16 Ways To Improve the AFL Draft
1. Live, and complete, television coverage. Channels 10 and 7 pay millions for the rights to the games, but don't want to show the stars of the future as they are introduced to the AFL. It might have been a Friday morning in 1993 when the draft was first broadcast, and it was an exciting show, there is no reason why they can't go back to doing the draft live from the first to the last pick. Except for Seinfeld, Channel 10 is not exactly putting quality shows to air on Saturday, so why show only a highlight package when a live show would be a lot more exciting. Channel 7 will have some Disney cartoons when the draft is on, the mouse, and his friend the duck, may not be as important as introducing the future of football to its fans.
2. Allow trading of picks during the draft. Here is an example, the Bombers have found this versatile player in country Western Australia and they think nobody knows about him. They are getting ready to use their third round pick on him but a couple of picks ahead the Eagles sneak in and take the player Essendon wanted. Meanwhile a player has slid in the draft and is available when Essendon pick, but they don't want him, but other teams do. Let another team trade picks so they can get the player they want, and Essendon move down a few spots but also get a better selection in a later round. Essendon's 3rd and 6th round picks for the other team's 4th and 5th. Could be a good option for teams picking early too, if the player that a team wants desperately at pick 10 is not available, they should be able to trade that pick for a couple of later picks. Eventually if this worked then players could also be traded on draft day, but that is a long way into the future of the AFL.
3. Remove the teams. Have 16 rooms where the scouts, coaches and anyone else can concentrate, discuss, argue and decide on their picks, the idea of everyone sitting around second-hand school tables while they whisper their draft strategy is not good.
4. Increase the profile of the draftees with television. Channel 7 were probably showing repeats of Rafferty's Rules and Blue Heelers when the Under 18 Championships were being played. One live game every day would not hurt, and maybe a replay of a game late at night too. In the lead up to the draft, these games or games from the TAC Cup could be shown late at night.
5. Open the draft to the fans. If you want an event, you need atmosphere, which really does mean a crowd. Hundreds of them, thousands if they have the venue for it, it would add something. People would watch just to see the reaction from Collingwood fans who are happy, or possibly unhappy, with the player their team selected.
6. Invite the top 20 prospects to the draft and present them with a club jumper when their name is called. Before the draft, all 16 teams send in a list of their top 20 prospects, whoever has the most votes gets invited.
7. Have someone from the AFL, probably Demetriou even though he struggles pronouncing some names, read out the draft selections. That would be better than some old guy saying "player 8675309: Rodney Palmateer, Terang Football Club".
8. Inform the fans with a prospects list of 300 players. The AFL help scout for the teams, but they could also inform the fans while at the same time advertising their future stars by publishing a list of a lot more prospects than they currently do. A simple addition to their internet site, with players and their measurements, possible positions, statistics and a short scouting report. The list could be sorted in a variety of ways as selected by the viewer, by position, by age or by height.
9. Rotate the draft around the country. The AFL wants increased promotion of their game and here is a simple solution for taking the AFL to every state that has a team.
10. Have the AFL trading period before, and after, the draft. Just say that Carlton want a ruckman, but they miss with the players they wanted in the draft. Another team has a surplus of ruckmen and is willing to trade one for a player Carlton don't want to keep, it would be a win-win situation.
11. Increase the number of picks. Back in the day a club would bring in hundreds of players from their zone during the year, and would also go interstate looking for players. Then in the early drafts each team would have a lot more picks than they do now. Now they draft 3 or 4 players. If there is a bigger net then teams will have more players to build their team with, and there won't be as many cases of prospects not getting the chance they deserve. The AFL simply has to increase the size of the lists for teams.
12. Change the guaranteed contracts for the draft picks. The players taken in the first round could get their two-year deals. The players in the second and third rounds could get a contract for one year, with a club option for the second year. Maybe the option would have to be picked up by the club before round 12 of the player’s first season. The players taken after round three in the draft would get the chance to make the team. They would have to prove themselves in December and January to get their contract for the year guaranteed, and the club would also have the option year for the following season. Maybe the first two or three rounds should get the two-year deals, with players in the fourth and fifth round getting only one with a club option for the second year. Either way, this situation could allow teams to draft more players, as they wouldn't have to guarantee too much money for players that are taken with the later picks. This way teams could still end up with their 3 to 5 new players from the draft, but could still have 10 picks, and could sort through the later players drafted and after a couple of months keep the best of them.
13. Eliminate the PASS. There were teams that said "pass" for their draft selection, and someone like Dean Cox was still available at that pick. Teams should have more players drafted, not less, so a player should be taken with every pick. The ideas in suggestion 12 would help this situation.
14. If they have to be there, keep the priority picks after the first round, instead of at the top of the draft. Teams struggle down the ladder because of who they have previously drafted, not because of how many picks they used.
15. Keep the father/son rule. Also, keep it simple. Only have AFL games determine if a player's son can join a team. The father/son rule keeps tradition alive at clubs, is always a big part of the stories published about the draft and is something that fans always enjoy.
16. If the season was ever extended so every team played everyone else twice, then introduce a draft lottery for the bottom four teams. While their is usually not a lot of incentive to lose games at the end of the year, there will be some drafts when that is a viable option for teams. But weight the chances for the top pick in favour of the very worst team. 16th team could have 4 chances, 15th with 3 chances, 14th with 2 chances and the 13th team in the AFL would have 1 chance out of 10 in the lottery. They could have a big bag of team-coloured footballs, and a different person could reach in every year to select the draft order. Either that or Channel 7 could use their Tattslotto machine.
2. Allow trading of picks during the draft. Here is an example, the Bombers have found this versatile player in country Western Australia and they think nobody knows about him. They are getting ready to use their third round pick on him but a couple of picks ahead the Eagles sneak in and take the player Essendon wanted. Meanwhile a player has slid in the draft and is available when Essendon pick, but they don't want him, but other teams do. Let another team trade picks so they can get the player they want, and Essendon move down a few spots but also get a better selection in a later round. Essendon's 3rd and 6th round picks for the other team's 4th and 5th. Could be a good option for teams picking early too, if the player that a team wants desperately at pick 10 is not available, they should be able to trade that pick for a couple of later picks. Eventually if this worked then players could also be traded on draft day, but that is a long way into the future of the AFL.
3. Remove the teams. Have 16 rooms where the scouts, coaches and anyone else can concentrate, discuss, argue and decide on their picks, the idea of everyone sitting around second-hand school tables while they whisper their draft strategy is not good.
4. Increase the profile of the draftees with television. Channel 7 were probably showing repeats of Rafferty's Rules and Blue Heelers when the Under 18 Championships were being played. One live game every day would not hurt, and maybe a replay of a game late at night too. In the lead up to the draft, these games or games from the TAC Cup could be shown late at night.
5. Open the draft to the fans. If you want an event, you need atmosphere, which really does mean a crowd. Hundreds of them, thousands if they have the venue for it, it would add something. People would watch just to see the reaction from Collingwood fans who are happy, or possibly unhappy, with the player their team selected.
6. Invite the top 20 prospects to the draft and present them with a club jumper when their name is called. Before the draft, all 16 teams send in a list of their top 20 prospects, whoever has the most votes gets invited.
7. Have someone from the AFL, probably Demetriou even though he struggles pronouncing some names, read out the draft selections. That would be better than some old guy saying "player 8675309: Rodney Palmateer, Terang Football Club".
8. Inform the fans with a prospects list of 300 players. The AFL help scout for the teams, but they could also inform the fans while at the same time advertising their future stars by publishing a list of a lot more prospects than they currently do. A simple addition to their internet site, with players and their measurements, possible positions, statistics and a short scouting report. The list could be sorted in a variety of ways as selected by the viewer, by position, by age or by height.
9. Rotate the draft around the country. The AFL wants increased promotion of their game and here is a simple solution for taking the AFL to every state that has a team.
10. Have the AFL trading period before, and after, the draft. Just say that Carlton want a ruckman, but they miss with the players they wanted in the draft. Another team has a surplus of ruckmen and is willing to trade one for a player Carlton don't want to keep, it would be a win-win situation.
11. Increase the number of picks. Back in the day a club would bring in hundreds of players from their zone during the year, and would also go interstate looking for players. Then in the early drafts each team would have a lot more picks than they do now. Now they draft 3 or 4 players. If there is a bigger net then teams will have more players to build their team with, and there won't be as many cases of prospects not getting the chance they deserve. The AFL simply has to increase the size of the lists for teams.
12. Change the guaranteed contracts for the draft picks. The players taken in the first round could get their two-year deals. The players in the second and third rounds could get a contract for one year, with a club option for the second year. Maybe the option would have to be picked up by the club before round 12 of the player’s first season. The players taken after round three in the draft would get the chance to make the team. They would have to prove themselves in December and January to get their contract for the year guaranteed, and the club would also have the option year for the following season. Maybe the first two or three rounds should get the two-year deals, with players in the fourth and fifth round getting only one with a club option for the second year. Either way, this situation could allow teams to draft more players, as they wouldn't have to guarantee too much money for players that are taken with the later picks. This way teams could still end up with their 3 to 5 new players from the draft, but could still have 10 picks, and could sort through the later players drafted and after a couple of months keep the best of them.
13. Eliminate the PASS. There were teams that said "pass" for their draft selection, and someone like Dean Cox was still available at that pick. Teams should have more players drafted, not less, so a player should be taken with every pick. The ideas in suggestion 12 would help this situation.
14. If they have to be there, keep the priority picks after the first round, instead of at the top of the draft. Teams struggle down the ladder because of who they have previously drafted, not because of how many picks they used.
15. Keep the father/son rule. Also, keep it simple. Only have AFL games determine if a player's son can join a team. The father/son rule keeps tradition alive at clubs, is always a big part of the stories published about the draft and is something that fans always enjoy.
16. If the season was ever extended so every team played everyone else twice, then introduce a draft lottery for the bottom four teams. While their is usually not a lot of incentive to lose games at the end of the year, there will be some drafts when that is a viable option for teams. But weight the chances for the top pick in favour of the very worst team. 16th team could have 4 chances, 15th with 3 chances, 14th with 2 chances and the 13th team in the AFL would have 1 chance out of 10 in the lottery. They could have a big bag of team-coloured footballs, and a different person could reach in every year to select the draft order. Either that or Channel 7 could use their Tattslotto machine.
AFL Central
NBL News
Get a few thousand fans, some noise and fan reaction to picks really improves the draft presentation.
Charge a dollar or two for admission, and make a donation to a children's hospital, another benefit for a crowd.
There isn't a problem with the list sizes either, the salary-cap will keep going up so a few extra players can be afforded.
AFL Central
NBL News
And in regards to making noise at the draft in terms of a crowd, its not actually a sporting event and things have to be done pretty quickly so dont think crowds cheering would be appropriate. Family and friends are invited so I think the AFL has got it right there as well