Strategy How would you fix free agency?

[Sweet Jesus]

It does when the 'free agent' has to rely on a trade being done to move clubs instead of moving 'freely'.

It hasn't prevented a free agent moving.

But sure, we do have a form of a restricted free agency, which seems awkward and unnecessary.

 

[longdonkey]

Compensation should be based on the original draft pick used to draft him and the number of years service so the better the player the higher the compensation but is then tapered down the more years of service.

 

[PenAndPaper]

It hasn't prevented a free agent moving.

But sure, we do have a form of a restricted free agency, which seems awkward and unnecessary.

It has prevented a free agent moving freely. Just because it hasn't also doesn't mean it wont.

 

[Sweet Jesus]

It has prevented a free agent moving freely.

When?

 

[PenAndPaper]

When?

"It has prevented a free agent moving freely."

 

[RUNVS]

Drop 'bands' and just have the formula translate to draft pts and the compo pick becomes the first pick worth less than those pts.

Lower the value so only massive deals make it into the first round. (over $1M/year)

Have the value determined by an independent body, removing the perception (probable reality) that the AFL has it's finger on the scales. I'd rather it was open to all, but the AFLPA would have a fit about the players salaries being so public and this seems the best compromise.

I have in the last few years been a huge proponent of ditching the traditional formula of the draft and moving to a points based system, where teams are awarded points based on where they finished in the year, obviously with 18th receiving a lot more points than 1st.

I am copying and pasting this idea from a thread I made two years ago

Eg, and using the AFL points system

18th position - 4647 points
17th position - 4088 points
16th position - 3740 points
15th position - 3478 points
14th position - 3263 points
13th position - 3077 points
12th position - 2913 points
11th position - 2765 points
10th position - 2631 points
9th position - 2504 points
8th position - 2388 points
7th position - 2279 points
6th position - 2174 points
5th position - 2077 points
4th position - 1983 points
3rd position - 1894 points
2nd position - 1809 points
1st position - 1726 points

For trading it would be really really simple as clubs trade points and as a result every player is given a much fairer value since for instance if Fremantle wanted to, they would be able to get the Hogan deal done immediately, and they would not be reliant on waiting for picks they may receive from Brisbane. No, they could simply give 2500 points for instance to Melbourne in exchange for Hogan.

Then it comes to the draft, and I am sure some of you are wondering how that would work but for the draft the AFL sets up a blind auction. For those who don't know a blind auction is

In this type of auction, all bidders simultaneously submit sealed bids, so that no bidder knows the bid of any other participant. The highest bidder pays the price they submitted.

So the AFL sets up a day a few weeks before the draft, where all clubs are each in front of a laptop or something like that, and then the AFL calls for bids on pick 1. If a team wants to, they can blow all their points in an attempt to get pick 1, but if they do so it means having super super crappy picks afterwards.

So lets say for instance the bidding on pick 1 goes

Gold Coast - 6800
Carlton - 6500
Western Bulldogs - 6451

Gold Coast would win the bid, and pick 1 would be awarded to Gold Coast.

Gold Coast may have just blown all their points in an attempt to secure pick 1, but they got it, but it does mean their next draft pick will be super super crappy, something at least pick 74.

We could get down to pick 9 here, and Richmond decide that this is their time to strike, them spending half their points on pick 9, and then the other half to secure pick 10, but they have no points after that

Geelong may decide they want to go after pick 12, and when they secure it they have plenty of points left over, allowing them to pick up plenty of cheap picks in the 30's.

This goes all the way to pick 73, which is the last pick that has any points value. The teams with the more points obviously have massive advantages going into the draft auction, but even so, they still have to be strategic with how they use their points as they don't want to blow all their points on a single pick, and they also don't know what the other teams are doing either. It would be possible for a team to pay more for a later pick than an earlier one if they are very unlucky.

I know I came up with it, so I am more than a little biased but I love this idea as I think it would open up trading massively and it would also create a huge element of strategy in trading and drafting as well, allowing teams like Port Adelaide and Adelaide (this year) to target picks in an attempt to get the South Australians to their club, or allowing many other strategies for clubs based on where they think their ideal player is going to go in the draft.

 

[Sweet Jesus]

"It has prevented a free agent moving freely."

When?

Free agency describes the freedom of movement, not that the player joins a club for free.

 

[PenAndPaper]

When?

Dangerfield.

 

[Sweet Jesus]

Dangerfield.

He wasn't officially a free agent. But he got to his club of choice anyway. What's the problem?

 

[Tom14]

No, that stuff is all bullshit. Age, money, contract length is fine.

That stuff brings in greater potential for nonsense by the AFL. Age, money and contract length are objective measures, not things like B&Fs or coaches votes.

If you push compensation to later then most of the whinging about it goes - I personally think starting it at the end of second round is the sweet spot and get rid of some of the lower bands but realistically they wouldn't do that so end of first is fine.

If you use the 2014 example (and ignore some of the other compo picks that year that were due to the introduction of expansion teams) it would mean that the Frawley and Buddy compo picks would be within say 3-4 picks of each other (e.g. pick 19 for Frawley, 21 for Buddy if there were two other band 1 offers).

I'd still order compo picks by ladder position as we should aim for greater equalisation, and if it is no longer interfering with the first round then the difference is no longer so great. But I don't care much about this.

 

[The 747]

Compensation for losing free agents should be completely removed. No compensation, you get the salary cap space to sign other players.

But the 95% of the cap rule should also change so that it works. Too simple for the AFL though.

 

[dazedjosh]

This is seriously the easiest question to answer which is why it's so ridiculous. You have tried and tested FA models in place across the major american sports. You don't have to copy one, but FFS is it too much to ask to draw from models that work well? FA in the NFL works perfectly fine. Instead, it feels like they polled a group of primary kids to establish this model that they implemented. Fools.

Only gripe I have with the NFL's system is the Franchise tag. Lock a major player in on a long term deal or cut them loose. Even if the Franchise money is significant, I don't like the idea that a club just say, you aren't going anywhere for at least a year, and slap the tag on them.

 

[PenAndPaper]

He wasn't officially a free agent. But he got to his club of choice anyway. What's the problem?

Well he was a restricted free agent so yeah..
My problem is not that they don't get to their club of choice, it's that some have to be traded just to get them or better yet some are traded in/out so that compo picks are enhanced, therefore not making it free.

Hawthorn are expected to trade a late pick/pick swap with Adelaide so that our compo for Smith isn't diminshed. That's just stupidity on the system to the highest order. There should be zero compensation for any free agents.

 

[Sweet Jesus]

Well he was a restricted free agent so yeah..

No offer was ever lodged by Geelong. No free agency process was triggered. You don't know this?

My problem is not that they don't get to their club of choice, it's that some have to be traded just to get them or better yet some are traded in/out so that compo picks are enhanced, therefore not making it free.

You misunderstand the meaning of the word free in free agency.

That refers to "freedom of movement", not free as in "no cost".

Hawthorn are expected to trade a late pick/pick swap with Adelaide so that our compo for Smith isn't diminshed. That's just stupidity on the system to the highest order.

That's their choice. They don't have to do that.

 

[Mr Pickles]

Only gripe I have with the NFL's system is the Franchise tag. Lock a major player in on a long term deal or cut them loose. Even if the Franchise money is significant, I don't like the idea that a club just say, you aren't going anywhere for at least a year, and slap the tag on them.

Franchise tag does create some difficult circumstances, but keep in mind the NFLPA negotiated and agreed to how all of it would work. It's not as though the NFL just implemented it on a whim which is how the AFL does things. I'm not saying you need to copy everything such as franchise tags, but FFS the core elements to how free agency works is tried and tested.

You don't see contracted players nominating which team they want to go to which is a complete joke as well. The entire system is such a joke.

 

[calman]

I think this is the big one for me. You can't design a system which on one hand aims to compensate teams down the bottom better, but in the process of doing so disadvantages the other clubs down the bottom. At the very least it should start after the top ten so that teams who missed the finals aren't being pushed down the order.

I think picks should be end of round only, and from there they can be determined by finishing position.

I also think the team being compensated should need to have tabled a competitive contract offer to the player who is leaving, at least within the last 12 months.

While you are at it, NGA players should only be able to be taken in the second round, if they are good enough to be a first rounder, then first round pick should overide NGA, example is clear this year with western bulldogs getting Jamara Ugle-Hagan, a clear number 1 pick, for basically free, he is from warrnambool and played for the same junior club that Jonathon Brown and Leon Cameron

Leon Cameron

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played for, so hardly a football wilderness

 

[Jobe Watson]

If we're being honest, compensation should not be a thing for unrestricted free agents as that unfairly punishes teams who have nothing to do with the deal by pushing them further down the order. UFAs have served their time at your club and if you can't convince them to stay then that's your problem. Compo for RFAs should be lessened, too... not that I'm complaining after getting pick 7 for Daniher. Thanks AFL!

The pre-season draft should be scrapped (uncontracted players should go to National Draft), and father/son selections should not exist as that is just league-approved draft tampering that unfairly disadvantages newer teams for novelty's sake.

 

[PenAndPaper]

No offer was ever lodged by Geelong. No free agency process was triggered. You don't know this?

You misunderstand the meaning of the word free in free agency.

That refers to "freedom of movement", not free as in "no cost".

That's their choice. They don't have to do that.

1. So Geelong, who could have got a guy without cost, just paid for him for no reason? Don't be naive, they paid for him because they knew the bid would be matched by Adelaide & therefore had to trade to facilitate the movement of Danger.

2. Their freedom is being hindered because they are still reliant on a trade being made. You are not understanding that I'm not talking about the cost there but the fact that it is not then up to the player to move freely, it is up to the club to satisfy a trade to get it done.

3. It would be stupid for the club to take a hit on pick 42 compo instead of losing probably a pick in the 60's (More than likely just a swap of later picks with the crows to move a couple spots). But that trade is basically forced onto the club because again it would be stupid not to do it. Hence how downright dumb the system is.

 

[Messenger]

Compensation for losing free agents should be completely removed. No compensation, you get the salary cap space to sign other players.

But the 95% of the cap rule should also change so that it works. Too simple for the AFL though.

Absolutely. The system distorts the draft, distorts contract negotiations and is based on an opaque set of criteria.

And the compensation that is delivered wildly overcompensates.

Isaac Smith

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Isaac Smith

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was on Hawthorns list for nearly a decade. Why is compensation due?

 

[Sweet Jesus]

1. So Geelong, who could have got a guy without cost, just paid for him for no reason? Don't be naive, they paid for him because they knew the bid would be matched by Adelaide & therefore had to trade to facilitate the movement of Danger.

I'm not being naive. They did a trade upfront rather than test RFA. No one is disputing that.

The fact remains, Dangerfield didn't move as a free agent. He was traded. No free agent process was ever activated for him.

2. Their freedom is being hindered because they are still reliant on a trade being made. You are not understanding that I'm not talking about the cost there but the fact that it is not then up to the player to move freely, it is up to the club to satisfy a trade to get it done.

Well, Dangerfield is a bad example of this because, as has been established, no free agent process was activated for him.

Maybe you'd like to offer a different example?

3. It would be stupid for the club to take a hit on pick 42 compo instead of losing probably a pick in the 60's (More than likely just a swap of later picks with the crows to move a couple spots). But that trade is basically forced onto the club because again it would be stupid not to do it. Hence how downright dumb the system is.

None of that makes it "not free agency".

 

[MarkJohnson#1]

Compensation should be scrapped altogether IMO.

 

[Scratchy05]

I'd personally add mid first round compo. How this works is that the pick falls between the finals and non finals side. For an example, if your team missed finals and a player wants to leave and his contract isn't supremely high (a Brad Crouch

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Brad Crouch

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), the pick falls to a mid-first round. If your team however makes the finals and a player leaves on a huge deal (Lance Franklin, the pick gets pushed up to a Mid-First round pick.

So basically, if the player has a million plus contract or whatever the AFL deem worthy, they receive the better option of the two picks. If the player isn't quite on the same length contract, they receive which ever pick would be worse.

TBH, I think free agency compensation is pretty good as it is. I don't see an issue with it but this has the potential to differentiate top tier contracts more IMO.

 

[PenAndPaper]

I'm not being naive. They did a trade upfront rather than test RFA. No one is disputing that.

The fact remains, Dangerfield didn't move as a free agent. He was traded. No free agent process was ever activated for him.

Well, Dangerfield is a bad example of this because, as has been established, no free agent process was activated for him.

Maybe you'd like to offer a different example?

None of that makes it "not free agency".

That's exactly my point, he didn't move freely, he had to rely on a trade...ffs. If you can't comprehend that we are done here.

 

[Mr Pickles]

The structure of AFL free agency reminds of me Seinfeld...

" I mean, this move is no good, Jerry. It's just taking up a lot of my time. And I will not stand by and allow him to perform this move on me, while a perfectly good move is just sitting in the barn doing nothing!"

 

[Sweet Jesus]

That's exactly my point, he didn't move freely, he had to rely on a trade...ffs. If you can't comprehend that we are done here.

But he wasn't officially a free agent so it's an irrelevant example.