AFL needs to stop tinkering with father-son rule, writes Mark Robinson
WHY is the father-son rule getting pulled again? Keep it simple, writes Mark Robinson — don’t include sons of guns in the draft. HAVE YOUR SAY
Mark Robinson
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THE AFL has messed around with the father-son concept for too long.
The latest concoction — a bidding system for father-son players and academy players — is a dog's breakfast.
In the pursuit of fairness, the AFL has devised a points rating for every national draft selection.
The points start at 3000 for pick No.1 and range from 207 points for pick No.55 to zero for the final selections.
The AFL based the points system on player salaries from the past 15 years, with discounts to be applied to ensure the father-son tradition remains and to provide incentive for the four northern clubs to run their talent academies.
The AFL wants a 25 per cent discount to academy players and either a 15 or 25 per cent discount for father-sons.
Clubs could be forced to “pay” for selections over two drafts.
This is all happening because once again clubs are whingeing about father-son selections and academy access for the northern clubs.
Points. Index. Stats. Salaries. Discounts Why does the beloved father-son philosophy get pulled apart every third season or so?
And why does the AFL tell us every time it happens, that each new ruling is perfect?
The AFL only once has got the father-son set-up right.
That was pre-1997 when sons recruited to their father's club bypassed the draft entirely.
If a boy was good enough, you put him on your list. But then people whinged and sooked and cried unfair.
In '97, clubs were forced to use a second-round selection in the draft to pick a son and a third-round selection if they wanted two father-sons in the same draft.
OK, no worries, let's move on.
In 2001, the rule changed again. Clubs could take only one son per draft and it had to be a third-round selection.
Righto, that will work.
In 2003, the rules changed again. Yep, multiple sons were available to be taken in the same draft, with the second and third-round selections made available for use.
Okey Dokey, got it.
Then, in 2007, there was the “major” overhaul.
Clubs could now bid for their sons, and if another club bids for the player, the father-son club had to use its next available selection to get its player.
This, the AFL assured us, was finally the fairest system.
And now this, the data-index-salary-discount-statistic philosophy which is not only impossible to explain, but it has also divided the competition because the academy players are now classed with father-sons.
The AFL, despite all best intentions, cannot get this right.
Let's make it real simple: Father-sons don't go in the draft. Tough luck if your team produces girls (St Kilda) and good luck to others who have delivered boys (Geelong).
The academies are a different fight.
One is about development of the game, the other is about history and romance.
Originally published as AFL needs to stop tinkering with father-son rule, writes Mark Robinson
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