Essendon managing director Peter Jackson made the following comment this afternoon.
“We understand the application Richmond made and the reasons behind it. The AFL Commission, in their role as governing body and in possession of all the facts, made their decision and we respect that,” Jackson said.
The AFL today released the following statement:
The AFL Commission today considered an application from the Richmond Football Club to place player Graham Polak on the rookie list for the upcoming 2009 Toyota AFL Premiership Season.
Richmond had sought for Polak to be placed on the rookie list for 2009, due to the fact he is not expected to be available to play for an indefinite time.
AFL Chief Executive Officer Andrew Demetriou said theCommission had considered the application from Richmond, along with a report from Football Operations General Manager Adrian Anderson, a submission from the AFL Players' Associations and submissions from 14 of the other 15 clubs.
Mr Demetriou said the Commission had ruled that Richmond's submission to place Polak on the rookie list would be refused, on the grounds that the AFL Player Rules already enabled the club to deal with this scenario.
""The Commission today refused the application by the Richmond Football Club,"" Mr Demetriou said.
""The AFL Player Rules already deal with this situation whereby a player is unavailable to play for an extended period of time. In that case, a club is able to place that player on the long-term injury list and upgrade a rookie list player in his place, to play on the senior list for the time that he remains on the long-term injury list.
""The Commission also took into account the views of the clubs on the timing of this application.
""The Commission fully supports and commends what the Richmond Football Club has done to supportand assist Graham Polak in his recovery and rehabilitation.
""Under the AFL's Rules, Richmond is able to make one selection in the NAB AFL Pre-Season Draft, and is also then able to place player Polak on the long-term injury list and upgrade a rookie in his place for the 2009 season.""
Mr Demetriou said a total of six clubs would now have one selection each in tomorrow 2008 NAB AFL Pre-Season Draft, with the final order being Melbourne, Port Adelaide, Essendon, Carlton, BrisbaneLions and Richmond.
