AFL Draft

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This article is about the annual Australian rules football draft. For the historical American Football League draft, see American Football League Draft.

The AFL Draft is the annual draft of new unsigned players by Australian rules football teams that participate in the main competition of that sport, the Australian Football League.

Contents

[edit] History

When the competition was known as the Victorian Football League (VFL), the league introduced the first incarnation of a draft system in 1981, where teams had two selections each of interstate players determined by reverse finishing position order. [1] This was introduced as an equalisation strategy in response to the increasing transfer fees and player salaries at the time, which in combination with declining attendances, threatened to derail the league. It was also a result of the failure of country zoning, introduced in the late 1960s, which had led to a systematic inequality whereby the clubs with the best zones, like Carlton and Hawthorn, could dominate over clubs with poorer zones like Melbourne.

In 1986, the first VFL Draft was held. The draft saw players tied to zones based on their location of residence, with each club having first call on players falling within that zone. The West Coast Eagles received access to all West Australian players, while the Brisbane Bears received 6 concessionary picks before the other clubs.

[edit] Current draft system

In the AFL Draft, clubs receive picks based on the position in which they finish on the ladder during the season. The draft is held in November, with a pre-season draft in December.

[edit] Eligibility

Currently to be eligible for the draft, a player must be at least 17 years of age on or before April 30 in the year in which they are drafted. This has been slowly increased over the past few years due to concerns about school age players potentially having to leave home to play football in another state.[citation needed]

[edit] Priority draft pick rule

See main article Priority draft pick.

[edit] Father-son rule

See main article Father-son rule.

[edit] Number 1 draft picks

The number 1 draft pick is awarded to the bottom-placed team, though in some cases it is traded.

Number 1 draft picks:

[edit] Pre-season draft

Main article: AFL Pre-season Draft

[edit] Rookie draft

See also: Rookie list

Held at the same time as the pre-season draft, the rookie draft is a chance for clubs to recruit players under 23 for their Rookie list. Rookies are usually picked as young, developing players and can be elevated from the rookie list during the year, if there is an injury or retirement to a senior player in the team. Once the rookie is elevated, he remains that way until the end of the year, where they can be officially upgraded to the senior list, or kept on as a second year rookie, or delisted/not offered a new contract. Most teams have 4 rookies, but Brisbane and Sydney have more, and other teams may have more or less depending on the amount of veterans on their list.

[edit] International rookies

Rookies are also available to be selected from overseas countries and players on the list do not count towards the salary cap. An example of this are Irish players Colm Begley and Collingwood players Kevin Dyas and Martin Clarke.

In 2006, the AFL introduced a new scheme where clubs can maintain 2 international rookies (excluding Irish players) outside of the regular rookie list.[citation needed]

[edit] References

  1. ^ The draft blows in, Emma Quayle, The Age, November 17, 2006.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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