Why the AFL draft isn’t working

[GVGjr]

No, he won't moan about it but he'll be going to a big club within a few years.

I'm not saying he was demanding to go to a bigger club mind you, just that he said that he wanted to play in front of big crowds and at the MCG every second week, which most kids if asked would say they would as well. But there's enough in it to be wary from our point of view.

That's two very different things. I'm saying he didn't demand to go to a bigger club given the link that was provided and who knows how that plays out in time to any club that selects him.
Based on his confidence levels whichever picks him will have some work to do.

[Bulldog Joe]

If you're a player at the higher end of the ability scale you now have a mechanism to move where you want to.
That's always going to favour the teams who benefit from having the luxury of big games.
The system is broken, and we definitely need to remove players ability to choose a club.

It will balance things out quickly when your choice is don't play or stay where you are.

This is why it's super important for us to to stay competitive. If we slide, players like Lobb won't be looking at us.

The biggest issue is the favourable treatment for the "Big Clubs"

We need to move the blockbuster mentality and have things like ANZAC Day and Season Openers as merit based.

If ANZAC Day is the Big Game it should be the GF replay or a match from the preceding year PreFinalists.

This leg up has kept Essendon relevant when their on field efforts merit them being in the same basket as North Melbourne.

[GVGjr]

The biggest issue is the favourable treatment for the "Big Clubs"

We need to move the blockbuster mentality and have things like ANZAC Day and Season Openers as merit based.

If ANZAC Day is the Big Game it should be the GF replay or a match from the preceding year PreFinalists.

This leg up has kept Essendon relevant when their on field efforts merit them being in the same basket as North Melbourne.

It's a tricky position, the AFL wants to maximise attendances and blockbuster games plays a big part of it. Essendon fans go to those games and it doesn't depend on how they're performing so the AFL would be hard pressed to take it from them.
North were given Good Friday exposure and clearly haven't made it work so far.

Back to the question around if the draft is working, I think it works but maybe it could be tweaked.