By Jon Pierik
St Kilda president Andrew Bassat has used his speech at the club’s best and fairest to tear into the AFL for its drafting system, saying the Saints were “sick and tired of meekly accepting this ... rubbish” and vowing to fight for change.
Bassat took to the stage on Monday night where he reinforced his club’s displeasure with what it feels is the minimal price clubs still pay for father-son and academy talent through the draft.
He said the system was designed to favour wealthier and northern clubs and was not providing a level playing field.
The AFL announced in August that there would be draft, trade and free agency changes to the bidding points system from 2025, but Bassat expressed his disappointment that they wouldn’t be implemented immediately.
The Saints insist the draft value index (DVI), where clubs can accumulate multiple low-end picks to match the points value of a high-end pick, is wrong. They say the introduction of state-based academies in NSW and Queensland to lure top talent has negated what should be the fairness of the AFL draft.
“It’s not a level playing field, as we know. The system is basically designed, the more I look at it, the system is designed to favour the wealthier clubs, and it’s designed to favour the northern clubs, and our role is meant to be just to make up the numbers and not complain about it,” Bassat, the co-founder of employment website Seek, said.
“In terms of what we are doing about it, it’s fair to say our club is sick and tired of meekly accepting this, it’s rubbish, and we have decided absolutely as a club to … we are absolutely committed as a club, relentlessly, to ensure that we are given a fairer opportunity for success.
Not so happy now: St Kilda president Andrew Bassat embraces Josh Battle after the Saints’ win over Carlton.Credit: AFL Photos
“We have actually made some progress this year. We have led the charge to ensure a fairer price is paid for father-son and academy. Unfortunately, the AFL, in its wisdom, chose to make the changes next year.”
This month’s trade and November’s national draft will remain under the current rules, which will allow premiers Brisbane to secure top talent Levi Ashcroft early in the draft as a father-son selection. The Lions will get a 20 per cent discount on any bid for Ashcroft, and can take him using back-end selections.
The Lions have only picks 18, 56 and 69 in this year’s draft, worth a combined 1228 draft points. Ashcroft, the brother of Norm Smith medallist Will, would potentially be a No.1 pick were he on the open market. If there had been changes to the rules this year, the Lions may have had to trade an established player out to secure more points to match the bid.
Since father-son selections were introduced in 1986, the Saints have only ever had three – Stewart Annand (1989, zero games), David Sierakowski (1992, 93 games for St Kilda) and Bailey Rice (2015, 11 games). In comparison, the Lions have had seven since 1999, including triple-premiership forward Jonathan Brown.
Bassat revealed he sarcastically took aim at the Lions and AFL commissioners while mingling in the Olympic Room at the AFL grand final on Saturday.
“So, I had a great time after half-time when it was pretty clear that Brisbane is going to win, every single commissioner I found, I did find, and the conversation went to the effect: ‘I have a great idea. How about you give the best player in the draft to Brisbane this year?’. And then I would start walking away and: ‘Aw, don’t charge them for it’,” Bassat said.
“The system is an absolute nonsense, it’s a complete and utter nonsense. We will fight the battle, certainly until my last day as president, and hopefully beyond. We’ll fight this and, hopefully, make progress because right is on our side.”
In Bassat’s sights: Levi Ashcroft is heading to the Brisbane Lions.Credit: Wayne Taylor
Ashcroft, a talented midfielder with the Sandringham Dragons in the Coates Talent League, confirmed last month he was joining the Lions. The Lions will also look to secure Ashcroft’s academy teammate Sam Marshall, another player regarded by recruiters as a first-round selection, at a discount.
The AFL was contacted for comment.
The AFL’s decision to delay changes until next year allows the Lions, Carlton, eying the Camporeale twins, and Richmond, who have traded in extra picks to vault up the draft board, to stick to their plans and use the draft picks they accumulated last year during this year’s player exchange periods.
Under next year’s new rules, the DVI will make it more difficult for clubs to retain draft selections to match multiple bids on academy and father-son selections. The 20 per cent points discount used to match bids will be cut to 10. But this may not apply to all Next Generation Academy, father-son and northern academy players.
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