player movement and list management is still waaay too regulated for mine. some things i'd like to see.
Draft Lotto - bottom five teams, each with 20% chance of winning. talent usually evens out from about pick 4 or so, so the team that's finishing 6th last (like us) has less incentive to tank the final 5 games to scrape into the lotto. the bottom team has no dis-incentive to win the last 5 games.
Compo / Priority Picks - get rid of them.
Trading Future Picks - this is a no-brainer. it gives clubs more chips with which to equalise trades, allowing easier player movement.eg - we might have traded P4 (2013), wood, and P5 (2014), P22 (2014) for patton, mid round compo pick (2014), second rounder (2014). more equitable deals get done, more often.
Free Agency - i'd love for players to be RFAs at 4 years, UFAs at 6 years. i'd crying many tears in my weetbix if macrae left in two years time - but we might be able to replace him with a sam reid. or harley bennell. if small clubs can't run a tight ship, they'll lose players and deservedly so. Include a mid-season FA period over bye week (see below).
Contract Flexibility - team options and player options for extra seasons or early terminations. Might allow clubs to look at players with injury history (Cam Conlon), competition for places (Ryan O'Keefe) or inconsistent form (Jarrad Grant) and give them more of a chance. Allow contracts with mid-season end dates or terminations co-inciding with a FA week. Imagine this year that Jake Carlise used a player option to opt out of his essendon contract 6 months early and test FA in the mid-year FA period. We pick up Carlise, the Dons add O'Keefe. The Lions sign ruckman from a state league.
anyway...i needed to get that off my chest. it's been brewing for a while.