Being in Melbourne today I watch the way the AFL do their Pre-Season Draft and it is done so well I cant see why the NRL cant do it for fringe players who a left without clubs or for players who left to sign contracts on what remaining money a club has. The AFL (and this hurts me to say) do it so professional that no players will take the draft to court like previously by ARL/NRL players. Also they have AFL fox channel and all the talk shows on TV. The NRL need to pull their finger out and start looking at them because NRL has the better product.
Overall I don;t like the AFL draft system. I refer to it as 'The Stolen Generation' because kids rarely get to chose where they want to play, and at an early age they have to live a long way away from their family, friends and support network. At least RL has the vestige of loyalty where players can opt to play for their local club (if they are good enough). However, as suggested, with all those unsigned players perhaps a draft would be feasible for RL, obviously under the proviso that they didn't resort to legal action as the draft has been found to be illegal.
Every player chosen today was training with the club they were pick by. Take the Swans pick off Kirk Tippet, every club wanted him and he was the best player in the draft but the Swans who had the last pick got him. It just seems to help fringe players playing in the VFL, SAFL & WAFL.
Why would they? The entire AFL community would be down on them if they did. In the rugby codes there are always other clubs and competitions to play in. In AFL you do what you're told to as there is no other option. There are no other AFL comps & AFL players are no good in any other code except an extremely unlikely gig as place kick holders in NFL or punters. AFL is a crap game on the field. That's where any argument about the merits of AFL vs other codes will begin and end.
The whole draft system confuses me. If you want to see a draft system that is done well, look at Major League Baseball. Compensatory picks for losing top tier talent ensures that small market clubs are looked after.
