TheKITC
Cancelled
It was raised yesterday by the Purple Headed Warrior in Damien Barrett, who said emphatically that the AFL will 'at this stage' give Gold Coast a mid first round pick rather than one at the very top end, due to push back from other clubs and other factors.
There is some school of thought that for true fairness in the AFL draft (I know right? Pigs will fly and all that...) that the first round should be untouchable. Period. This includes academy selections, father sons and compensation of any form. The AFL neither subscribe to that, nor could ever be considered fair, consistent and/or clear by anyone with any sense of a brain IMHO.
With this in mind and coming from it knowing what the AFL is like, I actually think a mid first round is a best case for any priority pick going forward, working with what we have to deal with in the AFL and taking into account all parties' interests. This scenario doesn't 'rob' the worst sides in the comp of their 'earnt' picks which they clearly need, but slides back the better sides, ie. finals or finals close sides by a pick who theoretically need it less. I quite like it, again considering the goal-posts in which we have to work within.
Let's for instance assume we are speaking about only one struggling team; I think pick 1 as a priority and taking the first two players of a draft year is too much of a free kick. Pick 19 is neither (usually) a quality enough pick to assist the ailing team enough nor good enough to entice an established player that would help the ailing teams fortunes. Pick 9 however is a pick that would satisfy both of those things potentially. Looking at Carlton for instance recently, Harry McKay (10), Charlie Curnow (12) and Patrick Cripps (13) were all found around that mark. Dependent on your opinion of these players I guess, but most would agree these are the caliber and type of players who you can really build your club around and help kickstart that climb up the ladder, along with the player taken at 1.
It's also a good enough pick to entice players like Jaegar O'Meara or be the core pick in a trade for someone like Lachie Neale for example in recent trade history. These players would give an ailing club instant support and impact, should they wish to go down this route and said player wants to come.
Another benefit is that it gives the team some flexibility and ability to manoeuvre in the draft as they see fit, taking their destiny in their own hands if they so wish. For instance, they may believe that two bites in the mid-late first round is going to be more beneficial, so they package up pick 9 with a pick/player combo and orchestrate a trade with Team B for picks 14 and 15. Or they do what Port Adelaide was able to do last off-season (to great effect) if they've identified a player they love earlier. Pick 9 would give them some currency and maneuverability to trade up in the draft. This also alleviates the pressure on a club from their stakeholders who may be howled down if they were to trade pick 1 away. It takes some of that pressure off because trading pick 9 is a lot more palatable for some than coughing up a top pick.
I must admit, I'm no fan of the AFL arbitrarily deciding what is good for some clubs and not for others and certainly dislike how they do not reveal what their methodologies are around awarding priority picks and compensation. Regardless, this is the landscape that we operate in and I think this is as good a result and perhaps can be found udner the circumstances.
Thoughts?
There is some school of thought that for true fairness in the AFL draft (I know right? Pigs will fly and all that...) that the first round should be untouchable. Period. This includes academy selections, father sons and compensation of any form. The AFL neither subscribe to that, nor could ever be considered fair, consistent and/or clear by anyone with any sense of a brain IMHO.
With this in mind and coming from it knowing what the AFL is like, I actually think a mid first round is a best case for any priority pick going forward, working with what we have to deal with in the AFL and taking into account all parties' interests. This scenario doesn't 'rob' the worst sides in the comp of their 'earnt' picks which they clearly need, but slides back the better sides, ie. finals or finals close sides by a pick who theoretically need it less. I quite like it, again considering the goal-posts in which we have to work within.
Let's for instance assume we are speaking about only one struggling team; I think pick 1 as a priority and taking the first two players of a draft year is too much of a free kick. Pick 19 is neither (usually) a quality enough pick to assist the ailing team enough nor good enough to entice an established player that would help the ailing teams fortunes. Pick 9 however is a pick that would satisfy both of those things potentially. Looking at Carlton for instance recently, Harry McKay (10), Charlie Curnow (12) and Patrick Cripps (13) were all found around that mark. Dependent on your opinion of these players I guess, but most would agree these are the caliber and type of players who you can really build your club around and help kickstart that climb up the ladder, along with the player taken at 1.
It's also a good enough pick to entice players like Jaegar O'Meara or be the core pick in a trade for someone like Lachie Neale for example in recent trade history. These players would give an ailing club instant support and impact, should they wish to go down this route and said player wants to come.
Another benefit is that it gives the team some flexibility and ability to manoeuvre in the draft as they see fit, taking their destiny in their own hands if they so wish. For instance, they may believe that two bites in the mid-late first round is going to be more beneficial, so they package up pick 9 with a pick/player combo and orchestrate a trade with Team B for picks 14 and 15. Or they do what Port Adelaide was able to do last off-season (to great effect) if they've identified a player they love earlier. Pick 9 would give them some currency and maneuverability to trade up in the draft. This also alleviates the pressure on a club from their stakeholders who may be howled down if they were to trade pick 1 away. It takes some of that pressure off because trading pick 9 is a lot more palatable for some than coughing up a top pick.
I must admit, I'm no fan of the AFL arbitrarily deciding what is good for some clubs and not for others and certainly dislike how they do not reveal what their methodologies are around awarding priority picks and compensation. Regardless, this is the landscape that we operate in and I think this is as good a result and perhaps can be found udner the circumstances.
Thoughts?
