Opinion The New AFL Bidding System

[wayToGo_]

So the new bidding system is at least a step in the right direction as Sydney won't be able to take a #2 pick using just pick 18, like they did last year but after running through a proper mock draft with all the pick movement I have to say it still seems incredibly over generous to the four Northern clubs. Sydney (who finished 4th on the ladder) will likely be getting a top 3 pick using picks 33, 36, 37 and 44 (I think any club from the top 8 would take that deal in a heartbeat). And GWS could possibly snare their 2 early first rounders (eg #5 & #6) and an early 2nd rounder (~#26) using their picks (10,43,53,55,58,63,64,65,70) and only be slightly in deficit or perhaps even break even.

My main problem with the system is they are given five big advantages over all other clubs:

1. they can choose to counter any bid at any time in the draft for their academy players
2. they can pool their picks to counter a bid, whereas other clubs can't pool to make a bid
3. they get a 20% discount on first round picks, and 197 point discount on all later picks (meaning no-one need bother bidding on academy players from the start of the 3rd round onwards).
4. the value of their late picks increases (potentially by a lot) in value as picks used to take academy players are used in the draft and moved to the end of the draft (because they will generally be using far more than 1 pick to pay for each player). This effectively reduces the value of other clubs' early picks to bid on academy players.
5. they can choose to go in to deficit points for the following year if they need yet even more points (despite the discount) to secure all of their players.

In most of the mock drafts I have seen, GWS' pick 65 (90 points) would be worth something like a pick 55 (207 points) by the end of the first round - that's 230% of it's original value. Do that across a few 3rd or 4th round picks and that is a massive total points increase.

Would a better, more fair model allow bidding clubs to pool their picks as well? The nominating club would still have the advantage of a points discount but other clubs being able to pool their picks would mean the draft becomes more of a free market whereby clubs can invest heavily in the exact players they want. And if that is the case then I'd also suggest considering allowing all clubs to counter bid for any player in the draft by pooling their remaining picks. If the AFL is liking the dynamic that bidding brings to the draft process then surely this is where their thinking is heading anyway. That would make draft night a lot more interesting both for clubs to participate in and for their supporters to watch.

WA has only one player expected to go in the first round in next week's draft and he is a Port Adelaide supporter. And it's not as though we have had many in recent drafts either. Except our amazing 6 that were conveniently all picked using new franchise concession picks (some were traded away) from 2010 to 2012 - Swallow, Bennell, Coniglio, O'Meara, Martin, Hogan. As much as the two WA teams are doing well currently, they are and will continue to be quite reliant on their interstate recruits staying in WA and trying to entice our WA boys home whenever possible.

IMO GWS and GC should have achieved more by now given the enormous amount of potential they have been given free access to. I think as an experiment it hasn't worked, and all that has really happened is that the top players drafted in recent years have been somewhat short changed by being forced in to an experimental environment and not given the opportunity to develop to their full potential under the guidance and mentorship of a full team of experienced senior players. I think the AFL needs to stop trying to manipulate its systems and applying band-aids for the new franchises and rather step aside and let them sink or swim by themselves.

Why Sydney or Brisbane get the same privileges as GC and GWS makes no sense to me at all. If they hadn't both won multiple premierships then I'd be more open to a debate. But using the go home factor excuse is ridiculous when Freo and WC have to try and keep players on the other side of the Nullabor and aren't given any concessions at all.

What are others thoughts about the new bidding system? Where it might go? How it could be improved?

 

[rgauci]

Two things should change.

1) The discount should disappear. Just pointless.

2) you shouldn't be able to use more than 2 picks to accumulate points for a single player. It'll stop that hectic draft pick swapping.

 

[go_the_dockers]

Two things should change.

2) you shouldn't be able to use more than 2 picks to accumulate points for a single player. It'll stop that hectic draft pick swapping.

If they stop over valuing late picks and remove all points from picks after the 3rd round then I have no issue with them using 3 picks.

 

[Allikat]

Have it that the picks used to take a player has to include a pick from that round. So that devalues the swap a first rounder for a million lower picks that happened this year

 

[Clems Knee]

Expand the system so that other clubs other than the Northern states will also value the points system, and not trade for picks as much as happened this year.
The system could be used for multicultural academies targeting kids from non AFL backgrounds and for remote aboriginal communities, giving AFL clubs the incentive to invest in helping those kids reach AFL readiness.
Keep the discount for the Northern states, and offer different discounts to the other academies based on the perceived difficulty of the task.
You could even include a supporter academy. You have been a member for 10 years and your kid desperately wants to play for the club he has grown up supporting. A club is able to nominate that player based on his parents' supporter history. But with no points discount applied. How cool would that be?
I actually like the new system: iron out a few wrinkles and it will work better than the old system which resulted in massive benefits to high performing clubs (eg Sydney and Heeney round one bid) and couldn't cope with the increased output of the northern academies.

 

[ydraw]

Two things should change.

1) The discount should disappear. Just pointless.

2) you shouldn't be able to use more than 2 picks to accumulate points for a single player. It'll stop that hectic draft pick swapping.

I think that's kind of the point of this system though, to encourage more trades during trade week.