Scrap Pre Season draft, bring back mid season draft!

saintspremiers · Tue 11 Dec 2007 4:11pm

What is the point of the Pre Season draft?

It used to be for recycled players, but now clubs sensibley use the National Draft to get the reject players.

Why not just scrap the stupid Pre Season draft - it's only a few weeks after the big draft, and the National Draft can be used to get as many players as you need.

By all means have the rookie draft now as is, as rookies are different.

And why not bring back a mid-season draft, say at the end of May, ie about Round 8, and limit it to 2 players per club - would give clubs to offload either some obvious duds or those that decide they want to retire mid-season, or even those that are badly injured and unlikely to continue.

A mid-season draft would be fascinating IMO, make it entirely optional to participate in also.

Imagine if a player was given a rocket a bit prior to the Mid Season Draft - it sure should be incentive to extract the digit otherwise loose a chance at playing AFL!!!

I guess clauses would have to be inserted into contracts re mid-season draft, and possibility of losing your job mid-season, but I'm sure it could be worked in somehow.

saintspremiers · Wed 12 Dec 2007 3:16pm

Bump - come on, surely someone has an opinion on this????

Post: # 501808Post **n1ck** » Wed 12 Dec 2007 3:19pm

id prefer it if it was a draft / trade period.

Animal Enclosure · Wed 12 Dec 2007 3:34pm

A much better idea & one that we could have benefitted from during our injury riddled seasons!

Otiman · Post: # 501828Post **Otiman** » Wed 12 Dec 2007 3:59pm

AFLPA would have nothing of it.

plugger66 · Post: # 501830Post **plugger66** » Wed 12 Dec 2007 4:06pm

Didnt work without salary cap and longer playing lists so has no hope of working now.

ausfatcat · Post: # 501831Post **ausfatcat** » Wed 12 Dec 2007 4:08pm

I would like to see the pre-season draft on the same day as the national draft and If you played say more than ten games at AFL level you cannot nominate for the national draft, and If you have played less than that you cannot nomiate for the pre-season draft.

woooosaints · Wed 12 Dec 2007 4:18pm

pre season draft is for recycled players who want more money. im pretty sure national draftees have a set pay rate while in the PSD you can nominate your salary

Otiman · Post: # 501850Post **Otiman** » Wed 12 Dec 2007 4:43pm

woooosaints wrote:pre season draft is for recycled players who want more money. im pretty sure national draftees have a set pay rate while in the PSD you can nominate your salary

You can nominate a contract (dollars and time) in the national draft with AFL approval.

Agree that the pre season draft should be brought forward to some time in March. Give teams a chance to delist players who did not put in on the pre-season training.

fisher_fan · Post: # 501877Post **fisher_fan** » Wed 12 Dec 2007 5:33pm

I think they should have a mid year draft/trade period.

*scrap the split round and have a footy free weekend, instead hold a draft on the Saturday

*over the two weeks (or near enough to) make it trades avalible. this would help clubs who think they may be on the way to a premiership but need to make a couple of extra trades to give them a good run home to the finals.

*make the offer of an 11 week contract, which is similar to a system the NBA use. If a player and a club struggle to sort out a deal, the 11 week contract comes in, thus giving them more time to work it out, if they are still at a dead lock mid season for a long term deal, then the player can nominate for the Mid Season Draft.

I am still at a firm belief the NBA has the best system of any sport and the AFL should look into it a bit more. Introduce the lottery system to stop tanking etc as well as players having more say in where they want to play.

BAM! (shhhh) · Wed 12 Dec 2007 5:57pm

Love the idea of a midseason trade period, but I think it would be a huge culture shift, so don't see there being any way it will happen in the forseeable future.

However a good first step would be to scrap the preseason draft and allow a midseason draft. Teams are now taking kids in the PSD anyway, so it really doesn't fulfil a purpose that different tot he national draft.

However if they moved it to midseason, teams unsure of where their list really stood might save list spots - they could use them to offer a chance to top end VFL players, adding depth where injuries had occured, they could use them to take kids if the season had bottomed out - they could even elect to pay out contracts of players effectively cut already (Gaspar) to open up a list spot and take a risk on a longshot to make or break.

Honestly, I don't see that happening either, but I like the idea.

jonesy · Post: # 502008Post **jonesy** » Wed 12 Dec 2007 10:58pm

Don't like the mid season draft idea. Teams should compete out a season as a group,not chop and change mid way through. A season is survival of the fittest.

Agree that PSD is a waste of time being held just after the other one. Put it back to early febuary or late january.

St Fidelius · Wed 12 Dec 2007 11:04pm

jonesy wrote:Don't like the mid season draft idea. Teams should compete out a season as a group,not chop and change mid way through. A season is survival of the fittest.

Agree that PSD is a waste of time being held just after the other one. Put it back to early febuary or late january.

Yep, the mid season draft was a shocker IMO and I am glad to see the back of it

Agree with the idea of the PSD to be held back longer

HarveysDeciple · Thu 13 Dec 2007 10:17am

St Fidelius wrote:
jonesy wrote:Don't like the mid season draft idea. Teams should compete out a season as a group,not chop and change mid way through. A season is survival of the fittest.

Agree that PSD is a waste of time being held just after the other one. Put it back to early febuary or late january.
Yep, the mid season draft was a shocker IMO and I am glad to see the back of it

Agree with the idea of the PSD to be held back longer

If I recall correctly the Pre Season draft used to be held as late as February?

In 1996 I recall Matthew Young playing against us for hawthorn in the lightning premiership, and then representing st.kilda against hawthorn in the ansett cup in March.