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New teams to get 12 players and draft bonus
THE new Gold Coast team will have access to 12 uncontracted players before it enters the competition and will have two opportunities to, in effect, "gut" a very strong 2010 draft, under the AFL's proposal for establishing the 17th team.
Under the AFL's proposed "list establishment" document for the Gold Coast and Western Sydney teams, the new Queensland club will be given access to a staggering 10 elite 17-year-olds — from all over the country — in next year's draft, and Western Sydney will be given the same deal in 2010.
The AFL yesterday confirmed that it was raising the draft age to 18 years (January 1 to December 31) for the 2009 draft — a decision that will dramatically improve the quality of the 2010 draft, in which the Gold Coast is slated to have picks 1-5, 14, 15, 24 and 41.
The Gold Coast team will be given access to the cream of the players who missed out on the 2009 national draft — a substantial group of players, according to the clubs — because their 18th birthdays fell between January 1 and April 30, 2010.
Numerically, that represents a third of what would have been the new player pool for 2009.
If the Gold Coast team is unable to either persuade those teenagers to sign with them in 2009, it will be able to draft many of them the following year, when it holds picks 1-5, 14, 15, 24 and 41.
An almost identical set of rules — including the 10 17-year-olds — is proposed for Western Sydney in 2010-2011. It would have picks 1-5, 15, 16 (due to the extra club), 25 and 42.
Under the proposal, which several clubs have seen:
■The Gold Coast will be given a 10% higher salary cap for its first five years, with Western Sydney given an additional 20% — similar to the Swans — for its first five seasons. The Brisbane Lions had a 10% allowance at one stage, which was removed after pressure from Melbourne clubs following their run of three premierships.
■Both clubs will be given the opportunity to sign up to 10 uncontracted players before they enter the competition, plus they will have picks one and two in the pre-season draft — in practice, that means they could each snare a dozen uncontracted players.
■The Gold Coast will begin warehousing the best Queensland talent at the end of 2008, when it will be allowed to list 15 Queenslanders from outside of the draft. It is presumed that these players will play in the TAC Cup competition with a team that could be coached by Michael Voss, the favourite to coach the 17th club.
■The Gold Coast club will also be given three years in which to remove the best Queensland talent from the system. After its 2008 selection of Queenslanders, it will be allowed the pick of the Sunshine State again in 2009 (15 players) and five from its home state plus five from the Northern Territory in 2010.
While many clubs can see opportunities for trading with the Gold Coast and Western Sydney and are formulating five-year plans to deal with the radically changed landscape, there is acceptance that the expansion rules will benefit some clubs with stronger young lists and damage others.
THE new Gold Coast team will have access to 12 uncontracted players before it enters the competition and will have two opportunities to, in effect, "gut" a very strong 2010 draft, under the AFL's proposal for establishing the 17th team.
Under the AFL's proposed "list establishment" document for the Gold Coast and Western Sydney teams, the new Queensland club will be given access to a staggering 10 elite 17-year-olds — from all over the country — in next year's draft, and Western Sydney will be given the same deal in 2010.
The AFL yesterday confirmed that it was raising the draft age to 18 years (January 1 to December 31) for the 2009 draft — a decision that will dramatically improve the quality of the 2010 draft, in which the Gold Coast is slated to have picks 1-5, 14, 15, 24 and 41.
The Gold Coast team will be given access to the cream of the players who missed out on the 2009 national draft — a substantial group of players, according to the clubs — because their 18th birthdays fell between January 1 and April 30, 2010.
Numerically, that represents a third of what would have been the new player pool for 2009.
If the Gold Coast team is unable to either persuade those teenagers to sign with them in 2009, it will be able to draft many of them the following year, when it holds picks 1-5, 14, 15, 24 and 41.
An almost identical set of rules — including the 10 17-year-olds — is proposed for Western Sydney in 2010-2011. It would have picks 1-5, 15, 16 (due to the extra club), 25 and 42.
Under the proposal, which several clubs have seen:
■The Gold Coast will be given a 10% higher salary cap for its first five years, with Western Sydney given an additional 20% — similar to the Swans — for its first five seasons. The Brisbane Lions had a 10% allowance at one stage, which was removed after pressure from Melbourne clubs following their run of three premierships.
■Both clubs will be given the opportunity to sign up to 10 uncontracted players before they enter the competition, plus they will have picks one and two in the pre-season draft — in practice, that means they could each snare a dozen uncontracted players.
■The Gold Coast will begin warehousing the best Queensland talent at the end of 2008, when it will be allowed to list 15 Queenslanders from outside of the draft. It is presumed that these players will play in the TAC Cup competition with a team that could be coached by Michael Voss, the favourite to coach the 17th club.
■The Gold Coast club will also be given three years in which to remove the best Queensland talent from the system. After its 2008 selection of Queenslanders, it will be allowed the pick of the Sunshine State again in 2009 (15 players) and five from its home state plus five from the Northern Territory in 2010.
While many clubs can see opportunities for trading with the Gold Coast and Western Sydney and are formulating five-year plans to deal with the radically changed landscape, there is acceptance that the expansion rules will benefit some clubs with stronger young lists and damage others.
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