all of them provided that part of the trade doesnt also flow into the later rounds which if so would then filter through to 2021.

Geelong for example would be fine to use all 3 first round picks.

 

[Smythe]

I’m not talking about the kids aiming for the afl. In order to have an under 19’s you need infinitely more players than the guys that even think they’re in contention.

Would there be a run off of players with no afl aspirations leaving league clubs when entering uni / the workforce and others heading to cashed up local clubs with lesser time demands?

yes. just like now. who cares

 

[philthy05]

I think an easy solution would be (assuming list sizes are cut):

2020 draft
1. A 2-round national draft is held sometime after the grand final.
2. Any pick swaps that involves a 3rd round pick or later is pushed to 2021
3. Any pick swap that involves ONLY picks in round 1 and 2 are enforced in 2020. (So if for example teams swapped a 2nd for a 3rd as part of a trade, that trade would be enforced on the 2021 draft)

2021
1. Lift the limit on the amount of 19yo allowed to play for TAC cup/SANFL colts/WAFL colts for 2021 ONLY. (This will mean late bloomers like Oliver, McGrath, etc that would have had big top age years can have a chance to run around again and prove a case)
* Remember the top 40 players from 2020 are gone, so there will be a limited amount of players talented enough to be picked over the regular 16/17yo that normally play. Also, bottom agers are the ones likely to be disadvantaged by this and they have 2022 to press their case, although if talented enough they will play.

2. 2021 will have a very strong crop, as it will have the late bloomers/players rated 40-60 this year in that crop on top of the normal crop.

what happens to ports Fs and nga prospects? They’ll likely get bid on late second onwards? We miss out on getting them? We get them for free? Does everyone then get them for free this year? (That’s a problem if so). How do we work out points? Does everyone lose their later draft picks? You mentioned traded ones moving to next year but what about original late picks?

 

[briztoon]

what happens to ports Fs and nga prospects? They’ll likely get bid on late second onwards? We miss out on getting them? We get them for free? Does everyone then get them for free this year? (That’s a problem if so). How do we work out points? Does everyone lose their later draft picks? You mentioned traded ones moving to next year but what about original late picks?

That’s a pretty ******* simple answer.

If no one bids on them, and Port have the available list spaces, then Port can choose to sign them, or if Port believes there are better kids, Port can draft other kids instead.

If Port don’t have late second round picks, and the kids are genuine second round talents, another club can still draft them.

We’ve seen that in the past with Brisbane, Gold Coast and GWS kids getting drafted by other clubs.

Being a father son or nga prospect has never been a guarantee to being drafted.

With shorter lists, and fewer draftees likely, it just means only the top kids get drafted or bid on now.

Instead of ~70 kids being drafted each year, we’ll see ~40 kids drafted.

Those 30+ extra kids that now miss out can choose to keep playing SANFL, or which ever state league, just like every other kid that has missed out in the past.

If they’re good enough, and show continual growth, they’ll get drafted as a mature age recruit, like Tim Kelly did.

Or, as long as they’ve declared for the previous draft, they have the chance to signed during the SSP.