2020 draft could be posponed

[GVGjr]

2020 Draft

The coronavirus outbreak has wreaked havoc on the world and on the AFL season and it could extend into 2021, with this year’s national draft no guarantee to go ahead.

Club recruiters are wondering whether the 2020 national draft will be postponed by a full year in the event there is minimal footy played this season.

The league is considering a wide range of potential scenarios including either reducing the number of picks taken by clubs in this year’s draft or even delaying the draft until next season.

If it was held in November based on current ladder positions, Western Bulldogs stand to be the massive winner as they hold pick No.2 (behind Gold Coast) and the rights to arguably the best player in the country, academy prospect Jamara Ugle-Hagan.

A draft lottery system has also been raised to off-set the unfairness off basing the draft order on only one round of footy.

But recruiters canvassed this week believed there remained some chance this year’s draft could be scrapped altogether, if the shutdown continued beyond September due to the coronavirus crisis.

In that event the league could make a long-awaited decision to lift the draft age to 19 next year, so all of this year’s class remain eligible to push their case next season.

But for clubs who have executed specific strategies last year to receive future picks, such as Geelong, North Melbourne and Adelaide, the delay poses headaches.

The Cats are set to have three first-round picks in the next draft including West Coast’s first selection as part of the Tim Kelly deal, and the No. 11 choice from Gold Coast.

North Melbourne also has an extra first-round pick after trading last year’s early choice off to Melbourne for Kysaiah Pickett, while Adelaide is slated to have four calls in the first two-rounds.

But the issue is the clubs could be either forced to wait another full year to welcome the extra top-line talent, or be limited in how many picks they can have.

It has been floated that clubs could be restricted to only two picks in this year’s draft but, what would that mean for Geelong which has three picks inside the first round?

[comrade]

Re: 2020 draft could be posponed

One thing is for sure - there is 0% chance the draft order will stand as it currently is after a single game, especially given our rights to Jamarra.

[GVGjr]

Re: 2020 draft could be posponed

One thing is for sure - there is 0% chance the draft order will stand as it currently is after a single game, especially given our rights to Jamarra.

100% agreed. It was just a of laziness by two journo's who should know better.
I'm still of the belief the AFL will use this opportunity to push the 2020 draft to 2021 as a way of lifting the draft age. It's also pointless trying to bring all the youngsters into system without a season of football and coaching behind them especially with lists potentially being pruned to 35.

[Hotdog60]

Re: 2020 draft could be posponed

If the draft is scraped to this year could we potentially put JUH in the VFL next year at Footscray and fast track his development.

[GVGjr]

Re: 2020 draft could be posponed

If the draft is scraped to this year could we potentially put JUH in the VFL next year at Footscray and fast track his development.

I doubt it, I suspect the elite pathway would be up and running but no state league competition for a year

[soupman]

Re: 2020 draft could be posponed

I'm still of the belief the AFL will use this opportunity to push the 2020 draft to 2021 as a way of lifting the draft age.

What's the benefit in doing this?

[Rocco Jones]

Re: 2020 draft could be posponed

I doubt it, I suspect the elite pathway would be up and running but no state league competition for a year

Whilst I agree we won't see a state league comp in Vic, or at least one as we know it, I am pretty sure we will see at least a bare bones AFL Victoria reserves schedule of games.

[GVGjr]

Re: 2020 draft could be posponed

What's the benefit in doing this?

They have been pondering lifting the draft for a number of years. Some ex coaches believe it will lead to a greater outcome of players succeeding and others who think the clubs should get the players as early as they can. If this has been on the AFL radar there is no better opportunity to implement it.

A couple of other considerations

It's just about a given that the list size will be reduced this year, some are speculating it could go as low as 35 so this will impact the draft. There may also not be a reserves or VFL competition for a year potentially further denying the players the chance to develop
I would think though that all the NAB programmes even if it's somewhat modified will be running in 2021.

Given that the players drafted last year in 2019 probably won't be playing much in 2020 can you really again bring a number of younger players into the elite system without a season of footy from the elite pathway they would normally get?

My conclusion is that with reduced lists, reduced numbers with coaches and a draft list that hasn't played in the elite pathway this year the AFL could very well consider that now is there chance to lift the draft age. A lot of business know that a crisis can can create opportunities and to never waste that chance.

[Rocco Jones]

Re: 2020 draft could be posponed

I think they will have a draft in some capacity, obviously a bit later due to the end of the season being pushed back. With squads reduced and no games for the draftees, the draft will certainly be reduced. Postponing it all together without changing age rules will cause headaches for the next draft and I think making permanent changes to drafting age needs more consideration.

Perhaps a bit of players you can pick, like 2-3. Maybe an increase if part of your academy. I think the first round or two are full of players clubs know a lot about but really becomes murky after that with no games being played. A mini-draft a good compromise I guess.

[GVGjr]

Re: 2020 draft could be posponed

I think they will have a draft in some capacity, obviously a bit later due to the end of the season being pushed back. With squads reduced and no games for the draftees, the draft will certainly be reduced. Postponing it all together without changing age rules will cause headaches for the next draft and I think making permanent changes to drafting age needs more consideration.

Perhaps a bit of players you can pick, like 2-3. Maybe an increase if part of your academy. I think the first round or two are full of players clubs know a lot about but really becomes murky after that with no games being played. A mini-draft a good compromise I guess.

I agree there will be a draft but I think there is a chance it will be more about clubs topping up with players delisted from other clubs due to the list size reductions.

[GVGjr]

Re: 2020 draft could be posponed

Bevo has nailed it in my opinion especially given this year the NAB level players aren't competing



Draft age debate

Western Bulldogs premiership coach Luke Beveridge has urged the AFL to lift the draft age this season, saying the decision should be a “no-brainer” for the league.

Like the AFL, elite Under 18 competitions around the country have been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s led to uncertainty around whether the AFL should hold drafts later in the year, as the top junior players aren’t being exposed weekly – and club recruiters aren’t watching them weekly.

It’s why Beveridge believes lifting the draft age from 18 to 19 – a debate that’s been held in the AFL community for many years – makes sense this year.

Asked on SEN’s Whateley whether the AFL should increase the draft age from 18, Beveridge said: “An absolute no-brainer.

“Every other year, as much as I’d advocated for the draft age to be lifted, I was finding it hard to work through how you’d actually do it. But now, because none of the pathway programs are playing and training, it just makes absolute sense, if we feel strongly enough about it and the benefits we’ll get from it, to just go ahead and do it.”

The premiership coach added a year out of the school system, where draft prospects could either work or study at tertiary level and not have to deal with the pressures of final-year high school, to help prepare for the “physical challenge of being an AFL player” made sense.

Beveridge also pointed to his own experience as a father of a boy coming through the elite junior talent pathway.

While he was an assistant coach at Hawthorn, Beveridge coached Under 15s and Under 16s teams at St Peters in East Bentleigh – the junior club his son, Kye, played for. At the same time, Kye was part of NAB League club Sandringham Dragons pathway and had been for a few years.

“He (Kye) was pulled out into that pathway from the age of 14 and 15 and I saw what that did to his teammates, his mates, who’d grown up with him. They lost the drive to continue to play at junior level,” Beveridge said.


“We had seven or eight boys in that Dragons program and regularly they wouldn’t be at training and regularly might not be able to play. So a lot of those boys dropped off their interest in the game because their mates had been pulled out too early.

“I think if the draft age goes to 19, it allows junior clubs – and I’m not sure what it means for regional teams – but in metropolitan areas, it’ll allow junior clubs to field teams into their Under 16 and 17 years and bridge junior comps into senior comps a little bit easier.

“There also needs to be a negotiation into private schools for them to play their games in the week, rather than on the weekend, so these junior clubs can continue to get access to their young boys and girls and make sure they stabilise the junior teams, clubs and those programs.”

It’s also been flagged that club list sizes may need to be trimmed to accommodate the burdens currently being faced by all footy parties. But Beveridge firmly disagreed with the idea.

“My thoughts always go to incentivising the game, ensuring there’s more and more opportunities for young boys and girls to play at the elite level. If we bring list sizes down, it disincentives the game,” he said.

“I don’t buy into any thought that it’ll strengthen the state leagues and the feeder competitions. ‘The players who miss out on the final reduced lists will make those competitions better’ – (but) they’re already playing those competitions, so the argument doesn’t actually hold any weight at all.

“We play an 18 v 18 game and when you consider your pre-season and your training stimulus, you need to be able to train against each other. If you bring lists down too far, you actually haven’t got enough numbers to make sure your program remains sophisticated enough.

“You’ll continually want to draw on players from other levels and bring them into your program to act as participants so you can have some match practice and make sure you progress your game style and planning – and it just doesn’t make sense to me.

“For the young boy or girl who’s got to make a big decision with their family on what code they play, whether it’s Australian rules or basketball or soccer or whatever it may be, we play a domestic game and there’s not a lot of opportunities. There’s only 18 clubs, so the more players on lists, the more opportunity.”

[Mofra]

Re: 2020 draft could be posponed

The other issue is VCE stretching into the new year - how on Earth a new draftee navigates coming into the AFL system while trying to finish off VCE exams is a huge headache that is completely eradicated by lifting the draft age.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Re: 2020 draft could be posponed

Brave to advocate for something that would delay is from obtaining Jamarra for another year. Who knows what happens next year, maybe indigenous kids are removed from the NGA and we miss out on him altogether.

[GVGjr]

Re: 2020 draft could be posponed

Brave to advocate for something that would delay is from obtaining Jamarra for another year. Who knows what happens next year, maybe indigenous kids are removed from the NGA and we miss out on him altogether.

For what it's worth, I'm not sure getting him without a full season of footy behind him does us or the player and favours

[mjp]

Re: 2020 draft could be posponed

Lost in the 19year old debate is this critical point raised by Bevo:

“There also needs to be a negotiation into private schools for them to play their games in the week, rather than on the weekend, so these junior clubs can continue to get access to their young boys and girls and make sure they stabilise the junior teams, clubs and those programs.”

I mean - is there any actual DANGER we could get the best players playing against each other a little more regularly? The private schools are completely out of control with their sporting programs...completely. The suggestion of playing mid-week though? I'm not sure that's a great plan...do we really want elite juniors playing 30+ games of footy in their draft year and doubling up every week? That sounds like a recipe for disaster...or at least a recipe for stress fractures and OP.