Make the draft an auction...

[lazy]

Watching the Indian auction for players made me think that this could work well for the AFL draft and also reduce tanking.

Why dont teams accrue auction points for drafting.

ie.. Premiers get 1000 points
Runners up get 1100 points
3rd gets 1200 points

etc.

16th spot gets 3000 points.

(They would have to do some thinking on the maths side to get this fair but that wouldnt be hard)

Then we have one draft at the start of the season and teams use their points to auction for players. Points could also accrue from year to year so teams could save some of their points for the following year if they dont want to use their points on "expensive" players.

There would be easy ways to tweak the system as well...

You could also award 500 points for teams that do not win 5 games or more.
Father and son selections could mean that the club has a 500 point start on getting that player but he would still be up for auction but other teams would have to pay through the nose.
Salary cap penalties could mean loss of auction points.
Teams could also trade players for auction points rather than players if they dont want players. ie. WC could have traded Judd this past year for 2000 auction points to use when they wanted to use them. Rather than hoping Carlton had players or picks they wanted.

This would make great viewing and teams would get very interested on how they went in the auction and how many points they still have in the bank for next year. etc.

 

[Carnthe]

An interesting idea, though a couple of preliminary problems would have to be resolved:

1) It may lead to fewer players being drafted as teams would likely concentrate their points towards bidding for one or two top line talents as opposed to making the most of all of their alloted selections as per the current system.

2) It still encourages teams to tank once their season is shot, as it still rewards finishing lower on the ladder.

 

[Upgrayedd]

Merit.
Also could produce some great bluffs as well, say you know your teams hell-bent on one player, as well as another club, while the club is bidding on someone who has no attention, you could bump up their price a bit, to the point when ti comes to the player both clubs want, you have a bit more buying power

 

[lazy]

An interesting idea, though a couple of preliminary problems would have to be resolved:

1) It may lead to fewer players being drafted as teams would likely concentrate their points towards bidding for one or two top line talents as opposed to making the most of all of their alloted selections as per the current system.

2) It still encourages teams to tank once their season is shot, as it still rewards finishing lower on the ladder.

Good points.

1. The team would still have to maintain a certain amount of players on their list so they would still have to use their points wisely.

2. Pretty hard to stop this altogether but by making the points closer for finishing positions (rather than picks) it should reduce it. By no means does finishing bottom mean that team will get the best player because the accrue system will mean that other teams may still have more auction points from past seasons.

 

[boncer34]

Fair idea but I'd have doubts over being able to trade current players for "points." Would effectively end trade week IMO.

 

[lazy]

Merit.
Also could produce some great bluffs as well, say you know your teams hell-bent on one player, as well as another club, while the club is bidding on someone who has no attention, you could bump up their price a bit, to the point when ti comes to the player both clubs want, you have a bit more buying power

Absolutely... Riveting to watch.... Ratings bonanza.

Plus WC would have got true market value for Judd rather than being held to ransom by the team with number 1 pick.

 

[lazy]

Fair idea but I'd have doubts over being able to trade current players for "points." Would effectively end trade week IMO.

Thank bloody goodness. Trade week has been a joke.

Now clubs could still work out fair trades but now they have some auction points to use.

They could say I will trade x player plus 300 auction points for y player.

It should make trading between clubs easier which would make the Players Association happy.

 

[theduckfan]

An interesting idea, though a couple of preliminary problems would have to be resolved:

1) It may lead to fewer players being drafted as teams would likely concentrate their points towards bidding for one or two top line talents as opposed to making the most of all of their alloted selections as per the current system.

2) It still encourages teams to tank once their season is shot, as it still rewards finishing lower on the ladder.

point 1 can be fixed by putting a cap on the amount of players that can be bought in certain point areas.

 

[lazy]

point 1 can be fixed by putting a cap on the amount of players that can be bought in certain point areas.

Exactly, this would protect clubs from themselves.

Strong clubs could top up with cheaper players and stockpile their auction points for when they will really need them.

 

[C4[2]Yo`DooR]

Interesting idea,

but there is still an incentive to lose IMO (ie. the lower you finish - the more currency you have).

 

[MF]

Unlike most of the crappy half baked ideas that surface on these boards I really think this one has some potential. A mate and I were discussing something similar recently.

One advantage that has not been brought up yet is that it also prevents players from being used as bargaining chips against their will. Eg. Kennedy to West Coast last year. Players may still be sold to gain points for other trades but there is much more flexibility which means players are more likely to end up at a club they want to be at.

 

[MF]

Interesting idea,

but there is still an incentive to lose IMO (ie. the lower you finish - the more currency you have).

This is true but IMO there isn't anywhere near as much incentive to lose as there is with the current AFL system. Currently, finishing on the bottom guarantees you the best kid in the draft. Under the proposed system it guarantees nothing except that you have slightly more points to use.

I think most teams would come to the conclusion that winning games to keep fans happy and optomistic is much more important than an extra 100 to 200 bargaining points.

 

[lazy]

This is true but IMO there isn't anywhere near as much incentive to lose as there is with the current AFL system. Currently, finishing on the bottom guarantees you the best kid in the draft. Under the proposed system it guarantees nothing except that you have slightly more points to use.

I think most teams would come to the conclusion that winning games to keep fans happy and optomistic is much more important than an extra 100 to 200 bargaining points.

Exactly and under current system it also gives tanking team the best shot at preseason draft as well. With this system there would be just one draft and all nominating players up for auction.

The gulf between pick 1 and pick 16 can be huge. In this system the gulf would be points to use for auction.

 

[lazy]

It also solves the problem of teams not receiving what a player is worth for the go home factor. When Rocca left the Swans the team could have said no problem we will auction you off for the highest bidder.

Teams actually get true market value

 

[Chaz Pendlebury]

This is a very good idea on face value

You don't necessarily need to eliminate all concessions to poor performing clubs. The problem is the current system provides way too much incentive to tank. I'm sure if someone looked into it you'd find that the difference in ultimate perfomance between the average top 3 pick and the average 10 to 20 pick, is considerably greater than the average 10 to 20 and the average 50 to 60. Throw in first pick in the preseason draft (and the associated trading advantages) and the incentive is huge.

Its not just the teams tanking (to the extent that it exists) thats the problem. Having your own supporters quietly hoping you lose along with media discussion condoning it, I find perverse.

One concern I would have would be public point haggling over 18 year old kids. This doesn't need to be an issue. Auctions are used now in multi-faceted sales and procurement processes where tenders sit in separate rooms submitting complex bids into a networked system, and an outcome is determined in one sitting. Its all about how you frame the auction, this is detail that could be worked out.

The draft was a concept derived from american sport at a time when the league was modeling itself on its US equivalent. It was useful for a period, particular with the Sydney / Brisbane expansion, but is no longer necessarily the best way forward.

I'm sure there are other potential ideas but this is certainly the best I've come across on first thoughts

 

[daics cousin]

Making the draft an auction would be an excellent option.
Which means collingwood (who are the richest club would pick up most of the prize recruits) Essendon,west coast and freo will also pick up a few and the rest would miss out.
Yeah let's go for it.
Bye ,bye to the tankers.

 

[lazy]

Making the draft an auction would be an excellent option.
Which means collingwood (who are the richest club would pick up most of the prize recruits) Essendon,west coast and freo will also pick up a few and the rest would miss out.
Yeah let's go for it.
Bye ,bye to the tankers.

Rule 1 of Big Footy... Read entire post before commenting. Not just the heading.

 

[cougar000]

If all the changes that people post on here happened the game would be well and truly Fu**ed in a couple of years time. The AFL them self are doing a good job of rooting the game now with out putting stupid thoughts in their heads. Well that is my opinion!

 

[Spermbird]

While understanding the merits of the proposed system, the question I have is in how would you structure the order the players up for auction come out in or would you just have every player eligible for the draft on one big bid board.

You also then would probably need to put a minimum bid (across the board) for all players (this means that players can't be picked up for bugger all and all points go to the one star pick).

If each player was bidded on individually you would also then need to look at players who went through the system before more fancied options behind them get a second chance. In this case if everyone was waiting for player X who was going up for auction later and hence not bidding on player Y how will you allow clubs to come back to that player.

Its a concept that could work but you need to organise the structure of how bidding takes place before you could move forward.

 

[Chaz Pendlebury]

If all the changes that people post on here happened the game would be well and truly Fu**ed in a couple of years time. The AFL them self are doing a good job of rooting the game now with out putting stupid thoughts in their heads. Well that is my opinion!

Yep, you're dead right

That doesn't mean that they all are though

 

[Chaz Pendlebury]

While understanding the merits of the proposed system, the question I have is in how would you structure the order the players up for auction come out in or would you just have every player eligible for the draft on one big bid board.

You also then would probably need to put a minimum bid (across the board) for all players (this means that players can't be picked up for bugger all and all points go to the one star pick).

If each player was bidded on individually you would also then need to look at players who went through the system before more fancied options behind them get a second chance. In this case if everyone was waiting for player X who was going up for auction later and hence not bidding on player Y how will you allow clubs to come back to that player.

Its a concept that could work but you need to organise the structure of how bidding takes place before you could move forward.

All good points, I'm sure there are a number of other considerations as well. The reality is that, with modern auction theory and technology there are an infinite number of ways to structure to best optimise objectives, minimising negetives etc

one option might be that all clubs allocate points to all their potential recruits, submit at the same time and and some algorithm allocates players accordingly

Point is, you don't have to wheel them out one by one

 

[celtic_pride]

It's too complicated ...

Leave the rolling draft as it is ...
I still think having the worst teams with the best/highest draft picks is the fairest way to go .
Probably time to do away with the priority picks though.

 

[Joey Bungle]

Always liked the "lottery" system...bottom 5 teams get pulled out of a hat...first one picked gets pick 5...NO priority picks.

Watching the Indian auction for players made me think that this could work well for the AFL draft and also reduce tanking.

Why dont teams accrue auction points for drafting.

ie.. Premiers get 1000 points
Runners up get 1100 points
3rd gets 1200 points

etc.

16th spot gets 3000 points.

(They would have to do some thinking on the maths side to get this fair but that wouldnt be hard)

Then we have one draft at the start of the season and teams use their points to auction for players. Points could also accrue from year to year so teams could save some of their points for the following year if they dont want to use their points on "expensive" players.

There would be easy ways to tweak the system as well...

You could also award 500 points for teams that do not win 5 games or more.
Father and son selections could mean that the club has a 500 point start on getting that player but he would still be up for auction but other teams would have to pay through the nose.
Salary cap penalties could mean loss of auction points.
Teams could also trade players for auction points rather than players if they dont want players. ie. WC could have traded Judd this past year for 2000 auction points to use when they wanted to use them. Rather than hoping Carlton had players or picks they wanted.

This would make great viewing and teams would get very interested on how they went in the auction and how many points they still have in the bank for next year. etc.

 

[bradism]

I like the idea Laz

 

[Chaz Pendlebury]

Probably time to do away with the priority picks though.

Ha ha, time in what sense? In the "had your feed" kind of sense?

You're right, understanding whatever system was devised would be more difficult for the average punter than the current draft. Then its just a case of how much this matters. Supporters will still know that their club got players they wanted. Clubs will know how it works. They just won't get to spend May through October salivating over the best kids in the country while their season goes to the shit