AFL draft 2015: Recruiters reading player numbers out, new bidding system in

RECRUITERS reading player numbers is out and cutting edge computer software to manage live academy bids is in under sweeping changes to how the draft is staged.

AFL Draft

AFL recruiters will no longer read out the names of their draftees on draft night in sweeping changes to how the event is staged.

Instead, they will type the names into a new computer system with the AFL to tick off each pick before it is announced on Fox Footy.

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Clubs will this year sit in a separate room, still in a horseshoe shape but separated by partitions for extra privacy and the broadcast will stay glued to every selection rather than switching to a panel after the first round.

Draft night will be transformed into a television event for this year’s function, which has been shifted from Gold Coast to Adelaide.

Recruiters will still have two minutes per selection plus two minutes of extra time available, while Fox Footy will be able to pause the draft to briefly discuss selections.

But recruiters can leave their calculators at home with new Champion Data software - designed with the AFL over several months - dealing with the messy maths of the league’s radical new bidding system that allows live changes to the draft order.

Should a club want to draft an academy or father-son prospect, the software will throw to the club which has the opportunity to match the bid.

Loaded with the complicated algorithm, it will immediately detail to that team exactly how matching the bid will affect its draft position.

In an example detailed by the AFL, if Melbourne tried to select Sydney academy prospect Isaac Heeney with pick No. 2 last year, the Swans would have been given two options.

They could match the bid — draft Heeney at No. 2 and then be relegated to picks 61, 83 and 87 — or pass and retain picks 18, 37, 38 and 57.

The software will also give a points balance, showing if the club will be in deficit after the transaction.

Once a club submits a selection they are presented with a fail-safe “Are you sure?” checkbox — certain to make some recruiters think twice.

Does this make sense? You could be an AFL recruiter.

Clubs were briefed on the system today and have been given two weeks to test it, loaded with 2014 data.

They will partake in a full rehearsal mock draft on October 23 as the AFL seeks to iron out any bugs.

Essendon list chief Adrian Dodoro told the Herald Sun he expects two or three bids for academy players in the first handful of picks.

Gold Coast is a chance to bid pick 3 for Sydney academy star Callum Mills while GWS-bound Jacob Hopper and Matthew Kennedy are likely to command top-10 selections.

Brisbane Lions academy gems Eric Hipwood and Ben Keays are also worth first-round picks, adding a new dimension to this year’s draft.

But clubs drafting academy or father-son players outside of the first 30 picks are likely to receive a discount, with their later selections a chance to be bumped up the order.

This gives incentive for clubs to take players with ties to them while ensuring the “elite talents” taken in the first round are paid for fairly.

Tough half-back Bailey Rice is expected to cost St Kilda or Carlton a second-round pick — he is eligible to both as a father-son — while Jack Silvagni should come relatively cheaply to the Blues.

Originally published as AFL draft 2015: Recruiters reading player numbers out, new bidding system in