Should a Draft be introduced in the NRL?

[BroncsFan]

although, and correct me if I'm wrong ... but even once a players AFL contract expires, they can't just go to whichever club they want.

they either have to get traded or enter the pre-season draft (with no guarantee you wont end up at another basket case)

unless, you've been in the AFL for a long time

Dont follow AFL closely enough to know, only going off Fox Sports News running in the background and hearing them talk about players going 'home'.

Think it's generally through trades, etc. but if that's your only means and say a Fifita wants to leave and you have to trade with roosters, storm, etc. then their draft picks aren't worth much (they finish high on the ladder) and you probably wont get a decent player off them... so you're having to deal with them from a low negotiating point.

Surely if someone is off contract in AFL they can sign with whoever they want and not have to go into a lottery.... that seems absurd

 

[1910]

although, and correct me if I'm wrong ... but even once a players AFL contract expires, they can't just go to whichever club they want.

they either have to get traded or enter the pre-season draft (with no guarantee you wont end up at another basket case)

unless, you've been in the AFL for a long time

You can make requests- I want to play for Carlton and then your club can trade and get a deal done so they both win.

You have free agency- if you have been at one club for eight years- if your current club doesn't match it.

 

[ivanhungryjak]

 

[mrslong]

No, just bring in Rookie contracts, and manage the salary cap better. Get those up and running and then look at a draft if those things fail.

 

[Nashy]

Nope. NRL would only **** it up.

 

[Sproj]

Dont follow AFL closely enough to know, only going off Fox Sports News running in the background and hearing them talk about players going 'home'.

Think it's generally through trades, etc. but if that's your only means and say a Fifita wants to leave and you have to trade with roosters, storm, etc. then their draft picks aren't worth much (they finish high on the ladder) and you probably wont get a decent player off them... so you're having to deal with them from a low negotiating point.

Surely if someone is off contract in AFL they can sign with whoever they want and not have to go into a lottery.... that seems absurd

There’s two points here:

1. Roosters or Storm would have to find a way to get you the picks you want, otherwise you say no to the trade, this occurs from time to time and the player stays put.

2. The lottery has to happen if a trade doesn’t get done and the player is off contract, otherwise what’s the incentive to get a trade done? The destination club can just wait and sign them for nothing. The lottery is a deterrent for this situation to happen because if you don’t have it, the draft and trade system will become pointless and the Roosters and Storm will still keep getting whoever they want, they just get them better developed.

 

[theshed]

I’m pretty ignorant about how drafts works tbh.

so teams get allocated a order in which they get to pick a rookie or off contract player and that player just has to go there?

What’s the incentive for clubs to develop young players? Nothing? Then who is responsible for funding youth systems and pathways?

I think it entirely removes the tribalism of the game and removes one of the very few actual motivations to support one team or another. Though with the NRL deciding to not tie the Dolphins to a geographical area I assume they don’t really care about this aspect of the game. It’s literally becoming support the team who’s animal picture you like the most.

 

[Renegade]

IMO yes. I have no idea on how the logistics would work, but just about every major sport has a draft of sorts and they manage to make it work. It would be a spectacle, extra eyes, attention, advertising... money.

 

[Sproj]

I’m pretty ignorant about how drafts works tbh.

so teams get allocated a order in which they get to pick a rookie or off contract player and that player just has to go there?

What’s the incentive for clubs to develop young players? Nothing? Then who is responsible for funding youth systems and pathways?

I think it entirely removes the tribalism of the game and removes one of the very few actual motivations to support one team or another. Though with the NRL deciding to not tie the Dolphins to a geographical area I assume they don’t really care about this aspect of the game. It’s literally becoming support the team who’s animal picture you like the most.

This is showing that you don’t understand it and that’s fine, all of these points are factored in and I’ll try and explain a complicated system as best as possible but one thing to remember, the AFL is excellently and professionally governed, their attention to detail is excellent, this is why it works well.

The key points:

The Draft
1. The AFL draft is organised in reverse order of finish, so bottom club gets pick 1, premiership winner gets 18 (last spot) repeated each round.
2. If a club develops a player through their academy or NGA, they get the chance to match a bid by accumulating draft points by lower order picks (each pick is worth a certain amount of points) - this is too complicated to go into detail with but basically if your kid is picked at 1, you can match but then your next picks likely drop down the order
3. Each kid is signed for two years minimum

Trade Period
4. The trade week happens before the draft so you can trade players or draft picks
5. If the player wanting a trade is under contract for the following season, you do not have to trade him unless you get an offer of picks / players that you think is fair
6. If the player wanting a trade is not contracted but has been in the AFL system for less than 7 years, you will receive a compensation pick from the AFL if the player leaves, if he is a gun player, you might receive a draft pick in the top 5, so you still get something out of it if another club signs the free agent
7. If the teams cannot come to an agreement and the player goes into the draft period unsigned, he then enters the rookie draft

The Rookie Draft
8. This draft period follows the kids draft mentioned earlier and is in the same order as the national draft except this one is for overage players / free agents / delisted players
9. If a gun player goes into this draft, the team with the first pick is of course going to pick him up, otherwise the player could go to whoever he wants for nothing

This system provides incentives to get deals done but also allows the current club of a player to retain some power in the market, it is designed to safeguard against a free for all

So basically, for it to work in the NRL, a lot of other structures would need to be implemented and carefully policed, and this is why it will never work.

 

[john1420]

This is showing that you don’t understand it and that’s fine, all of these points are factored in and I’ll try and explain a complicated system as best as possible but one thing to remember, the AFL is excellently and professionally governed, their attention to detail is excellent, this is why it works well.

The key points:

The Draft
1. The AFL draft is organised in reverse order of finish, so bottom club gets pick 1, premiership winner gets 18 (last spot) repeated each round.
2. If a club develops a player through their academy or NGA, they get the chance to match a bid by accumulating draft points by lower order picks (each pick is worth a certain amount of points) - this is too complicated to go into detail with but basically if your kid is picked at 1, you can match but then your next picks likely drop down the order
3. Each kid is signed for two years minimum

Trade Period
4. The trade week happens before the draft so you can trade players or draft picks
5. If the player wanting a trade is under contract for the following season, you do not have to trade him unless you get an offer of picks / players that you think is fair
6. If the player wanting a trade is not contracted but has been in the AFL system for less than 7 years, you will receive a compensation pick from the AFL if the player leaves, if he is a gun player, you might receive a draft pick in the top 5, so you still get something out of it if another club signs the free agent
7. If the teams cannot come to an agreement and the player goes into the draft period unsigned, he then enters the rookie draft

The Rookie Draft
8. This draft period follows the kids draft mentioned earlier and is in the same order as the national draft except this one is for overage players / free agents / delisted players
9. If a gun player goes into this draft, the team with the first pick is of course going to pick him up, otherwise the player could go to whoever he wants for nothing

This system provides incentives to get deals done but also allows the current club of a player to retain some power in the market, it is designed to safeguard against a free for all

So basically, for it to work in the NRL, a lot of other structures would need to be implemented and carefully policed, and this is why it will never work.

Yep, it lost all hope when you said "the AFL is excellently and professionally governed, their attention to detail is excellent..."

 

[Sproj]

Yep, it lost all hope when you said "the AFL is excellently and professionally governed, their attention to detail is excellent..."

Please explain why this is wrong.

 

[Allo]

IMO yes. I have no idea on how the logistics would work, but just about every major sport has a draft of sorts and they manage to make it work. It would be a spectacle, extra eyes, attention, advertising... money.

Biggest sports in the world don’t though - they have academies and and trades/loans

 

[Renegade]

Biggest sports in the world don’t though - they have academies and and trades/loans

Soccer is the only sport I can think of that doesn't do a draft (apart from league) as far as major sports are concerned.

Basketball does
Baseball does
NHL does
NFL does
AFL does
Hell even the MLS does.

and all those comps manage to make it work.

 

[Renegade]

upon reflection outside of AFL it's largely an American thing, the idea of a draft.

i still think it would be cool.

 

[Allo]

Soccer is the only sport I can think of that doesn't do a draft (apart from league) as far as major sports are concerned.

Basketball does
Baseball does
NHL does
NFL does
AFL does
Hell even the MLS does.

and all those comps manage to make it work.

So North America then

They have the college system which is richer than most sports could dream of on its own. The colleges (and high schools) do the work, so the clubs and leagues have very little obligation to fund the development

 

[BroncsFan]

Soccer is the only sport I can think of that doesn't do a draft (apart from league) as far as major sports are concerned.

Basketball does
Baseball does
NHL does
NFL does
AFL does
Hell even the MLS does.

and all those comps manage to make it work.

Basically every one you named is US and then AFL like "hey dont forget us... we have a draft... we're basically American as well"

 

[john1420]

Please explain why this is wrong.

LOL sorry @Sproj not what I meant

What I meant was in reference to your comment that it works in the AFL because they are excellently and professionally governed, their attention to detail is excellent.
And it has lost all hope of succeeding in the NRL because the NRL is none of that.
I'm saying the NRL administration is useless, not having a dig at the AFL :)