Opinion Should the team ask for a Priority Pick 2025 edition.

[bzparkes]

Be embarrassed, hopefully our board feels the same way.

It just shows how low our club has sunk, performance wise. Last 5 years really has been something.


It's a minor miracle we don't have 50k members rather than 103k

We're not some shit minnow club, like Richmond or Hawthorn, whose supporters all jump off the bandwagon the second we're not winning flags.

 

[Keys]

Teams will bid on Banfield out of spite if we get any handouts. We wouldn't do the same, but we are just all-round nice guys.

Clubs are only going to bid on Banfield, or any other player for that matter, if they rate him as the best player available at that pick. They aren’t going to be that petty as to bid on a player out of spite particularly because if they go early there’s no guarantee it gets matched and they end up with a player they didn’t rate that highly

I’ll be stunned if Banfield isn’t on our list next year and expect a bid will come late R2 at the earliest, probably R3 where we can use the next pick we hold even if its in the 70s to match

 

[bzparkes]

Clubs are only going to bid on Banfield, or any other player for that matter, if they rate him as the best player available at that pick. They aren’t going to be that petty as to bid on a player out of spite particularly because if they go early there’s no guarantee it gets matched and they end up with a player they didn’t rate that highly

I’ll be stunned if Banfield isn’t on our list next year and expect a bid will come late R2 at the earliest, probably R3 where we can use the next pick we hold even if its in the 70s to match

Ahem...

 

[SumaGodCoach]

Ahem...

View attachment 2433413

You'd like to think that a Liam Ryan trade would have a no bidding clause built in.

 

[Dark Sharks]

Its such an AFL thing to do.

Deny the FA compensation protection, but give Eagles an end of R1 pick instead. We cop all the heat for getting a handout, meanwhile Brisbane gets a R1 draft pick for a player they otherwise would have received no compensation for.

Along with Allen & Draper for free & Annable for spare change, the 3-peat grand finalists are looking like being a permanent fixture in the Grand Final for years to come.

No point melting about it until it happens.

Still a lot to play out with our draft hand before we even get to the trade period.

 

[EagleMan87]

loins first

 

[archiemoses]

Feels like Christmas Day.. except in this case Santa is handing over the presents with great disdain.

 

[Broken_Chairs]

Feels like Christmas Day.. except in this case Santa is handing over the presents with great disdain.

& its likely we get coal

 

[Jeremy McLovin]

Do we know what time the meeting starts and ends?

 

[RanaNaved]

Gerard Whately and Garry Lyon reporting we'll get an end of 3rd round pick and the first 2 picks in the rookie draft

 

[Happy Mastenator]

He's currently falling into that nasty zone of bid or not bid. And only hindsight will be able to judge any decision.

Someone bids and we do the F/s thing and match then either we get a bloody good player at a discount or he turns out to be a spud and we look silly, or
Someone bids and we pass and he turns into a star and we look totally stupid or he fades into nothing and we all rub our foreheads in relief.

Hindsight hindsight hindsight.

We still get a 10% discount on father sons so will be worth it, especially if we’ve traded up and the bid falls after our picks that matter.

 

[bzparkes]

Gerard Whately and Garry Lyon reporting we'll get an end of 3rd round pick and the first 2 picks in the rookie draft

Lies.

Zero chance the VFL would be that generous.

 

[bzparkes]

Sorry, what I meant to say was...

 

[squashface]

 

[darksquare]

There’s two advantages to having the additional rookie list spots and being able to prelist the NGA players

Firstly, as you’ve highlighted, we don’t need to use/hold draft picks to match bids on our NGA players. That said, it’s debatable as to whether any of our NGAs would attract a bid earlier than R3 meaning we could match that bid using any pick provided we had a list spot available

Which leads to the second, more important advantage. Being able to prelist them onto an expanded Cat B list means we don’t have to use up a main list spot. Without this assistance we’d have a major dilemma/list squeeze

As it stands we will have picks 1 and 2 plus wherever our R2 and R4 picks lands along with the Hawthorn R1,2 and 3 picks. After other FA compo and assuming Hawthorn lose to Geelong that’ll be something like 1,2,18,23,37,55 and 77

Seven picks that marries up with the 7 list spots we’ll have available after Allen, Ryan and Chesser depart. Ryan and Chesser will also give us draft picks of an as yet unknown value to add to what we already have albeit possibly future picks

Without the ability to add our NGAs that would become a problem. With that draft hand you’d want to be bringing in at least 3, arguably 4, high end draft picks. We also need to add some experience so are looking at bringing in maybe 3 players via trade. So we’d have used up basically all our list spots without even looking at our NGA players or Banfield

Prelisting takes away that problem as we don’t need main list spots for them. It’s a significant lever for us and one that is likely to be underestimated by many as it’s of more value to us than a priority pick

Two more benefits:

1. Having more players allows us to hit our cap floor without front-end payment contortions.
2. Having more players on the list improves the WAFL team.

 

[Jeremy McLovin]

 

[Keys]

So today we find out what shops the AFL will let us go hunting for at Christmas with the support package.

I’m predicting

• 2 extra rookie Cat A spots
• 4 additional Cat B spots with ability to prelist 6 players in the next 2 years
• no F/S ability to prelist as the heat is on that topic
• at least 1 end R1 or after our R2 that needs to be traded for a player
• one additional pick and I’m expecting end R1 but hoping for end of non finalists picks in R1 (11 as it stands before dilution) OR and end R1 in 2026 that can be traded

I suspect there will be 18 unhappy clubs. 17 thinking we got too much and us believing it’s not enough.

Is is just Wish or Temu or can we get a better class of present?

Think this is a bit on the optimistic side

Just what the AFL do with the rules around the 2026 draft remains to be seen but there does seem to be a desire to clean it up to remove the “complexities” that have plagued the last few years - including this one. With that in mind, I doubt any of the measures we are given will apply to 2026 other than being able to maintain an extended list size

Think it will be more like -
• 2x extra Cat B spots for 2026-28
• 2x extra Cat A spots for 2026-27 with a decision on extending that to 2028 to be made in 2027
• The ability to prelist our NGA players this year but not in 2026
• An end of R1 priority pick this year ( if the AFL are smart they’ll make it a R2 pick after our existing one because it’s the same end result but a R2 pick sounds better than a R1 pick)
• We might be given a R2 and maybe a R3 pick in 2026 tied to our finishing position - no stipulation that they need to be traded but will come with the will be reviewed qualification that was attached to North’s F1 priority picks that forced their hand to trade them

Would love the ability to prelist our NGA players in 2026 as well but as mentioned I think that will fall victim to the AFL’s desire to tidy up the 2026 draft

 

[Bleedblueandgold]

Getting worried that we won't be able to prelist our NGA/FS.

 

[bzparkes]

Dear AFL:

 

[Keys]

Two more benefits:

1. Having more players allows us to hit our cap floor without front-end payment contortions.
2. Having more players on the list improves the WAFL team.

The base salaries of rookie list players fall outside the cap, it’s only their AFL match payments that are included

But yes, it does help our WAFL depth particularly because I think we’ll use the extra rookie list spots to add more mature aged players rather than 18 year old draftees

 

[Keys]

Getting worried that we won't be able to prelist our NGA/FS.

The NGA players we’ll be allowed to prelist but that won’t extend to Banfield as a father/son which is fine as a bid will come late enough we won’t have an issue matching

 

[Altum Volantes]

No matter what we are or aren't given, we will be criticised/mocked etc.

Will be interesting to see what misinformation and misunderstanding immediately starts to spread - I reckon 'The AFL gave them Pick 2!' will be an early contender, morons already struggle with how that process works as it is.

 

[Altum Volantes]

But yes, it does help our WAFL depth particularly because I think we’ll use the extra rookie list spots to add more mature aged players rather than 18 year old draftees

Todd Goldstein, our new Ruck coach and WAFL ruck that plays AFL because he's still better than the other guys?

 

[darksquare]

The base salaries of rookie list players fall outside the cap, it’s only their AFL match payments that are included

But yes, it does help our WAFL depth particularly because I think we’ll use the extra rookie list spots to add more mature aged players rather than 18 year old draftees

Thanks. I think I had in my mind an earlier version of the rookie list rules where only a proportion of the salary fell outside the cap. There is still a live Wikipedia page referencing outdated rules. Is there a link to the actual updated regulations? I've been searching but can't find one.

 

[Deplorable trumpster]

At least with this decision coming during GF week it won't get much media attention and might provide the AFL with some cover to give us something.