Gold Coast Suns have some draft concessions stripped back by AFL

Gold Coast will be forced to match bids on a pair of promising academy prospects next year after the AFL stripped back some of its draft concessions.

Gold Coast will have to match bids for the likes of Jed Walter. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Gold Coast will be forced to match bids on a pair of promising academy prospects next year after the AFL stripped back some of its draft concessions.

However the Suns could yet retain their priority access to Darwin with the league deferring a call on whether Gold Coast will keep its preferential treatment in the NT capital.

Gold Coast received a host of concessions at the end of 2019, most notably being granted pick No. 1 in that year’s draft, allowing them to take both Matt Rowell and Noah Anderson.

Among the other allowances provided to the Suns was the ability to pre-list players from Darwin and their Queensland academy zone without needing to match bids on those players.

Beau Tedcastle’s status is up in the air. Picture: Graham Denholm/AFL Photos via Getty Images

The likes of Malcolm Rosas jnr and Joel Jeffrey were recruited through that mechanism.

The AFL told clubs this week that the Suns would no longer be able to pre-list Queensland academy players.

That will mean that promising talls Jed Walter and Ethan Read, both eligible for next year’s draft and both of whom played in Saturday’s futures grand final curtain raiser at the MCG, will be subject to bids from rival clubs like northern academy players at other clubs.

But the status of Darwin product Beau Tedcastle, eligible for this year’s draft, remains up in the air. The league has committed to making a decision soon as to whether Gold Coast will have priority access to the forward.

The AFL has also told clubs that the Suns will retain their additional rookie list spots until the end of 2024 at least.

Originally published as Gold Coast Suns have some draft concessions stripped back by AFL