The Buzz: Jon Ralph explains how to fix the AFL draft to help struggling clubs rebuild faster
IT’S TIME for Gillon McLachlan to follow through on his gut feel and aggressively overhaul the broken draft system to turbocharge the rebuilding process, writes Jon Ralph.
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THE AFL draft system is broken as a method of restoring competitive balance.
It has been ripped apart by free agency and the determination of players to finish their careers at successful clubs.
It’s time for Gillon McLachlan to follow through on his gut feel and aggressively overhaul the system to turbocharge the rebuilding process.
Not using priority picks, but handing perennial non-finalists extra draft picks after the first round of the draft.
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If the AFL used five years of non-September action as a measure, Brisbane, Carlton and Gold Coast would receive picks 19, 20 and 21 this year.
Brisbane would receive pick 19 after nine years out of finals, Gold Coast 20 after eight barren seasons, Carlton 21 after five season out of the action.
Consider how Carlton has almost no chance to bridge the gap to Richmond as the example of why the system is ruined.
It has the No. 1 overall pick and Adelaide’s second-rounder (currently pick 24), having already given up its own second-rounder in a pick shuffle over Bryce Gibbs.
If Richmond wins the premiership it will have pick 18 and then seems every chance to secure Gold Coast’s Tom Lynch.
How do we put a draft value on Lynch?
Collingwood gave up two No. 7 picks for Adam Treloar, Adelaide 10 and 16 (and a pick shuffle) for Bryce Gibbs, Melbourne pick 10 and a 2018 first-rounder for Jake Lever.
So let’s say Richmond receives the draft value of two mid first round picks, which if anything underestimates his worth.
Carlton goes to the draft with picks 1 and 24, Richmond effectively harnesses 10, 10 and 16.
How in God’s name can the Blues compete?
Especially when the value of those early picks is so uncertain.
Former No. 1 pick Jacob Weitering has played 52 moderate games and might not be a star, while Brisbane has already lost pick 2 Josh Schache to homesickness.
Last year Carlton gave up pick 2 for Paddy Dow (averaging 14 possessions, with three total goals), while Richmond’s used pick 17 on Jack Higgins.
Dow looks to have a bigger upside, but Higgins is averaging 15.5 possessions, has kicked 8.9 from 11 games.
Champion Data says Richmond has five elite players — Dustin Martin, Alex Rance, Kane Lambert, Jack Riewoldt — and six above average including skipper Trent Cotchin.
Carlton has one elite player — purely based on stats — and five above average.
The only way for Carlton to lift itself up the ladder is to get multiple picks in a draft.
Right now it has had to trade away stars Zach Tuohy and Gibbs to do that for results that are still up in the air.
Free agents of any quality don’t always go to top-eight clubs — Jackson Trengove went to the Dogs last year — but they don’t go to bottom four clubs.
Last year Tom Rockliff ignored Carlton to go to Port Adelaide. Carlton’s last free agent of any note was Dale Thomas.
Gold Coast secured Nick Malceski to fatten his retirement fund and Tom Murphy as a back-up option, Brisbane’s only free agent was out-of-favour Demon Brent Moloney.
Gold Coast has never finished better than 12th, set to finish in the bottom three for the fifth season in eight years.
Carlton will finish bottom for the fifth time since 2002 and bottom five for the fourth year in a row.
Brisbane has never finished above 12th this decade, and with a late flurry will hope to avoid a fourth consecutive bottom-two finish.
AFL intervention would help the AFL’s own coffers through a more even competition and stop a lost generation of fans abandoning underperforming clubs.
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