AFL Toyota Premiership 2011

An even competition

The AFL's drafting system is a cornerstone of the competition. Along with the Total Player Payments and the gate equalisation policy it assists in developing an even and stable competition.

How it works

In simple terms, the NAB AFL Draft is designed to give clubs which finished lower on the ladder the first opportunity to pick the best new talent in Australia. At season's end, all clubs are allocated draft selections. The club that finished last receives the first selection, the second last team gets the second selection and so on until the premier receives the 17th selection. This is called a round of selections. A club which finishes the season with fewer than five wins may also receive a priority draft pick. A priority pick would give that club a selection prior to the second round. The drafting process takes place between seasons and has four distinct phases: the trading (exchange) period, NAB AFL Draft, NAB AFL Pre-Season Draft and NAB AFL Rookie Draft.

Trading period

The trading period occurs shortly after the end of the season and allows clubs to trade players on that year's list to other clubs in exchange for other players, draft selections or a combination of both. The simplest form of this deal is to trade player A for player B, but often the deals are more complicated involving combinations of clubs, players and draft selections. Players involved must consent to the swap before a deal can be finalised and deals must be forwarded to the AFL by an agreed deadline.

Compensation picks received by clubs who lost an uncontracted player to Gold Coast can be traded. Those picks can be used in any NAB AFL Draft between 2010 and 2014.

NAB AFL Draft

It is compulsory for clubs to participate and by this stage they can have a maximum of 35 players on their list. The AFL forms an official order of selection for that year’s NAB AFL Draft and distributes it to all clubs and media. Potential AFL players from around Australia must nominate for the NAB AFL Draft by the cut-off date to be eligible for selection. Clubs must nominate players they will select under the father/son rule (explained later) before the draft, along with elevating any players from the Rookie List onto their senior list. The NAB AFL Draft is the centrepiece of the AFL's off-season. It commands huge media attention with all selections analysed and each club's strategy assessed. The number at which a player is selected in the draft has implications for his minimum entitlements under the AFL/AFL Players' Association Collective Bargaining Agreement. Much of the attention is focused on the No.1 draft selection.

Rookie List

In response to the introduction of Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney, which will make its AFL debut in 2012, each club is allowed to place a maximum of nine players on its rookie list. These players can play in the pre-season competition or be promoted as a long-term injury replacement player during the home and away season.

Most rookie-listed players are recruited via the rookie draft, which takes place in December. But clubs also have the option to leave one rookie position ‘open’ after the rookie draft and that can be filled after the NAB Cup Grand Final and prior to the start of the premiership season. Clubs can have up to three trialling players as part of a training squad at any time during the summer as to be able to assess state league players, before making a decision on the eve of the season.

In addition, clubs have the capacity to attract elite athletes from other sports under the ‘Alternative Talent’ Rule. The player may not have been registered or played in an Australian Football competition for at least three years, and have played in a recognised elite sporting competition. Clubs may offer one spot under this rule. Player payments are outside the salary cap if he does not play senior football, with a pro-rata payment inside the cap for any senior matches. A player may remain on the ‘Alternative Talent’ list for three years, before being placed on the Primary List.

Father/son rule

Sons of former AFL players can play with the same club their father played or officiated with under the father/son rule. The main eligibility requirement is that the son’s father must have played 100 games for that club. The rule is designed to continue the traditions of association that a family has with a particular club.

West Australian and South Australian AFL teams have a modified father/son rule in place relating to games played in the WAFL or SANFL. This potentially gives those AFL teams a similar chance to unearth father/son players.

Rival clubs can bid for players who are eligible to be taken under the father/son rule. but the club which has nominated the player always has a right of reply. The worst-case scenario for a club wanting to list a player under the father/son rule occurs when it is forced to use its first-round selection to secure the player.