St Kilda President Andrew Bassat tees off on the AFL draft system, specifically father/son and the Northern Academies

[fusion]

Pretty facetious to say Lions got 4 games at the MCG when two were finals including the GF which has to be played there.

I'm not potting your club, but my owns irrelevance to the finals in a reply to a post that listed Vic clubs (but not North) based at Marvel who "dont get a home final at the G". So your club still had double the H&A games than a Victorian based club, because no one wants to watch us lose by 10+ goals each week.

You just won the flag, enjoy it!

 

[Romeoh1]

Actually reckon he’s got a point.

 

[mpal6]

Don't forget allowing Goddard to walk to Essendon for unders because they refused to pay him 800k.

They got their band 1 compo pick. So what did they do with their first rounders? Traded one for Tom Hickey, and the other for Tom Lee.

Father/Son picks have nothing to do with their repeat failures.

They were happy to pick off our carcass during our dark days back in mid-2010s. Billy Longer was drafted pick 8 and we had to trade him for mid 20s 2 years later to St Kilda along with bunch of other draftees who left the club. Saints didn't say poor Lions, let me pay you more in compo.

There was no handouts at that point and we climbed off that hole thanks to Fagan, Noble and some change in culture and direction at our club overall. I have no shame in cashing on some father son luck and blessings now considering how far back we came from just 10 years ago.

 

[Elixuh]

St Kilda need some marquee prime time games which is an advantage they don’t see enough of.

The AFL should schedule a Thursday night round zero blockbuster clash to open the season up at the Gabba next year when we unveil the flag and our new Ashcroft.

 

[bluespooner]

We were competitive long before we gained access to father sons. Our two academy players who have played consistently across our good seasons from 2019 have been Harris Andrews (pick 61) and Eric Hipwood (pick 14). I would argue our success has been largely down to good drafting, trading and FA.

Any club can draft well. It is always going to be more difficult for small clubs in a saturated market, like St Kilda, to convince players why they should choose the Saints over the 9 other teams in the region.

Brisbane managed to rort free agency as well with the re-negotiating of Daniher's contract after one season.

 

[Hollow Knight]

Man, this Bassat dude sounds like a total weirdo, and socially awkward as hell. Listen to this utter cringe…

“I had a great time after half time (at the Grand Final) when it was pretty clear Brisbane was going to win.”

“Every single commissioner I found (there) … the conversation went to the effect of (Bassat): ‘I’ve got a great idea – how about you give the best player in the draft to Brisbane this year!’

“And they would start walking away (and I’d say): ‘Oh, don’t charge them for it’.

How many Commissioners walking away from him did it take for him to realise how much of a knob he was being?

Then add in the petty way they have treated Josh Battle

26

Josh Battle

Age

26

Ht

193cm

Wt

93kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

12.9

3star

K

9.0

3star

HB

3.9

3star

M

5.0

5star

T

2.4

4star

MG

196.8

3star

D

11.0

3star

K

7.3

3star

HB

3.8

3star

M

4.0

4star

T

1.8

3star

MG

142.8

3star

D

10.8

3star

K

6.2

3star

HB

4.6

4star

M

3.4

4star

T

2.0

4star

MG

175.6

3star

. Is this the best operator the Saints could come up with?

 

[Nvent]

Don't forget allowing Goddard to walk to Essendon for unders because they refused to pay him 800k.

They got their band 1 compo pick. So what did they do with their first rounders? Traded one for Tom Hickey, and the other for Tom Lee.

Father/Son picks have nothing to do with their repeat failures.

In the middle of hugely compromised drafts that occurred.

 

[Elixuh]

Brisbane managed to rort free agency as well with the re-negotiating of Daniher's contract after one season.

That was a good one wasn’t it. Ticked off by the AFL though. The good times keep rolling.

 

[TheEscapeClub]

I don't think "innumerate" means what you think it means.

I do disagree about fairness of process, because there's historical bias built in. More historically successful and well run teams are more likely to have 100 gamers which gives them more tickets in the raffle. This means everyone doesn't have the same chance so it's not purely random; it's random based on a given history.

But overall, sure, that's a reasonable point. What you're saying then is it's fine if the premier gets discounted access to the #1 pick because it was random that they got it. I disagree with that, and I think it's enough of a negative outcome that I would dismantle the entire system.



What does the father/son-club connection have to do with it, though? Clubs can still draft sons of old players if they want to keep bloodlines at their club. Man City managed to keep the ancestral club connection with the Haalands without needing a special rule for it.

What we're talking about here is giving clubs discounted access to sons. That's completely unnecessary if clubs value the connection as much as everyone implies they do. It's just an unnecessary source of future inequality.



As a Saints supporter, of course it's unfair that I ended up supporting a shit team, and there's literally zero I can do to make them better. As a dispassionate observer, no, there's always going to be a distribution of flags.

But the point of having equalisation is to minimise the variance, and give every club a decent shot every 10 years or so. I can't see any argument that father-son helps that process. But if you don't want equalisation, that's fine, just say so and there's no argument against that.

Some clubs have had a heap of f/s picks, some have been guns while most have been average to terrible.

St Kilda have still had access to f/s but have also had multiple priority picks and top 5 picks.

Try following the Melbourne Storm.

 

[Teflon]

Good on him.

F/S entitlements are a rort. Not only do you skip the draft which is meant to equalise the comp, you don't even have to pay the full price (in points). Bundling up junk picks for a Top 3 player is ridiculous.

The advantages they give clubs are excessive.

Correct
It ain’t hard pay full price
For anyone whingeing about St Kilda stuff ups - the prez stated we’ve been our own worst enemy
Doesn’t change the fact the system is cooked

 

[Teflon]

Every club has access to F/S selections.

And so they should but pay fair price
Junk picks to get top 3 draft players is BS
While keeping your 1st round picks…. It goes against what the supposed equalisation of a draft system was meant to do
Academies …. Just allow clubs access and stop the rorts
Most compromised major sports core getting around

 

[Teflon]

Gee he goes all Brighton when he pronounces ‘designed’.

As opposed to all Dingley ?

 

[TheEscapeClub]

My god there are some dumb campaigners on here

You will all be screaming blue murder once the 3 Riewoldt boys come through

Why? It'd be awesome.

 

[Teflon]

Wonder what his thoughts are on taking advantage of Northern clubs going through a crisis and offering peanuts for high draft picks.

Oh wait, didn’t Saints do that for Billy Longer?

Pretty amateur comments from an amateur club. No wonder professional outfits like Hawks will go past them.

Check out all the Lions whingers…like their AFL sponsored franchise is still
Somehow connected to the “Roy boys”….
You’ll still get your handouts boys don’t fret
What a laugh

 

[Teflon]

Why? It'd be awesome.

As long as we can use pick 89, 102 and keep pick 7/8 we’ll be wrapt ….

 

[SeaOfFire]

Correct
It ain’t hard pay full price
For anyone whingeing about St Kilda stuff ups - the prez stated we’ve been our own worst enemy
Doesn’t change the fact the system is cooked

yeah yeah yeah....

But the comp has been cooked since post WW2, well into the 70's and 80's and so on.....during which time St Kilda have mostly been utter trash. Evenness, fairness etc are all wonderful traits that the VFL/AFL have repeatedly used as corporate buzzwords and little else.

Even if your president feels stridently about the issue, commenting about it publicly at the B&F is complete madness. At best it will divide opinion about validity, at worst it will be interpreted as a whinge.

I get it, I really do....I can recall feeling similarly aggrieved in or around 2014.....but we were simply forced to accept that complaining about fairness etc wasn't going to fix shit. The ONLY remedy was to swallow that bitterness and get on and build something that didn't rely on anybody else.

Carlton ALSO got heavily punished post-2000 and spent years as a basket case - they brought that on themselves. Privately, I'm sure they felt it was punitive and heavy-handed.....but they took their medicine and found a way to come out the other side.

Statements from the OP - "As a Saints supporter, of course it's unfair that I ended up supporting a shit team...." - reflect the victim mentality that envelops a supporter who is desperate for help.....but this is LIFE mate.....nobody is going to come to your assistance and hand you the keys to success. The reality is you have to do the work yourself.

And your chief should know. Agitating in the manner described at the GF is embarrassing, self-defeating and puerile.

 

[Teflon]

I see what you’re saying. But the game isn’t what it was 70 years ago. It’s harder than ever to rebuild through the draft and that is only going to get harder with expansion teams coming in. It’s probably a luxury the game can’t afford anymore.

Bang on

 

[TheEscapeClub]

As long as we can use pick 89, 102 and keep pick 7/8 we’ll be wrapt ….

.and your club would **** up that top 10 pick or pick a jet and break them.

 

[Hollow Knight]

My god there are some dumb campaigners on here

You will all be screaming blue murder once the 3 Riewoldt boys come through

Nah, great for footy. Having all three Riewoldt brothers would be a great on-field and off-field coup for the Tassie Devils.

 

[Elixuh]

Check out all the Lions whingers…like their AFL sponsored franchise is still
Somehow connected to the “Roy boys”….
You’ll still get your handouts boys don’t fret
What a laugh

Like your president Fred Basset you're picking a fight with a club that isn't even in your market.

You require the equal most funding of the VFL clubs alongside North and the same as the established northern clubs to remain solvent and you're established in a city of 5.2 million who are obsessed with footy + in one of the most desirable and affluent spots in Melbourne. Hard to know what is going on down at RSEA park.

 

[EagleMan87]

As long as we can use pick 89, 102 and keep pick 7/8 we’ll be wrapt ….

Sadly, your President is pushing to get that rule changed, so you'll have to pay full price...

 

[Red Black and Blue]

Easiest way to fix the bidding system is only have the points come out of the same round the player is taken in. Pick 1 = 3000 points, Brisbanes pick 18 is worth 985, that gets dissolved leaving a debt of 2015. The year after they finish 6th their pick 13 is worth 1212, leaving them with a debt of 803 points. Year 3 they finish 7th get a pick worth 1268 pay off their debt and get pick 38 worth the change of 465 points.

Have it so teams can trade into the first round and pay off their debt faster that way, but they can't pick in the first round again until the debt is paid off.

 

[Sherrinator]

This is the sort of attitude that holds them back. Imagine players hearing this and going into every game being told you can never win.

 

[Teflon]

Do you realise how difficult it is to trade for a top five draft pick?

It shouldn’t be way to get a generational talent like Naicos
The point isn’t about making it easy
It’s about making it fair for all clubs

 

[Dogflogger]

This is the sort of attitude that holds them back. Imagine players hearing this and going into every game being told you can never win.

your totally right, its just an attitude problem. not fairness or fixture issue. Once we have the right attitude the cheap F/S and preferential fixturing will come our way. it's gonna be glorious when we have such a good attitude that they stop sending us to Kardinia park