After 2 salary cap concession flags, looks like we are set for a continuation into the next decade.

http://fcmelbourne.com.au/articles/2008/ma...nd-draft-bonus/

This is very bad news.

http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/news/boos...9234957079.html

How f#cking manipulative is this, and why aren't Victorian clubs having their say and having a go at the AFL.

They are raising next years draft age to 18, so basically next years Kreuzer will be kept in safe keeping for 2010 for the gold coast.

Then the Gold coast get the first 5 picks of the Super Duper Draft!!

Plus how do they get the extra 10% salary cap when Brisbane had it removed - isn't that a precendence ? or does it only apply if you win 3 premierships ?

Also they have access to 10 uncontracted players, first 2 preseason picks, not to mention sole ownership of the top 15 queensland players.

Do they have to engrave their own name on the premiership cup, or does the AFL handle that ???

vomit,vomit,vomit.

Only a proposal of course until its made undisputed law, probably when we least expect it.

If Melbourne are down bottom next year and get a priority pick, we will be crucified.

Makes it all the more important to bottom out properly this year and next and take advantage of the next two drafts.

If the new clubs use all their picks the lists will be half full of 17/18 year olds.

The draft picks are there to be traded away for current AFL players...Might not be as tough to rebuild as people think.

we won't be affected at all this year.

how will we be affected in the 2009 draft if we qualify for a priority draft pick?

we won't be affected at all this year.

how will we be affected in the 2009 draft if we qualify for a priority draft pick?

Well if we won less that four games this year and next, we would get priority pick but could not pick upthe next Natanui as all 17 year old cannot be drafted.

In fact does this mean next years draft is only 18 years old who have obviously not been drafted yes. in other words no-one great.

i don't really see us as being so disadvantaged by these changed.

imho, we are looking at spending this year and next down the bottom before we start pushing up the ladder. so all that really matters is this years draft and next.

this years draft- no disadvantage

next years draft- not such a big disadvantage. if we qualify for a PP, then we will still get pick 1 and 2. the only difference is we cant pick 17 yrolds. who knows, maybe the best 2 players will just have turned 18 anyways...not all top draft picks at 17 yr olds.

by 2010, when we start going up the ladder, is when the draft is ravaged by the new team.

the team who should be worried is Essendon. When Fletcher, Michael, Lloyd and Lucas retire all at the end of 2009, they are looking at a couple of years in the bottom 4. they are the ones who will suffer, not us.

i think we should consider ourselves lucky they we are bottoming out just BEFORE this is all happening.

the way i understand it is : 2008 we finish last(hopefully with no more than 1-2 wins) we than get picks 1, 17 + other higher picks. we than look to trade to obtain another top 10 pick.

2009 depending on last year, only win( if we can ) enough games to qualify for picks 1,2 and other higher picks, at this stage after the delistings of 2008 unless something popped up there would be no need to trade .

we delisted 11 players(maximum allowed) last year and several delistings are allready on the cards for this year. clean up draft day next two years than 2010 let the chaos begin.

the way i understand it is : 2008 we finish last(hopefully with no more than 1-2 wins) we than get picks 1, 17 + other higher picks. we than look to trade to obtain another top 10 pick.

2009 depending on last year, only win( if we can ) enough games to qualify for picks 1,2 and other higher picks, at this stage after the delistings of 2008 unless something popped up there would be no need to trade .

we delisted 11 players(maximum allowed) last year and several delistings are allready on the cards for this year. clean up draft day next two years than 2010 let the chaos begin.

The priority picks, designed to assit rebuilding clubs should not (particularly in the case of a first round pick) face this age restriction. Yes the new clubs need assistance, but so do the rebuilding clubs. I hope the MFC make this case!

Are we missing something here ?

next year the AFL raises the drafting age to 18 !! That means if we got priority picks, we get to choose from a significantly smaller pool.

For instance for this year, Natanui and Rich would be out of contention - how many touted as top draft picks in 2008 are over 18 ?. Hurley is 17 so he would be off limits as well.

we may be effectivley choosing the 10th or 20th best kid.

It's a F$cking joke if this goes ahead.

Raising the draft age to 18 has HUGE effects on next years draft, because ALL the next years candidates are shelved for 2010.

I could live with draft tampering in 2010 but not next year as I feel we will still be bottoming out.

can the Dees ever take a trick ??

The priority picks, designed to assit rebuilding clubs should not (particularly in the case of a first round pick) face this age restriction. Yes the new clubs need assistance, but so do the rebuilding clubs. I hope the MFC make this case!

i must have heard it wrong, because my understanding was that draft would not be altered in any way till 2010.

I have two things standing in the way of us truly bottoming out over the next two years.

Firstly, are we really that bad. Will pretty much the same group of players who made finals not all that long ago lose enough games? If we do lose enough, do we still trust DB with the responsibility to take our new found talent wealth into the future? Seems a bit contradictory to me.

Secondly, can we afford to truly bottom out. Unless McNamee is a true marketing genius, then winning so few games over a lengthy period will put us at enourmous financial pressure. Member numbers will drop. External pressure will be enourmous. The much talk about 'brand' will be in tatters. Can we survive two years on the bottom?

“The eligibility age for the National Draft will increase by four months, so that the player must turn 18 on or before December 31 in the year of that Draft. This will not apply until the 2009 AFL Draft.”

People, we're talking 4 months!!! jeez calm down. if we finish last we will still get a priority pick in 2009 (pick 1 and 2) so what are people worried about.

look at the last few years...only a couple of the top draft picks in each draft pool are 17. and they are not even arguably the best players from those pools. we will certainly be able to pick up a couple of superstars in 2009 if we finish down the bottom.

look at previous years.

2007 draft- cut off birth date- December 31st 1989

MATTHEW KREUZER May 13 1989- available

TRENT COTCHIN April 7 1990

CHRIS MASTEN May 2 1989- available

CALE MORTON January 18 1990

JARRAD GRANT July 6 1989- available

DAVID MYERS June 30 1989- available

2006 draft- December 31st 1988

BRYCE GIBBS March 1989

SCOTT GUMBLETON 3 August 1988- available

LACHLAN HANSEN, 17 August 1988- available

MATTHEW LEUENBERGER, 7 June 1988- available

TRAVIS BOAK, 1 August 1988- available

SELWOOD, 26 May 1988- available

MITCHELL THORP, 25 December 1988- available

2005 draft- December 31st 1987

Marc Murphy, 19 July 1987,

Dale Thomas(Gippsland Power), 21 June 1987- available

Xavier Ellis(Gippsland Power), 28 February 1988

Josh Kennedy(East Fremantle), 25 August 1987,- available

Scott Pendlebury(Gippsland Power), 7 January 1988,

Beau Dowler(Oakleigh Chargers), 16 December 1987- available

we will not be affected at all in 2008 draft. very limited in how we're affected in 2009 draft.

and by 2010 we'll be back up the ladder.

perfect!

this is much worse for clubs looking to bottom out 2010 and 2011 rather than us

Im thinking Sylvinator is one of the few to have a balanced interpretation of what is going to happen. So many seem like headless chooks.

Our opportunity really only exists this year. We wil spoon it on current viewings.. such is life. .and hopefully we do.. Getting first dibs THIS year is very very important.

Going forward..2009 as far as onfiled success ought to be a very different kettle of fish with talent solidifying through experience etc. we ought to start the climb back up. I dont see us with any opportunity to have taken a priority pick anyway. This all becomes a false argument then.

The two newbies need to get players from somewhere.. live with it..All teams are going to be in same predicament ..and when they ( WS and GC ) go poaching they wont be making a beeline to us..

carry on Sylvinator. ..you at least get it !!!

Just so i'm clear:

The next draft (Rich/naitanui) is not affected at all by any of this

the draft after this is only affected by the fact that the age of the applicants will change

the year after that one Gold coast gets the top 5 picks.

Am I right?

Just so i'm clear:

The next draft (Rich/naitanui) is not affected at all by any of this

the draft after this is only affected by the fact that the age of the applicants will change

the year after that one Gold coast gets the top 5 picks.

Am I right?

yep that's right. pretty lucky if you ask me.

i'v got some close friends who are essendon supporters who are absolutely [censored] themselves bc they assume that theyll probably be bottoming out over 2010-2011... now that's reason to worry

yep that's right. pretty lucky if you ask me.

i'v got some close friends who are essendon supporters who are absolutely [censored] themselves bc they assume that theyll probably be bottoming out over 2010-2011... now that's reason to worry

Great Post before Sylvs. We've certainly cut it very fine but at least we'll get two good drafts out of it. Essendon are in REAL trouble, They've got no one even looking remotely like replacing blokes like Fletcher, Lloyd, Michael and Lucas. These blokes are champions and they were so lucky that they all came at the same time.

P.S. If we take Rich instead of Naitinui it will be the greatest mistake this club will ever make since giving one N. Smith the arse (and I don't mean Nick!)

I have two things standing in the way of us truly bottoming out over the next two years.

Firstly, are we really that bad. Will pretty much the same group of players who made finals not all that long ago lose enough games? If we do lose enough, do we still trust DB with the responsibility to take our new found talent wealth into the future? Seems a bit contradictory to me.

Secondly, can we afford to truly bottom out. Unless McNamee is a true marketing genius, then winning so few games over a lengthy period will put us at enourmous financial pressure. Member numbers will drop. External pressure will be enourmous. The much talk about 'brand' will be in tatters. Can we survive two years on the bottom?

Point 1: I have to disagree. We ARE that bad. Even with improvement across the board, we are that far away from it we will still probably be, at best, bottom 1/4 of the 8. Our leaders are to old or just plain defunct... And while we have some young guys that will come into their own, it will take time, and we have no spine... not even the embryonic stages of a spine. My only hope is that with the older guys disappearing, DB's message will get through easier on some impressionable minds. We will also have a lot of money to throw around.

Point 2: This is my major concern. I like that we're pulling out the stops and rebuilding totally, but it's going to hurt. Perhaps in such a way that it will take years of sustained success to get back to where we need to be.

Just so i'm clear:

The next draft (Rich/naitanui) is not affected at all by any of this

the draft after this is only affected by the fact that the age of the applicants will change

the year after that one Gold coast gets the top 5 picks.

Am I right?

If this IS the case, then we got lucky big time. 3 picks in the top 21 last year. 3 more this year, assuming we don't trade for another couple a la Hawthorn. Then only a 4 month restriction on having first crack at the NEXT draft...

The theory being that if you can't recruit a half-decent side in 3 years of bottoming out then you only have yourself to blame... Or maybe you're just Richmond.

Having said that, we're going to have to hope each pick is a corker. Can't afford any Molans or Rogers in this time.

ahhh..the murky waters are clearing !!

what will also happen is the isolation ( effectively ) of any talent comig out of Qld. This wil prety much remain the preserve of the GC.

Big F'n Deal really.

The realfooty artcile makes a mistake.. it first advises that the GC get its big draft allowance in NEXT years draft..but its not next years..its 2010...WS gets its go in 2011.

This is possibly where the panic/confusion stems..

We ( Melb) will get a grab this year.. and next year will be even stevens depending on where we finish..the year(s) after is the washout.

Whatever happens, the AFL MUST compensate whichever team comes last. The thing about getting those early draft picks is that it's not just the future on the field but off the field as supporters get excited when their team gets first crack at the talent pool. And I'm not talking measly $10K or so i'm talking 300-400,000 PER POTENTIAL PICK lost. It's the only way the AFL can bring this in and be fair to the teams that should be getting the leg up (unless it's Collingwood).

It really sucks this whole situation we're in, but hopefully we won't cop the full brunt of it.