Analysis The go home factor, equalisation, draftees requesting trades

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Luke Jackson no. He spent three seasons at Melbourne and was out of contract.

Boyd and JHF were 19 yr olds, 1 year into their first draftee contract.

Those players should not be approached with massive contracts to make them all of a sudden feel homesick.

This is the problem.
So 2 players in 20 years is the problem?

I'd suggest not
 
Pretty simple:
Raise the draft age to 20 or 21 - the draft pool becomes larger as state leagues become more relevant, the player is a lot more (you hope) mature.
Give draftee's a minimum 3 year contract with a 4th year player option.
All contracts are published.
Allow clubs to trade contracted players including on draft night on a restricted basis.
Have contracts with the option of a no trade clause.
Contracts to have player or team option.
Allow teams to draft away 4 years of futures but not in consecutive years.
Get rid of free agency compensation.
Bring in anti tampering rules.

Of course that won't happen because too many supporters don't have the stomuch when clubs are allowed trading players in contract neither would the ALFPA and AFL have invested heap in the NAB league setup for U18's since it took away clubs U19's, to raise the draft age.

As for restraint of trade, that's what free agency was implemented to head off any legal challenge that the AFL is engaging in restrictive employment practices which, by the way, all players and PA have signed on to in their players contracts and AFL Code of Conduct. So, if they sign to these conditions then there is no restraint of trade and the AFL could argue and probably win on the grounds that it's purpose is to create an even and competitive competition - the only curly one is if they ever allow clubs to trade contracted players - it can't be against their will as it would subjected to the Bosman ruling but having a no trade clause on contracts bypasses this (onus back on the player/manager).
Or would you rather go back to the old brown paper bags of trading?
 
I'd get rid of the draft, get rid of the base salaries for first and 2nd year players so that they can get paid more if someone is willing to offer.

Have a variable cap based on the a teams ladder finishing position over the last three years.

Team finishes first then they get a cap multiplier of 0.9
Team finishes last then they get a cap multiplier of 1.1.

A team that finishes first three years in a row would have a cap of 0.729 times of the base cap while a team that finishes last three time in a row would have a cap 1.331 times of the base cap

Teams can trade contracted players for cap space, uncontracted players are 100% unrestricted free agents.

Good teams would be forced to leave a greater portion of players uncontracted at a time freeing up the player movement market.
Good teams would be unable to bring in highly rated new players as they wouldn't have the cap space to do it, even with retirements they'd be struggling to hold on their existing talent pool
.
Poorer teams will have plenty of incentive to bring new players into their team.
Sorry Lana - won't work because Carlton and Geelong will play who's got the bigger paper bag
 

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I'd get rid of the draft, get rid of the base salaries for first and 2nd year players so that they can get paid more if someone is willing to offer.

Have a variable cap based on the a teams ladder finishing position over the last three years.

Team finishes first then they get a cap multiplier of 0.9
Team finishes last then they get a cap multiplier of 1.1.

A team that finishes first three years in a row would have a cap of 0.729 times of the base cap while a team that finishes last three time in a row would have a cap 1.331 times of the base cap

Teams can trade contracted players for cap space, uncontracted players are 100% unrestricted free agents.

Good teams would be forced to leave a greater portion of players uncontracted at a time freeing up the player movement market.
Good teams would be unable to bring in highly rated new players as they wouldn't have the cap space to do it, even with retirements they'd be struggling to hold on their existing talent pool
.
Poorer teams will have plenty of incentive to bring new players into their team.

This is actually pretty impressive - I like it
 
I tend to agree that there is an issue but I am not sure it can be put down to young men just going home all the time.

Like, Sydney and Brisbane don't seem to have much problem with keeping the majority of their VIC kids, West Coast (Judd aside) and Port Adelaide the same.

In reality the issue, for me, is the stronger clubs are taking advantage of struggling clubs or the clubs with poor leadership.
I mean, who is the last player to request a trade 'home' to a VIC club that was absolutely in the dumps? We had more cap space than anyone and who could we attract with 'go home factor?' None because we have been a s**t show for the last 8 weeks+. Norf similar.
Henry requested a trade 'Home' to a club less than a 90km drive away - oh and just happened to be the reigning premier.
JHF and Luke Jackson requests trade 'home' - but not the two clubs that just finished bottom 5 in their home state.

And to be clear I don't blame the players. If a club that appears to have their ***t together, is having on field success, happens to be closer to family and offers you a deal that is better than your current club or at least you can make the money difference up in the long term - why wouldn't you jump on it? Their careers are relatively short.

The mechanism needs to address the issue of players using the 'home' excuse to get themselves to a club they want.
I would do it like they do it in the NBA.

Essentially I would go:
  • 4 year deal where it is 2 guaranteed years, with team options for the third the third fourth year.
  • After their fourth year they are an RFA, but if they extend to 8 years before they end their 4th year they are an automatic UFA at the end of the 8.
  • If they are traded at any point before their 5th season begins, their UFA clock is 6 years from the time they are traded, or 8 years since being drafted. Whichever is greater.
  • Otherwise they are an RFA when out of contract before then.

Incentivises extending early and sticking with the club that drafts you to at least 4 years, that way you can just sign as an RFA. If you stay for 8 years, you get to UFA quicker than the current model.
Also gives clubs more time to convince them to stay.
 
I would argue as well that theres no issues with equalisation, the issue is with how well clubs are run which just makes them unattractive to players. Theres no coincidence that the clubs that struggle to get players in or retain players are those who are struggling, on field and in some cases off. Geelong didn't used to be able to recruit anyone; Ottens was a huge huge get at the time. Even a club like Port who didn't make finals are generally quite well run and stable.
 
I'd get rid of the draft, get rid of the base salaries for first and 2nd year players so that they can get paid more if someone is willing to offer.

Have a variable cap based on the a teams ladder finishing position over the last three years.

Team finishes first then they get a cap multiplier of 0.9
Team finishes last then they get a cap multiplier of 1.1.

A team that finishes first three years in a row would have a cap of 0.729 times of the base cap while a team that finishes last three time in a row would have a cap 1.331 times of the base cap

Teams can trade contracted players for cap space, uncontracted players are 100% unrestricted free agents.

Good teams would be forced to leave a greater portion of players uncontracted at a time freeing up the player movement market.
Good teams would be unable to bring in highly rated new players as they wouldn't have the cap space to do it, even with retirements they'd be struggling to hold on their existing talent pool
.
Poorer teams will have plenty of incentive to bring new players into their team.
Not the worst idea out there.

I wonder how many problems you make tying cap space to ladder position though?
 
I would argue as well that theres no issues with equalisation, the issue is with how well clubs are run which just makes them unattractive to players. Theres no coincidence that the clubs that struggle to get players in or retain players are those who are struggling, on field and in some cases off. Geelong didn't used to be able to recruit anyone; Ottens was a huge huge get at the time. Even a club like Port who didn't make finals are generally quite well run and stable.

Spoken like a fan of a club not struggling to retain talent due to structural inequalities…it’s particularly awesome that you took the time to come here and tell all the fans of clubs that are struggling that not only is it all a figment of their imagination but also that, if anything, it’s their fault

Great contribution to the topic…well done sir, bravo 👏
 
No I'm not.

Talking about the fact that 70% of all drafted players come from Victoria.
That stat is wrong.

As of 2019, 55% of clubs and 53% of players are Victorian.

14.7% of players are from WA
13.5% from SA
5.1% from NSW
4.5% from Queensland


11% of clubs from WA, SA, Qld and NSW respectively.

The remainder of players are cross code, Irish, Tasmanian, NT, American or whatever.
 

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One of the things I really hate is that clubs are rewarded for poaching young players because if they change clubs they become free agents later than a player who has shown loyalty and stayed with their original clubs.
 
That stat is wrong.

As of 2019, 55% of clubs and 53% of players are Victorian.

14.7% of players are from WA
13.5% from SA
5.1% from NSW
4.5% from Queensland


11% of clubs from WA, SA, Qld and NSW respectively.

The remainder of players are cross code, Irish, Tasmanian, NT, American or whatever.
80% of top 20 from vic


Should we try and get that to 50%??

Any ideas how we might do that?

Oh guess what?

The afl has already thought about this 10 years ago before random internet guy

And their solution is....

Have a guess?
 
Been a huge advocate of rejigging contract lists for draftees,

1st round draftees - minimum 4 year contract
2nd round draftees - minimum 3 year contract
3rd round draftees - minimum 2 year contracts
anyone else including 4th year draftees, rookies, Suplemental Selections, Cat B rookies all on 1 year contract.


After year 3 clubs are aware of a players talent taken in the first round, the club still has enough power to get some collateral in return should a player want to go. Meanwhile the same thought process should apply to the lower picks taken.

On contract lengths, feels like most first rounders re sign early in their journey, if not then player loses out by not re negotiating ones contract even if draft $$$ is raised.


I dunno, makes sense to me but probably has holes in the idea
 
Does the draft still ensure everyone needs to rebuild?

The big clubs and especially The vic clubs can definitely extend there time in top 6 by chasing free agents and trading in other players.

Geelong it has been 15 years, Richmond it will be 10 plus.

With the other clubs constantly poaching GWS and GC talent, will they ever be able to get past it?

I would support more priority picks for clubs to ensure a rebuild does not take 10 plus years, but I don't know how you achieve this with out encouraging tanking.

Can you rebuild if you need to exclude 25 percent of the talent because they will leave your club in 2 years?

An extra 2nd round or 3rd round pick for the bottom 10 clubs would help. Something like bottom club gets 19, next gets 22 and continues like that.
 
I think perhaps the easiest solution is to simply ban trading future first round picks. Trading future 2nd, 3rd etc is fine however placing a ban on trading future R1 picks effectively forces clubs to trade a good player if they want to bring in young talent.

Therefor this creates greater equalisation across the competition without completely revamping the draft.

Taking this year as an example, Port would have had to trade their 2022 round 1 pick and a player (Bergman for argument sake) to get the trade done. This leaves North with a talent young player who can step straight in or the trade simply doesn’t happen.

Richmond getting Hopper would have had to trade a quality player to GWS.

This creates an environment where clubs have to give something significant to the other club which may deter clubs from constantly poaching young talent from the bottom teams, as to get a trade done they would have to give up someone of value.
 
It’s probably been mentioned, but SOS mentioned on trade radio, it was someone he was interviewing, actually might have been Robbie Dezario, said both LDU and Cerra told interstate recruiters that they didn’t want to move interstate.
 
It’s probably been mentioned, but SOS mentioned on trade radio, it was someone he was interviewing, actually might have been Robbie Dezario, said both LDU and Cerra told interstate recruiters that they didn’t want to move interstate.



Robbie has a knack of being involved in these trades
 
I don't get your logic - because we currently do have an AFL draft, despite it being restraint of trade.

I suspect that there would be some room in bargaining with the AFLPA to get at least three-year contracts in for first round players. There's a bit of an appetite across the league to stop this "go-home" factor.

To say "if clubs stopped bribing 19 year olds to feel homesick" - how do you suggest this? A gentleman's agreement? Because if Aaron Cadman does go to GWS, there's 10 Victorian clubs out there who would be derelict in their duty if they didn't keep in touch with him over the next two years.

I dont think the aflpa will agree to that unless they get something they want in return ie more $ for player wages or FA coming down from 8years to 6 etc.
The issue with a lot of the ideas in this thread as they are sensible but the AFLPA wont agree to them and they have the afl by the balls as the afl doesnt want them to challenge the draft system in court. This is why there are limited options to fix this issue.
 
The issues for me are:
1. Suns and Giants leaking top draft picks
2. Third party payments

Solutions
1. If a player signs with the club they got drafted by get a 25% bonus outside the cap.

Definitely need incentives to stay with the club who drafts you
 
Time to change the draft

Pick 1 - This years 18th
Pick 2 - Last Years 18th
Pick 3 - This years 17th
Pick 4 - Last years 17th

etc etc

Time for lower teams to get a better draft deal and also time to have salary cap relief if you have many top picks. Maybe Year 1-4 players aren't included in the salary cap
Nah, then the middle of the table teams will continue to be middle of the table.
 

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