It is worth noting that AFLPA has pushed for US pro league reforms like free agency which advantage the player but have not surprisingly shown no interest in the US pro league rules which favour teams! 

20 minutes ago, demoniac said:

It is worth noting that AFLPA has pushed for US pro league reforms like free agency which advantage the player but have not surprisingly shown no interest in the US pro league rules which favour teams! 

NBA - Player driven competition, lots of super teams made by and organised by star players 

NFL - System/Organisation driven competition, more "equalisation" and mostly good spread of talent around the league. Coaches seem to have more control as well.

I know I'd prefer an NFL type competition any day, I just don't like the zero loyalty and money first mentality you can see in the NBA.

 

Several players at the top end of this year’s AFL draft pool are considered flight risks, limiting the ability of some clubs to land the best talent available with their picks.

A growing number of players are unwilling to be drafted to clubs outside their home states, and according to one recruiting boss, some are even outright saying that they want to avoid moving interstate in pre-draft discussions.

fewer-players-to-chose-from-flight-risks-affecting-afl-draft

This has to be a red flag for the AFL in terms of draft integrity and not letting new draftees change clubs especially when still under contract.

37 minutes ago, Lucifers Hero said:

Several players at the top end of this year’s AFL draft pool are considered flight risks, limiting the ability of some clubs to land the best talent available with their picks.

A growing number of players are unwilling to be drafted to clubs outside their home states, and according to one recruiting boss, some are even outright saying that they want to avoid moving interstate in pre-draft discussions.

fewer-players-to-chose-from-flight-risks-affecting-afl-draft

This has to be a red flag for the AFL in terms of draft integrity and not letting new draftees change clubs especially when still under contract.

Fine a couple that will stop it quickly.

2 minutes ago, old dee said:

Fine a couple that will stop it quickly.

Reckon the AFL needs to go further, especially now that in contract new draftees are wanting to 'go home' or pre draft players won't even sign up.  They probably all want to go to top 8 teams.

 

Happy to keep winning flags with WA talent then send them back to "that other country".

One thing I can guarantee you is we will draft from WA again. 

16 hours ago, Lucifers Hero said:

Several players at the top end of this year’s AFL draft pool are considered flight risks, limiting the ability of some clubs to land the best talent available with their picks.

A growing number of players are unwilling to be drafted to clubs outside their home states, and according to one recruiting boss, some are even outright saying that they want to avoid moving interstate in pre-draft discussions.

fewer-players-to-chose-from-flight-risks-affecting-afl-draft

This has to be a red flag for the AFL in terms of draft integrity and not letting new draftees change clubs especially when still under contract.

At least they are making it known, nothing worse than when the player says what the recruiters want to hear then turns round a year or 2 later.

I think north would like a redo of last years draft if Francis was up front.

 

17 minutes ago, Garbo said:

At least they are making it known, nothing worse than when the player says what the recruiters want to hear then turns round a year or 2 later.

I think north would like a redo of last years draft if Francis was up front.

 

What about us, would we have chosen Young (who has signed a 5 year deal with Freo) over Jackson had we suspected he was a flight risk??? Probably not, we would've backed ourselves. In hindsight I'd rather we had picked Young.

Jacko help us win a flag at a pivotal moment in the GF... we won from that pick, even if he'd have left for nothing.

 

Players from Geelong Falcons are a bigger recruiting risk than WA

1 minute ago, george_on_the_outer said:

Players from Geelong Falcons are a bigger recruiting risk than WA

So Geelong is just like Sydney, they basically have an academy system

1 hour ago, cantstandyasam said:

What about us, would we have chosen Young (who has signed a 5 year deal with Freo) over Jackson had we suspected he was a flight risk??? Probably not, we would've backed ourselves. In hindsight I'd rather we had picked Young.

i watched one of youngs games that year and it was enough for me to deeply desire recruiting him, think itll be a hard sell to move him out of freo now + we recruited rivers who was a similar player later in the draft anyway. but i agree managers certainly have changed the advice they give their potential draftees, it probably used to be sweet talk them, tell them what they want to hear and get drafted we can sort the rest out down the track to nowadays tell them your staying in ur state and you will ur good enough at the top end u wont go un-drafted but at least now you have a better chance of staying home

Maybe you could have a contract that witheld say 20% and should they request to 'go home' it is forfeited...

If the club decides to move them on any monies witheld will be paid out...

Might make players think twice about breaking contracts...

The fact that the draft system already requires these young men are traded and bought, then shipped to places to live and work that they don’t choose, is enough of a deprivation of their rights… what other career requires this of you? 
And you want to wack on a penalty clause. 
I think we need to accept that young players are humans too, not chess pieces or commodities to be traded. 

Nobody's forcing them to play AFL, Paul.

They choose that (potentially highly lucrative) career over all others.  

Just build that bogan-proof fence and be done with 'em... 😉

On 10/13/2022 at 7:26 PM, PaulRB said:

The fact that the draft system already requires these young men are traded and bought, then shipped to places to live and work that they don’t choose, is enough of a deprivation of their rights… what other career requires this of you? 
And you want to wack on a penalty clause. 
I think we need to accept that young players are humans too, not chess pieces or commodities to be traded. 

I mean, unrestricted service exists in the whole of the ADF, most APS positions in terms of CGA’s require the person to relocate to Canberra, Ambulance Victoria will often require new employees to nominate stations as a preference - but the reality is that they can be posted anywhere regardless of distance.

I just don’t buy into this whole, ‘I want to be drafted but on my conditions’. I accept it’s a unique circumstance, but that also exists in far more positions than what people think (albeit with varying degrees of control and autonomy). 
 

If you don’t like the notion of being drafted to an interstate club and are unwilling to accept those chances, then perhaps the AFL isn’t the system for you. There’s no shame in that. Like many things in life, some individuals are far more in love with the ‘idea’ and ‘notion’ of doing something, than the actual real deal. 
 

Of course, not everything is black and white and I accept there are mitigating, contributing and extenuating circumstances that can contribute to these scenarios; rarely, if ever is something black and white. 
 

However, as I said, I wouldn’t necessarily agree that AFL footballers exist in a totally unique sphere regarding the notion of control and autonomy over their location of employment. 

To not draft from interstate any more is to wave the white flag and say we don't back our system, player welfare, development or future success. We might as well pack up shop. Seriously.

This is amongst the silliest things I've ever heard suggested 

I don’t think WA is the problem. I think Peter Bell is. He just likes stealing our players. First Hogan and now Jackson. Hogan was a generational talent but after leaving us he became a not much. Maybe Jackson will also be a disappointment at Fremantle. They need to develop their own players instead of pinching ours.

A somewhat similar article to some above: draft-preview-homesick-players

It seems more and more players are making their club preferences known in the lead up to the draft, 

In addition to the 'go home' factor, the 'New Gen' is an interesting development for all draftees but perhaps more so with those from i/state:

NEW-GEN, NEW RULES?

"...At the risk of sounding too philosophical, some clubs believe players in their adolescence in 2022 have, on average, less patience than those of those in prior generations....

...Young players struggling to get a senior game early in their career may already be getting impatient, but that impatience is only amplified when the avenues for fresh starts are, as mentioned, continuously growing.

Couple that with the fact clubs will traditionally offer more money to get a player out and it once again becomes a perfect storm for movement."

Certainly a chance for some sliders in this draft with a few highly rated SA and WA draftees but Adelaide, Port and Freo not having a draft pick inside #30 (at this stage).  Will the Vic clubs be shy about taking them too highly or let them slide?

There has been plenty of players who get drafted from other states and remained in Victoria some examples are Cripps and Grundy they have turned their backs on their home states regularly when asked about going back.

Blake Acres is from WA recruited by the Saints then off loaded to Fremantle and now has come back to Victoria, for the money.

At the MFC Chandler is from SA, Petty is from SA, Sparrow is from SA and Alex Neal-Bullen is from SA.

The current players who are very iffy are Rivers and Pickett 2023 will decide whether they want to return home or not.

Often players who come from other states and meet and marry a local girl who's roots are in Victoria will stay for the family support when they have children. 

We must always take a risk and take the best available no matter which state he comes from, only if you get 2 players of equal potential, you then think about needs and finally consider the local as more attactive.

Take best available unless you’re dealing with a Horne-Francis type.  If they decide to leave get the best deal you can 

And they all can’t stay in their home state. 10 clubs are based in vic so you’re going to have plenty of interstaters here regardless 

On 10/10/2022 at 9:21 PM, Bombay Airconditioning said:

This year alone

LJ (pick 3) gone home after 3 years.

JHF (pick 1) gone home after 1 year. 

Izak Rankine (pick 3) gone home after 4 years.

Taranto (pick 2) gone home after 6 seasons. Not as good as an example as the last 3.
 

 

So 4 players out of how many? Hardly an issue.  What comes around goes around. 
 

We got Langdon and Lever in from interstate 

On 10/13/2022 at 11:00 AM, Garbo said:

At least they are making it known, nothing worse than when the player says what the recruiters want to hear then turns round a year or 2 later.

I think north would like a redo of last years draft if Francis was up front.

 

They were being offered a ridiculous bounty to give him up and they didn't do it. 3 First Rounders i think. For a team trying to rebuild they made a bad decision in my opinion. They would of got something like pick 4 and an extra 2 future First rounders. Then what they've ended up with this year so they'd be well on the way.