AFL clubs believe the league will soon allow the trading of future draft picks

THE AFL’s leading recruiters believe the league will soon allow teams to trade away future draft picks under a new system.

Christian Petracca and Angus Brayshaw the new Melbourne draftees at the 2014 AFL draft on the Gold Coast Picture: Stephen Harman

THE AFL’s leading recruiters believe the league will soon allow teams to trade away future draft picks as clubs prepare for a new father-son bidding system.

Sydney’s Kinnear Beatson and Gold Coast’s Scott Clayton said it was a natural evolution to be able to offer up picks from future years.

Under the new academy and father-son system clubs might have to use up their next year’s draft picks to select more than one star father-son or academy selections.

They say willingly trading multiple picks from future drafts is the natural extension, but believe the AFL will put a limit on how many future picks can be shipped to a rival.

The league’s working party on player movement has already thrown up the trading of future picks as a discussion point.

Paddy McCartin debuted against Collingwood. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

“I think we will end up evolving to something like that. I am sure we will be able to trade future picks, it’s just a natural evolution,’’ Clayton said.

“The push for it will be that some clubs will be able to rebound quicker. That will be their logic but the AFL will want to make it idiot-proof so you can’t give away anything.

“It might be one year of picks, it might be that they won’t let you give away your first-round draft picks.”

Beatson, who helped assemble Brisbane’s 2001-3 premierships as well as Sydney’s list, agrees the trading of future picks is inevitable.

“I think it will come in time. From our discussions with the AFL they are a bit concerned about what happens when an administration makes poor decisions then the next administration is left patching up the mess for half a decade or more.

Gold Coast’s talent identification team at the AFL Draft Combine.

“What they are looking at is perhaps capping it with how many picks or what rounds you can trade. If they approve the new academy bidding system you can go into a points deficit (which sees you lose picks the next year), so they will start looking at the ability to trade future picks.”

Sydney is still unsure exactly how the AFL ruling will affect their ability to pick both star midfielder Callum Mills and Josh Dunkley, son of former defender Andrew.

Andrew, a midfielder and medium-sized defender, would first need to select Sydney as his option and could instead go into the national draft.

The Gippsland-based player has spent time at the club this year but even they will not be able to commit to him until they find out what it costs them.

Under a draft with a live bidding system they would only find out if rivals wanted him minutes before their selection.

Then they would have to decide whether to select him after calculating just how much he would cost under a complicated points system that values draft picks with points values.

Ex-St Kilda list manager Chris Pelchen has long been a proponent of trading future draft picks.

He reasons many big trades do not go through because clubs do not have multiple first or second-round picks so cannot clinch deals which would immediately help their fortunes.