Ash Gallagher

The mind of the average footy fan is a fascinating thing. There are fans out there - and some in the comments of the video below - who would love for us to miss out on Cody Walker. At its most basic it’s because, well, “fuck Carlton, har, har, har.” I don’t think people realise it’d basically be the death knell of the Father-Son pick - which is a great part of the game whether people want to concede it or not. I genuinely think it would leave a hole in footy were we to do away with it. But the conversation around our ability to draft Cody speaks to a bigger problem the game hasn’t even begun to grapple with and many fans can’t seem to perceive of… One, the new bidding system is far too onerous a model and demands far too much of the clubs who most need it. The only reason we are in a position to get Cody is because we’ve traded Charlie Curnow. If we can’t wrangle the points necessary to match a bid given we hold four firsts and multiple seconds over the next two drafts who will be able to match bids reasonably? More, a key reason we could match a bid on Harry Dean is because we lost Tom De Koning to free agency and were compensated. The chief reason Port will be in a position to draft Cochrane (aside from a very, very generous NGA re-classification), Salopek et al is because they’ll have traded Butters. And now there are rumours of collusion to pervert free agency compensation to maximise their points - but thats yet another consequence of the failings within this system which are now being exploited/explored. A major reason Essendon will be in a position to draft Bewick - should his development hold its current trajectory - is because they’ll have traded Merrett. None of these clubs are flying right now. And to acquire the type of talent which built the core of Sydney and Brisbane (and the Gold Coast to a lesser extent), they’re being asked to pay more than anyone ever has for untried 18-year-old kids. Meanwhile, Hawthorn will add King and Merrett for pennies on the dollar; Geelong will add Butters, Greene and Marshall for pennies on the dollar; and Brisbane have topped up with free agents for pennies on the dollar. This new system has turned those untried 18-year-old kids into the costliest commodity in the AFL, while funneling the best free or pre-agents to the top of the ladder. That’s an issue in and of itself, but the limited means available to secure said young talent has exacerbated an existing issue to, frankly, critical levels. The big problem is this: the AFL draft is broken. Ie: it doesnt work quickly enough for clubs who are chained to it as their only meaningful mode of improvement. And as the process takes too long, the stronger, contending teams pick off disaffected, disillusioned talent who began their journeys at rebuilding clubs, only to hear the clock ticking on their careers and seek a new home. And then what? We lose our spearhead, Port lose their best player, Essendon lose their captain, West Coast lose their captain etc etc More, teams who are going to the draft not with picks but with points are having said points diluted because the game hasn’t factored in the affect of compensation picks handed out by head office. Worse, the current system has no mechanism to honour the “natural points” of these picks. It’s bush league and has created nowhere near enough debate or criticism from those with prominent voices in the game. It’s almost like the system wasn’t “war gamed” like the footy public should expect it to have been. And the unintended impact of these changes has stretched beyond making clubs like Carlton “pay a fair price” for talent like Cody Walker.