AFL sets national draft date for December 9, 2020
The AFL has decided on a post-high school exams date for a national draft that will be unlike any before it.
AFL
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The league will host a virtual national draft on December 9 as AFL clubs salivate over the goldmine of talent that could be snapped up in three early-season windows next year.
As revealed by the Herald Sun last month, the league will hold a one-night national draft that will see clubs across the country submitting selections online instead of one location.
The league will turn the event into a two-day process by holding the rookie and pre-season draft the next day, with GWS midfielder Jackson Hately to be taken in the pre-season draft by Adelaide.
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It means the league will be robbed of the usual ceremony that involves an AFL coach or prominent figure from each team presenting the draftees with their new jumpers.
This year as many as 15 of the 30 first selections could be father-son or next generation academy players so the bidding will be fierce.
Adelaide has made clear it will seriously consider matching a bid for Bulldogs-linked young forward Jamar Ugle-Hagan, who is said to be the draft’s most talented player.
They have a draft order that they have rigorously followed in recent drafts and have often bid on rival talent linked through NGAs. But if they bid on Ugle-Hagan they would do so certain that he would still go to the Dogs under a bidding system, meaning the player they got to their club was their second choice.
The league is yet to officially introduce its new-look mid-season draft but AFL football boss Steve Hocking said on Thursday the league was keen on marching forward with the proposal.
Clubs with spare list spots would be able to secure players overlooked in the national draft or all state league players in Rounds 4, 8 and 12.
The AFL’s May 2019 mid-season draft was a strong success, with Marlion Pickett the inspirational story but Will Snelling, John Noble and Ryan Gardner still on AFL lists from that season.
What might normally have been a good chance to mine state league talent could be so much more given the raft of AFL aspirants set to be overlooked in December’s draft because of a lack of 2020 football.
Players hoping to explode this season who nominate for the draft but are overlooked could be picked up in the early months of the 2021 season instead of waiting for next November’s draft.
It will be a key opportunity for clubs to add talent.
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