So watching the draft, i thought - gee, this Academy thing is a bit of a farce. The Suns appear to have gotten 4 players from the 1st 18 from their Academy, & we appear to have none, ever. Then I also thought - gee, its a bit shit that Collingwood can just get Moore, and 2 Daicos' & The Lions get 36 Ashcroft's without having to do much too. So I thought, well, lets just fix both at the same time. And had another chip.
The Easy fix for this system is, each year a club can only have exclusive access to 1 Academy or 1 Father/Son per season. And that system works exactly like this where other teams can bid & you can match it using a selection that is 10 picks after the bid has been made.
If the club can convince the kid to "hold back" a year, then you can try to stagger them - but you cannot be paying them 1 cent more than a academy player should. The kid has to agree to give up 1 year of their career to do it. Or, they can enter the Draft not attached to anyone.
A more complex fix to add onto this would be that clubs can TRADE their Academy players into another teams Academy, but there are restrictions in order to encourage parity in the league.
-Teams in the Top 6 (ie Finals qualifiers, excluding Playoff teams) are NOT allowed to trade for Academy Players
-No picks inside the Top 14 can be included in the trade & no more than 1 draft pick from the same round can be included in a trade. Players can be included/packaged in the trade, but the AFL listed player(s) must agree to the trade & must have 4+ years in the system already, It excludes players 21-22 or younger being able to be traded.
- Clubs must nominate their 2025 Academy / F/S choice prior to the trade period. This allows all clubs to plan their draft knowing who is committed.
The counter arguement from the Academy Clubs is "so we spend years developing the kids & other teams get to take them for free???? No fair!!!" They have a point as considerable $$$$ spent developing kids & another team getting the advantage of that is a bit unfair. Hence, why the club can TRADE the Academy players during trade week to another team who wants their services, & if they don't - those players can enter the draft as a standard prospect not tied to any club.
To put this in motion for this year as a example,
This means Patterson, Murray & Addinsall can fall into the draft for zero compensation, if they are not traded during trade week. In this scenario, the Suns are the team wanting to trade, to ensure the player is not lost for free as if he nominates for the draft and a deal can't be struck, he can walk.
So if Richmond wanted to take Patterson, we would need to likely trade one of 3 or 4 to get multiple picks, one being 14+, so we can ontrade to Gold Coast. It's worth remembering though we are not trading for the player to go onto our senior list, we are trading for them only to go onto our Academy roster, which means we still need to select the player using a pick. Alternatively, if this was last year when we traded Rioli to the Suns - instead of taking 6 & 23, we could have accepted 6 & Patterson onto our Academy list.
Let's say for this year though, we trade Pick 4 & 38 to the Hawks for 10, 22 + Mitch Lewis, using pick 22 to trade to trade for Patterson, with the plan being to use pick #10 to select him/match a bid. The Suns then accept a trade for pick 30 from Essendon for Murray & accept a trade for Jy Simpkins from Nth for the rights to Addinsall, with Nth agreeing to pay 50% of his contract.
To show this in motion for this season the below would be a possible phantom draft of how this might look.
1. West Coast Eagles — Willem Duursma
2. Gold Coast Suns — Zeke Uwland [Pick #15 as Suns 2025 Academy F/S Pick - West Coast bid matched]
3. Carlton — Harry Dean [Pick #19 as Blues 2025 Academy F/S Pick - West Coast bid matched]
4. West Coast Eagles — Cooper Duff-Tytler
5. Richmond - Sam Cummings
6. Brisbane Lions — Daniel Annable [Pick 17# as Brisbane 2025 Academy F/S Pic - Essendon bid matched]
7. Richmond - Dylan Patterson [Pick #10 as Richmonds 2025 Academy F/S Pick - Essendon Bid Matched]
8. Hawthorn - Sullivan Robey
9.Essendon - Xavier Taylor
9. Essendon - Jacob Farrow
10. Melbourne - Sam Grilj
11. Melbourne — Lattrelle Pickett
12. Essendon — Dyson Sharp
13. Swans - Harry Kyle (Matching GWS Bid)
14. Giants - Oscar Taylor
15.
-The Tigers would end up with Cummings & Patterson & Mitch Lewis
Gold Coast End up with
Zeke Ulwand. Jy Simpkins. Pick 22,24,28,29,30
-The Suns would up with Uwland (using Pick 15) , Pick 18, 22, 24, 28, 29, 30 & Jy Simpkins (50% salary paid by Nth), with the RED picks being their reward from the Academy. The amount of picks they end up with looks quite comical, but realistically - they can likely trade 3 of them and get back in the the 7-12 Pick range - or - use those picks to get in "ready made" 28+ year olds. Picks between 22-30 are excellent picks for trading.
The end result overall here is the Suns end up getting a player that was worth pick 2 for only pick 15 & able to get around 4 excellent 2nd round picks, that they can use to either trade "back up" the draft or "Future Picks", or "ready made" talent. Realistically its much better for everyone if the Suns / Giants use their Academy picks to pass on to rebuilding teams, to get "ready made" talent. With this rule as well, I think the entire compo pick for losing players, like Allan, is scraped. If the player walks, you lose him for nothing - but gain the cap space to try and sign their own talent. I'd also piss of "restricted Free Agents" , instead taking on the exact model the NBA uses .Rookies sign "Standard" 2 year contracts, with a +1, +2 or +3 year option on the clubs to retain them, or, both parties can negotiate together to start a new, longer term contract. This would effectively mean all players are able to walk at the age of 22-23, if uncontracted. And when they walk, the club loses them - no compo picks. It's then on the clubs to keep young talent happy/engaged to keep them at your club. A system like this would be better for Richmond as we would be able to use our draft space to start poaching 22-23 year olds, while holding onto our draft picks. It will speed up rebuilds without having to screw with the integrity of the draft with compo, academy picks etc etc.
This system would result in
- the draft order retaining integrity
-Players having more freedom when moving out of contract
-Enable teams with strong Academy's to get value for effort, without it resulting in stockpiling picks & young talent.
-Encourages more trades
-Makes it easier for young talent to be spread between all clubs, wnile rewarding Academy programs.
ITs clear as day these academy's are not equal among the clubs, not even close. Richmond has not had any real advantage of our academy yet. Are we just really shit at it, or do we have a zone which is not very fruitful? The AFL is just letting them role on, fully seeing that its not fair. This is why i respected the outrageous approach by the Saints this year through Free Agency - they don't have any realistic move to fight back against the academy teams, so they zagged with the cheque book like ol skool Carlton used to. What else can they do? They have a guy who looks like a possible generational talent in Wanga, the only way they can expect to keep him is by showing him "we are serious about winning". We all cringed when they did it as we know in the modern game - its a huge risk. If it fails or falls on bad luck, it can cripple your club for a decade. But ultimately, its the only card left for them to seriously "get better"
Its complicated, confusing and has/needs lots of lil rules to tweak the balance. But the balance at the moment could not be worse. There are 18 teams & the first round went for 25 picks. That is telling you, half the teams are getting more than they should & the other half are going very hungry. All the teams that are able to feast on it also are the ones that the AFLs optics suggest are the teams the AFL would like to see go well, to grow with their obsession of "gaining new markets"
The AFL is prone to copying the NBA - but its bizarre to me they have completely overlooked the NBA's system which has been refined for decades & slots in perfectly in so many area. Last night was a pisstake tho, cant be having 25 picks in the first round. Suns getting 4 picks in the top 20 after finishing 5th, when their only real pick was #15 - wtf are we doing here?? Dimma is getting a free ride
The Easy fix for this system is, each year a club can only have exclusive access to 1 Academy or 1 Father/Son per season. And that system works exactly like this where other teams can bid & you can match it using a selection that is 10 picks after the bid has been made.
If the club can convince the kid to "hold back" a year, then you can try to stagger them - but you cannot be paying them 1 cent more than a academy player should. The kid has to agree to give up 1 year of their career to do it. Or, they can enter the Draft not attached to anyone.
A more complex fix to add onto this would be that clubs can TRADE their Academy players into another teams Academy, but there are restrictions in order to encourage parity in the league.
-Teams in the Top 6 (ie Finals qualifiers, excluding Playoff teams) are NOT allowed to trade for Academy Players
-No picks inside the Top 14 can be included in the trade & no more than 1 draft pick from the same round can be included in a trade. Players can be included/packaged in the trade, but the AFL listed player(s) must agree to the trade & must have 4+ years in the system already, It excludes players 21-22 or younger being able to be traded.
- Clubs must nominate their 2025 Academy / F/S choice prior to the trade period. This allows all clubs to plan their draft knowing who is committed.
The counter arguement from the Academy Clubs is "so we spend years developing the kids & other teams get to take them for free???? No fair!!!" They have a point as considerable $$$$ spent developing kids & another team getting the advantage of that is a bit unfair. Hence, why the club can TRADE the Academy players during trade week to another team who wants their services, & if they don't - those players can enter the draft as a standard prospect not tied to any club.
To put this in motion for this year as a example,
- Suns announce Uwland
- Carlton on Dean
- Lions on Annable
This means Patterson, Murray & Addinsall can fall into the draft for zero compensation, if they are not traded during trade week. In this scenario, the Suns are the team wanting to trade, to ensure the player is not lost for free as if he nominates for the draft and a deal can't be struck, he can walk.
So if Richmond wanted to take Patterson, we would need to likely trade one of 3 or 4 to get multiple picks, one being 14+, so we can ontrade to Gold Coast. It's worth remembering though we are not trading for the player to go onto our senior list, we are trading for them only to go onto our Academy roster, which means we still need to select the player using a pick. Alternatively, if this was last year when we traded Rioli to the Suns - instead of taking 6 & 23, we could have accepted 6 & Patterson onto our Academy list.
Let's say for this year though, we trade Pick 4 & 38 to the Hawks for 10, 22 + Mitch Lewis, using pick 22 to trade to trade for Patterson, with the plan being to use pick #10 to select him/match a bid. The Suns then accept a trade for pick 30 from Essendon for Murray & accept a trade for Jy Simpkins from Nth for the rights to Addinsall, with Nth agreeing to pay 50% of his contract.
To show this in motion for this season the below would be a possible phantom draft of how this might look.
1. West Coast Eagles — Willem Duursma
2. Gold Coast Suns — Zeke Uwland [Pick #15 as Suns 2025 Academy F/S Pick - West Coast bid matched]
3. Carlton — Harry Dean [Pick #19 as Blues 2025 Academy F/S Pick - West Coast bid matched]
4. West Coast Eagles — Cooper Duff-Tytler
5. Richmond - Sam Cummings
6. Brisbane Lions — Daniel Annable [Pick 17# as Brisbane 2025 Academy F/S Pic - Essendon bid matched]
7. Richmond - Dylan Patterson [Pick #10 as Richmonds 2025 Academy F/S Pick - Essendon Bid Matched]
8. Hawthorn - Sullivan Robey
9.Essendon - Xavier Taylor
9. Essendon - Jacob Farrow
10. Melbourne - Sam Grilj
11. Melbourne — Lattrelle Pickett
12. Essendon — Dyson Sharp
13. Swans - Harry Kyle (Matching GWS Bid)
14. Giants - Oscar Taylor
15.
-The Tigers would end up with Cummings & Patterson & Mitch Lewis
Gold Coast End up with
Zeke Ulwand. Jy Simpkins. Pick 22,24,28,29,30
-The Suns would up with Uwland (using Pick 15) , Pick 18, 22, 24, 28, 29, 30 & Jy Simpkins (50% salary paid by Nth), with the RED picks being their reward from the Academy. The amount of picks they end up with looks quite comical, but realistically - they can likely trade 3 of them and get back in the the 7-12 Pick range - or - use those picks to get in "ready made" 28+ year olds. Picks between 22-30 are excellent picks for trading.
The end result overall here is the Suns end up getting a player that was worth pick 2 for only pick 15 & able to get around 4 excellent 2nd round picks, that they can use to either trade "back up" the draft or "Future Picks", or "ready made" talent. Realistically its much better for everyone if the Suns / Giants use their Academy picks to pass on to rebuilding teams, to get "ready made" talent. With this rule as well, I think the entire compo pick for losing players, like Allan, is scraped. If the player walks, you lose him for nothing - but gain the cap space to try and sign their own talent. I'd also piss of "restricted Free Agents" , instead taking on the exact model the NBA uses .Rookies sign "Standard" 2 year contracts, with a +1, +2 or +3 year option on the clubs to retain them, or, both parties can negotiate together to start a new, longer term contract. This would effectively mean all players are able to walk at the age of 22-23, if uncontracted. And when they walk, the club loses them - no compo picks. It's then on the clubs to keep young talent happy/engaged to keep them at your club. A system like this would be better for Richmond as we would be able to use our draft space to start poaching 22-23 year olds, while holding onto our draft picks. It will speed up rebuilds without having to screw with the integrity of the draft with compo, academy picks etc etc.
This system would result in
- the draft order retaining integrity
-Players having more freedom when moving out of contract
-Enable teams with strong Academy's to get value for effort, without it resulting in stockpiling picks & young talent.
-Encourages more trades
-Makes it easier for young talent to be spread between all clubs, wnile rewarding Academy programs.
ITs clear as day these academy's are not equal among the clubs, not even close. Richmond has not had any real advantage of our academy yet. Are we just really shit at it, or do we have a zone which is not very fruitful? The AFL is just letting them role on, fully seeing that its not fair. This is why i respected the outrageous approach by the Saints this year through Free Agency - they don't have any realistic move to fight back against the academy teams, so they zagged with the cheque book like ol skool Carlton used to. What else can they do? They have a guy who looks like a possible generational talent in Wanga, the only way they can expect to keep him is by showing him "we are serious about winning". We all cringed when they did it as we know in the modern game - its a huge risk. If it fails or falls on bad luck, it can cripple your club for a decade. But ultimately, its the only card left for them to seriously "get better"
Its complicated, confusing and has/needs lots of lil rules to tweak the balance. But the balance at the moment could not be worse. There are 18 teams & the first round went for 25 picks. That is telling you, half the teams are getting more than they should & the other half are going very hungry. All the teams that are able to feast on it also are the ones that the AFLs optics suggest are the teams the AFL would like to see go well, to grow with their obsession of "gaining new markets"
The AFL is prone to copying the NBA - but its bizarre to me they have completely overlooked the NBA's system which has been refined for decades & slots in perfectly in so many area. Last night was a pisstake tho, cant be having 25 picks in the first round. Suns getting 4 picks in the top 20 after finishing 5th, when their only real pick was #15 - wtf are we doing here?? Dimma is getting a free ride
