SANFL clubs unfairly subjected to AFL mid-season draft cherry-picking

SANFL clubs should be preparing to wave goodbye to their 2022 flag chances – and it’s the AFL mid-season rookie draft’s fault, writes Andrew Capel. Do you agree? Take our poll

A SANFL club could have its 2022 premiership dreams ripped from its grasp on Wednesday night.

That’s how serious the effect of losing a gun player at the contentious AFL mid-season rookie draft could be.

The top five teams on the ladder (apart from second-placed Adelaide, where the AFL-aligned club stands to benefit from the June 1 draft) have key players who have been linked to AFL clubs in the mid-year lottery.

Top-of-the-table North Adelaide could lose high-flying forward Jacob Bauer, third-placed Glenelg has explosive midfielder Brett Turner and intercept marking key defender Sam Durdin on the radar of AFL clubs, fourth-placed Sturt is bracing itself to lose playmaking backman Casey Voss and fifth-placed Woodville-West Torrens believes ruckman/forward Connor Ballenden and small forward Zane Williams are heading east.

For any of those clubs to lose an important player at this stage of the year – almost at the halfway mark – could be flag destroying.

It certainly could shift the balance of SANFL power.

READ MORE: Mid-season draft: Who will go No.1?

North’s Jacob Bauer flies during the SANFL game between North Adelaide and Central District at Prospect Oval. Picture: Brenton Edwards

Glenelg’s Brett Turner during SANFL game between Sturt and Glenelg. Picture: Brenton Edwards

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And for those clubs sitting just outside the top five – Norwood and South Adelaide – their finals hopes could be shot if they were to lose standout ruckman Harry Boyd or dynamic small forward Jye Menzie respectively.

Bottom-placed West Adelaide, which hasn’t won for more than a year and is riding a 21-game losing streak, is in danger of losing its best performer, midfielder Josh Carmichael, which would severely hamper its chances of getting a breakthrough win.

Sure, injuries can end a player’s season at any time.

But they are largely uncontrollable.

The mid-season draft should be a controllable that SANFL clubs should not have to deal with.

No one is saying emerging talent should not be given the chance to play AFL.

Most footballers dream of playing at the highest level – as they should.

But AFL clubs have plenty of opportunities to draft talent when it doesn’t have such a dramatic effect on state league clubs.

There are the national, pre-season and rookie drafts, which take place in the off-season, usually in November.

These days there is the added recruitment opportunity of the pre-season supplemental selection period, which runs through February and March and also hurts SANFL clubs because of its lateness.

READ MORE: The SANFL’s best mid-season draft prospects

Glenelg key defender Sam Durdin is on the radar of AFL clubs. Picture: Keryn Stevens

The Eagles – chasing a hat-trick of premierships – were rocked to lose last year’s Jack Oatey Medallist Jack Hayes (St Kilda) and Magarey Medallist James Tsitas (Gold Coast) just prior to this season starting.

The Double Blues lost former Port Adelaide defender Jarrod Lienert (St Kilda) and the Redlegs were robbed of key off-season signing Patrick Naish (West Coast) before he kicked a ball for them.

The timing of their AFL selections meant it was too late for their SANFL clubs to find suitable replacements because most decent players were contracted, although the Eagles managed to sign delisted Essendon midfielder Dylan Clarke when he was overlooked in the SSP.

Lose a player now though and there will be no adequate replacements.

Their only compensation for losing a player in the mid-season draft is a $10,000 payment, which won’t help their immediate premiership pursuit.

“I don’t like it but it is what it is,’’ Panthers coach Jarrad Wright said tactfully.

“It’s here to stay so we have to keep dealing with it, keep developing our players and hopefully still maintain a strong list of players for the back end of the season.’’

It shouldn’t be here to stay.

It is unfair on SANFL clubs, members and their supporters.

Why should fans part with their hard-earned dollars in the hope of helping their team win a flag when they face losing some of their best players in the middle of a season?

Supporters have expressed their anger on social media in the lead-up to Wednesday’s draft, with comments such as “the mid-season draft is a disgrace’’, “supporters have paid their membership to watch the players they assumed they would be watching at their club’’, “if (unnamed player) gets picked up the AFL may be dead to me once and for all’’ and “losing players now will destroy the integrity of the competition’’.

West Adelaide hasn’t won for more than a year but is in danger of losing its best performer, midfielder Josh Carmichael. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe

The AFL reintroduced the mid-season draft in 2019 after a 26-year hiatus with the supposed chief purpose of allowing its clubs to recruit players to fill immediate holes on their list due to injuries.

But clubs are more and more going down the path of picking players for the future rather than an immediate fix.

In discussing possible mid-season draft targets on Monday, Power football boss Chris Davies said Port would take a long-term view to list management.

“The reality is, it has to be a thin (draft) field because most of the players who have talent and who are performing have already made it to AFL lists through the national drafts,” he said.

“We need to take a longer-term view. If we bring someone in, they need to be coming in for two or three years in the first instance to give them an opportunity to actually play AFL for Port Adelaide.

“But the reality of the mid-season draft is there are not many players who would come in and have an impact straight away. There will be one or two.”

Instead of showing a lack of respect for state leagues, the AFL should implement a mid-season trade period where its own clubs can swap players and/or draft picks, which wouldn’t affect other competitions.

The SANFL is not just a feeder or development league as some people suggest. It is too proud and has too much history for that.

On Friday, the SANFL history exhibition, celebrating 145 years of the competition, will open at the State Library.

Having its 2022 season compromised by losing key players two days prior is just not right.