The AFLW draft is broken: List managers, recruiters have their say on how to fix payment tiers, drafting, player movement
List managers of AFLW sides have to balance draftees in state pools and national pools, a tiered salary system and don’t have access to trading future picks. Those in the know tell SAM LANDSBERGER about their solutions.
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It is time to blow up the state-based element of the AFLW draft and bin the wildly unpopular four-tier salary system offered to players.
The Herald Sun has canvassed the views of AFLW list managers, football bosses, coaches, agents and players and they headlined five significant transformations the industry is crying out for.
Almost on equal-footing with those two changes are allowing clubs to trade future picks to ease the rigidness of trade period.
Longer term the AFLW should consider live trading on draft night and providing clubs with academies to accelerate development that would ultimately enhance a product that is bound for full-time professionalism.
Under current rules the 569 players nominated for Monday night’s AFLW draft chose whether to apply nationally or in a particular state.
About 70 per cent were happy to be picked by any club. It’s understood most of the South Australian and Queensland prospects who nominated for their states did so simply because it was easier – not because they had an issue relocating.
“I haven’t spoken to one player in our interviews that would have had an issue with going national,” one list boss said.
“We’re ready. I’d be disappointed if we didn’t do it next year, to be honest.”
The state-based draft delivered a healthy advantage to two-club states (originally one club) in footy heartlands. Adelaide has been the biggest winner.
While most girls are now nominating nationally, the risk was outlined clearly by another club.
“If the top five players are all from Western Australia and they all nominate WA, then there is no point in a Victorian club trying to trade up high in the draft because pick eight is just as good as pick two effectively for their talent pool,” they said.
“Vice-versa, if there’s five good WA players and West Coast has pick 35 in the draft – but it’s the fourth pick in WA – they’re still going to get the fourth-best player at pick 35.
“But if it was a national draft and you’re sitting ninth on the ladder, and you want to be aggressive in the draft to try and trade up, you know that you can go high and still get a good player.
“What is probably a fair conversation is that they need to balance that with the cost of living and the players’ ability to afford to move interstate.”
The feeling is that 12 months is enough notice to tell 2024 prospects that next year’s draft will be totally national.
PAYMENT TIERS
The fresh Collective Bargaining Agreement has ratified tiers until 2027.
In 2023 the payments were $87,192 (tier one), $71,806 (tier two), $61,548 (tier three) and $51,290 (tier four) – with two or three tier one players per club, six tier twos, six tier threes and 16 tier fours.
By 2027 they will range from $117,968 (tier one) to $72,373 (tier four).
But on page 118 there is a clause that many believe was written in so former AFL boss Gillon McLachlan could sign off on the deal while still in charge.
It reads: “As soon as practicable following execution of this Agreement but no later than 30 June 2024, the Parties agree to conduct a review of AFLW List and AFLW Player management structure”.
Clubs believe they outgrew tiers years ago, and that clause could be the one to wave ta-ta to the tiers.
The current set-up has seen players who did not feature all season bank similar cash as some who played every game.
It does not make sense. Then, there is the stigma attached. For a generation who grew up counting social media likes some footballers simply want a higher grading.
Some players ranked as a tier four had their salaries beefed up to effectively a flat tier three through ASA payments (Additional Service Agreements).
“But because you’ve got a tier four next to your name the money doesn’t matter. It’s the fact that you see me as a tier four,” one insider said.
“The managers are trying hard to educate, but it’s very difficult. Some of the girls just get hung up on it.”
This masthead is aware of players who believed they deserved be tier three. But after being offered a tier four contract they chose to move from Western Australia to Victoria for a tier three status.
They relocated across the country for the sake of an extra $10,000 and a tier next to their name that is not even publicly available.
It seems nonsensical.
Reading the tea leaves, even though the clause to review by June 30 was written into the CBA it seems as though 2025 would be the most likely move to an open salary cap instead.
In 2025 the cap will be $2,290,812 per club plus $127,693 in ASAs.
Binning the tiers would provide clubs the flexibility to divide that cash among their 30 players as they see fit.
FUTURE PICKS
The AFL can expect written feedback from clubs venting their frustration with rivals on trade tactics last week.
Fremantle poached former No.1 pick Gabby Newton (Bulldgs) and All-Australian Ash Brazill (Pies) and only had No.6 to work with.
The fact the Dockers blew up options presented to them to sweeten those deals – such as recontracting players being pursued to include in the deals – was dubious.
But the rigidness of their assets was always going to make it hard work.
Brazill and Newton were set to be stranded until Western Bulldogs and then Collingwood – with the help of the AFL – worked their fingers to the knuckle to help do the Dockers’ work for them courtesy of an 11-club trade.
“We’ve been very vocal with the AFL that we’re super, super supportive of more flexibility when it comes to trading, in particular,” one club said.
“Because there’s not a whole lot you can do at the moment in terms of being overly strategic with the way that you structure your picks.
“If you’re giving up a good pick for a good player it’s actually really hard to get back into the draft at a good level.
“I would love to see the competition get to a point where there’s future trading in particular.”
The flexibility it would free up is a no-brainer, even if it has to be heavily regulated by the AFL in its infancy.
That said, the passiveness of some clubs pursuing players last week was infuriating and created stress across the industry.
Some clubs deserve to be given a clip from league headquarters.
LIVE TRADING ON DRAFT NIGHT
This one seems a fair way away. The demographic of some booths at the men’s draft even alarmed some because there is a sense this is a young person’s game.
The whiz in this space is Sydney’s senior data analyst Chris Keane, the man who exposed a loophole in the live trading system when it was less than 10 picks old in 2018.
Keane is a mathematics gun and when AFL clubs are weighing up multiple offers on the clock on draft night he is the sort of operator you want crunching the numbers.
AFLW clubs do not currently have the resources to get this right.
ACADEMIES
Could AFLW be used as guinea pigs to get the controversial system in the men’s league right?
That idea was raised by two sources who both admittedly added that ‘guinea pigs’ was far from the ideal word to use.
But there is merit in incentivising clubs to develop talent. The standard of some girls playing Coates Leagues is, according to a few experts, far from ideal.
Resourcing would clearly be a big issue. One northern AFL club spends $1.3 million annually on their academy.
But there must be a way to capture more talent. The men’s draft routinely sees smokeys picked from VAFA or local clubs, but that is not the case in AFLW.
List managers laugh at the flood of emails and phone calls they get at this time of year.
Coaches, parents, managers and even players themselves flick through tapes with notes attached.
“You’ve got to see this girl – she’s better than anyone you’ve got on your list,” they often say.
The reality is they are a long way off it. Like live trading, this is one perhaps for the longer term.
STAGGERED APPROACH
New football boss Laura Kane will be reluctant to rush the evolution of AFLW. Put simply, the league does not yet trust clubs enough to pull multiple levers at once.
Friday’s AFLW draft rehearsal perhaps highlighted that when the league workshopped what would happen if a club attempted to draft someone who had not nominated for their state.
The sophistication gap is significant and the switched-on clubs could swindle those without the same level of experience.
But it should be a national draft next year with future picks also given significant consideration while tearing up the tier system by 2025 would be a pleasing outcome.
It’s worth remembering this is still a semi-professional league.
HUNGOVER DRAFT
There were 41 players traded in trade period ranging from the Dogs (six inclusions) to Adelaide (none).
The Dogs will dominate Monday night’s draft with picks No.1, 4, 6 and 11. But as talent orders are finalised their fans should not get overly excited.
The hangover effect from the expansion clubs has seen eight of the best talents taken off the board already.
They are Hayley McLaughlin, Laura Stone, Jess Vukic (Hawthorn), Lauren Young, Molly Brooksby, Shineah Goody (Port Adelaide), Amy Gaylor (Essendon) and Holly Cooper (Sydney).
Sources said in a national draft there was little doubt Young would’ve gone No.1, Stone No.2, Goody in the top five and Brooskby in the top 15.
Gaylor and Vukic would’ve been among the top five Victorian girls.
It is little wonder the Dogs would have picked Gabby Newton at No.1 for the second time in five years if a trade fell over.
Kristie-Lee Weston-Turner is the likely No.1 pick on Monday night, a 178cm key forward who could go from Western Jets to Western Bulldogs overnight.
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