Priority draft pick
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The Priority draft pick is a term used in the Australian Football League's AFL Draft.
Since its inception, it has been the cause of much controversy and has led to the belief that some teams "drop" games if they are within the priority draft pick zone.
If a team records less than 20.5 points during an AFL season (with a win being worth 4 points and a draw being worth 2 points), then that team automatically qualifies for a priority draft pick.
Unlike the lottery system used in the NBA Draft since 1985 and the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, the draft picks are allocated in terms of a team's finish on the ladder, so that the 16th (last) placed team receives the number 1 pick, the 15th receives the number 2 pick, the 14th receives the number 3 pick and so on. With the priority draft pick, if the three teams that occupied the bottom 3 spots (14th, 15th and 16th) all achieved less than 5 and a half wins during the season, then the 16th placed team receives the first pick, the 15th placed team receives the second pick, the 14th placed team receives the third pick in the "Priority round", and then they receive their normal picks, with the 16th placed team receiving the 4th pick, the 15th placed team receiving the 5th pick and so on.
The 2005 AFL Draft was the last exponent of this priority pick rule, with priority picks now held out to the end of the first round.
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