From 2021 -AFL scraps top-20 NGA picks, new mid-season draft plan

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JAMARRA Ugle-Hagan will be the last of his kind, with the AFL changing its Next Generation Academy rules to disallow clubs having access to top talents under the program.

As first revealed by AFL.com.au in August, the AFL will put into place a 'protected' zone for NGA players in the first 20 picks of the draft.

It means from 2021 Academy players, such as Ugle-Hagan with the Bulldogs and Lachie Jones for Port Adelaide this year, who attract bids in the first 20 picks will fall into the open pool with their NGA clubs not being able to match the bids.

Under the revised rules, players who attract bids in the 20-40 range will have to be matched under usual Academy rules while all players selected from pick No.41 onwards can be matched by their club using the next available selection.

The phase out of the NGA program will continue in 2022, with bids on nominated NGA prospects only able to be matched from pick 41 onwards.

The changes have come into place after an explosion of players, such as the potential No.1 pick Ugle-Hagan this year, joining clubs under the NGA rules in recent years, with Isaac Quaynor at Collingwood and Tarryn Thomas at North Melbourne other first-round selection under the Academies.

Clubs will be investing far less into the programs in coming years as a result of COVID-19s financial toll on the competition but the remaining links of the NGA rules allow for late prospects to still make their way onto an AFL lists through the assistance of the NGA scheme.

In other news, clubs were shown a proposal on Wednesday where there will be active and inactive lists in the AFL instead of a mid-season draft.

There will be three periods where clubs can nominate a previously undrafted or eligible player to their respective rookie lists throughout the season – after round four, eight and 12.

In the case of the same player being nominated by two or more clubs, the player will go to the team lower on the ladder under a rolling process.

The AFL will discuss the model further with both AFL and state league clubs over the next month with the view to finalising whether it is introduced in the 2021 Toyota AFL Premiership Season.

The pre-season supplementary selection period (SSP) will operate again next year and begin on January 6 through to the start of the 2021 season.

Can't have the Dogs benefiting. Like the third man up, quick close that loop hole the Dogs got a leg up! :cool:

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Originally Posted by Grantysghost

Can't have the Dogs benefiting. Like the third man up, quick close that loop hole the Dogs got a leg up! :cool:

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Too late we already have

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Originally Posted by Grantysghost

Can't have the Dogs benefiting. Like the third man up, quick close that loop hole the Dogs got a leg up! :cool:

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That is almost word for word what I said in my head when I heard.

So what’s the point of a NGA as a club? Surely you only invest in it, with the hope of getting elite talent. Getting another ok best 22 plodder isn’t an incentive.

Does the AFL want talent in the system? Other sports can structure their systems to take talent from the AFL pool.

Massive overreaction.

They'll swing back again the first time a top prospect chooses basketball or cricket over AFL

AFL have backflipped and will return to the mid season draft as in 2019:

Will there be another Marlion? Mid-Season Draft back in 2021

The AFL has confirmed the Mid-Season Draft will return in 2021 as a one-night event in early June

THE AFL has committed to a single Mid-Season Rookie Draft next year, ditching a proposal for multiple 'waiver'-style periods throughout the season.

Clubs received confirmation on Tuesday that the Mid-Season Rookie Draft would return on Wednesday, June 2, 2021, after being put on hold this season due to COVID-19.

It will take on the same format as the 2019 model that saw 13 players selected, including Richmond's Marlion Pickett who went on to win a premiership just four months later.

The AFL had previously raised an alternative model that would allow clubs to fill vacant list spots or replace inactive players on a monthly basis.

Instead, it will return to a one-off event that allows those overlooked in the 2020 NAB AFL Draft and Rookie Draft, or a player previously delisted, to be selected.

Clubs eligible to select a player during the June intake must have a list spot open following the Rookie Draft or have moved a player to the inactive list via a retirement or long-term injury.

The AFL also confirmed the Pre-Season Supplemental Selection Period (SSP) will return from January 6 and run until March 9 on the eve of the 2021 season.

Much like the Mid-Season Draft, clubs must have a list spot open following the Rookie Draft or have moved a player to the inactive list in order to add a player in the window.

For example, Adelaide will be forced to re-draft retired defender Bryce Gibbs due to administration purposes around his payout for 2021. The Crows will be allowed to immediately move Gibbs to the inactive list and add a player via the SSP.

Clubs will have the opportunity to add potential SSP signings to their training squad in the new year – a process used most notably by Richmond's Sydney Stack to win a list spot at Punt Road ahead of 2019.

Should any player selected in the SSP have signed a contract with a state league club, their new AFL home will be required to pay $10,000 that will come from outside the football department soft cap. Exclusions apply for players who had signed a consent form to train with the AFL club before committing to the state league club, or if the player was entering the 2020 drafts for the first time in their 18th year.

The flat fee of $10,000 applies for the Mid-Season Rookie Draft without any exclusions.

As was the case in 2019, players selected in the Mid-Season Rookie Draft will need approval from their original state league club should the two teams meet during the season, while the Mid-Season draftee will be eligible to return to their original club for finals if not required by their AFL club.

AFL are a shambles, just can't make a decision and stick top it.

Why the just not add 1 spot and make it 37 in total ? It would make more sense and more security for any player drafted.
AFL make up the rules as they go along.

Cool, AFELX starts in about 8 weeks at this rate of cyclical corporate ineptitude.