An AFL briefing today outlined the concessions for GC 17 that have been signed off on by the AFL Commission. The 2009 draft will be relatively untouched with the 2010 and 2011 drafts significantly compromised.
In the 2009 NAB AFL Draft, GC17 will have the capacity to sign 12 x 17 year-olds born in the January – April window (Jan-April 1992). In the 2010 NAB AFL Draft
GC17 will have Pick One in each Round as well as selections 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15 in Round One.
“Essendon Football Club supports the AFL’s expansion policy and sees it as critical to ensuring Australian Rules remains the number one sport in Australia. As part of that support, we are of the view that it's important that any Gold Coast side introduced into the competition be reasonably competitive,"" Jackson said.
“This is a long-term strategy but in the short-term - since we believe it is the right thing to do - then as a club we support the concessions provided to them. It would be pointless to create a side that got belted every week.
“As we have said from day one, this was always going to be a question of balance when it came to draft concessions and the impact they had on the existing teams. From what we have seen today we believe the AFL has achieved that balance in terms of the concessions it has provided the Gold Coast.
“We are yet to see what the draft implications will be for any team located in Western Sydney.”
The AFL today issued the following:
AFL Chief Executive Officer Andrew Demetriou today said the AFL Commission had approved the NAB AFL Draft, NAB AFL Rookie Draft and AFL Player concessions that would be offered to the new Gold Coast team over the 2009 and 2010 years, for its entry to the AFL competition for the 2011 season.
Mr Demetriou said the Commission had approved the recommendations of the List Development working group at its monthly meeting in Melbourne last week, and these rules were forwarded to the 16 AFL clubs, and GC17, earlier today.
Mr Demetriou said the working group had comprised both AFL and club representatives, incorporating experts within the game from across club management, list development and talent identification.
“The working group met through May, June, July and August, as well as meeting with each AFL club and consulting with its CEO, Football Manager, Recruiting Manager and Senior Coach,” Mr Demetriou said.
“The group also took written submissions from each club. The two broad objectives of its recommendations to the AFL commission were that GC17 should be able to assemble a competitive list on its entry to the competition in 2011, coupled with minimising the downside and making available trade and draft opportunities to the existing 16 AFL clubs,” he said.
Mr Demetriou said the AFL Commission had required a close examination of how the lists were compiled for each of the last five clubs to enter the AFL Competition – West Coast (1987), Brisbane Bears (1987), Adelaide (1991), Fremantle (1995) and Port Adelaide (1997).
It was the view of the Commission that the rules put in place had to achieve a balance between GC17 having enough mature players on entry to the competition to be competitive but not trading away its access to future talent.
“There was a comprehensive examination of the entry lists and early performances of each of the recent new clubs to the competition – West Coast, Brisbane Bears, Adelaide, Fremantle and Port Adelaide,” Mr Demetriou said.
“There is a clear trend in AFL football that first year players are now playing fewer AFL games and that the physical gap between players entering the system and those players already at AFL clubs has never been greater.
“It is the consensus view of AFL clubs across the competition that it takes three to four years of development for most players to adapt to AFL level and that the successful composition of a strong club list can take five to eight years.
“The rules for GC17 had to reflect both the capacity for the club to have access to older players in its initial entry and access to talent to develop a long-term competitive group,” he said.
The Entry Rules for GC17 will be as follows:
1. 2009 NAB AFL Draft:
GC17 to have the capacity to sign 12 x 17 year-olds born in the January – April window (Jan-April 1992).
2. 2010 NAB AFL Draft:
GC17 to have Pick One in Each Round.
GC 17 to have Picks 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15 in Round One.
3. 2009 NAB Rookie Draft:
GC17 to have Selections 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.
4. 2010 NAB Rookie Draft
GC17 to alternate Queensland priority selections with Brisbane Lions. GC17 to have first selection.
5. Zoned Access
GC17 to have zoned access to up to five Queensland players prior to each of 2010, 2011 and 2012 NAB AFL Drafts.
GC17 to have zoned access to up to three Northern Territory player prior to the 2010 NAB AFL Draft
6. 2010 Post Season, AFL Listed Played Access
GC17 to have capacity to pre-list 10 players who had previously nominated for the AFL Draft, or were previously listed with an AFL club.
GC17 to have capacity to sign up to 16 uncontracted players.
Mr Demetriou said GC17 would also have an expanded list size and TPP allowance in the club’s initial four years from 2011 to 2014, which would be as follows:
2011 – 48 senior list, nine rookies with $1m TPP extra allowance;
2012 – 46 senior list, nine rookies with $800k TPP extra allowance;
2013 – 42 senior list, nine rookies with $600k TPP extra allowance;
2014 – 40 senior list, nine rookies with $400k TPP extra allowance;
2015 – 38 senior list, nine rookies in line with other AFL clubs.
While the Working Group considered an expanded list and allowance for the first three years, the AFL Commission accepted a recommendation from the executive that given the challenge of building a club, the list and allowance should phase out over four years.
Further, as part of the entry rules for the GC17 side, Mr Demetriou said the AFL Commission had resolved that any club that lost a player to the expansion side would be eligible for a compensation pick (after the entry of both GC17 and the second club to be based in Sydney ).
Compensation picks will be tradeable and can be used by clubs at any time within five years . First round compensation picks can not be used until the end of the first round in the 2010 and 2011 drafts. Clubs will be required to nominate the year in which they plan to use the compensation pick before the first round of the Toyota AFL Premiership Season in that particular year.
The compensatory pick would be assessed around the player’s age (greater weighting for younger players), club contract ranking (greater weighting for club key players), on field performance (greater weighting for strong club best and fairest performance) and draft position if less than four years experience.
This ranking system will then determine if a club is eligible for a compensatory pick in one of five spots -- first round pick, end of first round pick, second round pick, end of second round pick or third round pick. Under the model, the round one, round two or round three picks would be taken immediately after the pick the club already has in that round in the draft that year.
Please find attached below an example of how the 2010 NAB AFL Draft would look, under these concession rules.
The List Management Group was: Andrew Dillon (Chairman, AFL General Manager Legal and Business Affairs), Graeme Allan (Brisbane Lions FC Football Operations Manager), Adrian Anderson (AFL General Manager Football Operations), Derek Hine (Collingwood FC Recruiting Manager), Andrew Ireland (Sydney Swans FC Football Operations Manager), David Matthews (AFL General Manager National and International Development), Tony Peek (AFL Assistant to CEO), Ian Robson (Hawthorn FC CEO), Cameron Schwab (former Fremantle FC CEO), Kevin Sheehan (AFL National Talent Manager), Steven Trigg (Adelaide FC CEO), Stephen Wells (Geelong FC Recruiting Manager).
