Draft

[Nordburg]

Remembering they only sign for a couple of years and are free agents after that.

I do get your point , but do look at the current situation.

Panthers , pick from the largest junior competition area and get all the best players.

Storm , no junior competition in their area so just cherry pick from the best available.

Roosters , as with the Storm.

A very good example is JWH, brought up through our system , cherry picked for huge dollars , went on to be arguably the best Prop in the game.

Now , not saying we’d be able to keep him under this system but it would be fairer to the other 16 clubs to get a chance to sign a future superstar.

Didn’t know Rugby Union college Iona in Brisbane and the Waratahs Rugby Academy,was part of Manly’s system

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

Didn’t know Rugby Union college Iona in Brisbane and the Waratahs Rugby Academy,was part of Manly’s system

News to me as well

 

[Nordburg]

News to me as well

That’s where JWH came from,he was only at Manly for ‘08 and ‘09,hardly an example of a player coming through Manly’s system

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

Good question, I am equally ignorant.

Ah yes, ignorance - where less is more!

 

[Bearfax]

Didn’t know Rugby Union college Iona in Brisbane and the Waratahs Rugby Academy,was part of Manly’s system

Oooh. Its getting chilly. I'm feeling a draft coming on.

 

[mosto]

I'm a big follower of the NFL and the Draft Day 1 is one of my favourite times of the year. The build up and speculation of who will be taken where is huge.

The thing over there is the colleges and NFL teams have no real connection, other than maybe a cross over in fan base when located in the same city / state. I believe the AFL is similar in that AFL clubs don't have junior rep teams like NRL clubs do, but stand to be corrected on that. Therefore there's not the same allegiances of young players eligible for the draft, so fans aren't that upset when a player from a club's region is selected by another club as they've had no playing ties to that club.

For it to palatable to fans and clubs, perhaps a complete revamp of the junior system is needed. The establishment of a junior competition, or competitions, independent of NRL clubs to break the playing ties between juniors and NRL clubs. Therefore fans would be less attached to those juniors and clubs wouldn't feel aggrieved that a junior they've invested in is drafted by another club. That all takes money though which would need to come from the NRL to have it independent on clubs. That could potentially free up money for clubs to run their own reserve grade though and get back to having a true reserve grade comp, which is where most drafted players would start off I would think. Also an elite junior comp could potentially attract broadcasting rights to help fund it I guess. I used to find the old CommBank Cup must watch viewing of a Sunday morning to see what young stars were coming through so no reason an elite junior comp couldn't be picked up by Fox or one of the free to air networks or streaming services.

I think it could work but certain concessions would have to be made.

 

[simon64]

Just been watching the news on the AFL draft for the best young players and shaking my head at why we don’t have this in the NRL.

Yeah I know the story as to why we don’t have a player draft but this young player draft is a bloody good idea.

Im not exactly sure how it works but I guess the last placed side gets first pick and then goes up to the first placed side getting the last pick.

Then clubs can trade picks ( not sure why but they do ).

So your thoughts on this ???

And would it work in the NRL ???

And if it works in the AFL, and you think it won’t work in the NRL, why ???

Maybe we should ask this guy.

 

[Ranga]

If there is a will there is a way to make it work. For example, you could allow a club to sign 2 of its juniors directly and the rest go in the draft.

I acknowledge that there are some good reasons why it won’t work. However, the AFL gets a lot of off season mileage (promotion wise) from its free agency and draft, and personally I would love something similar in the NRL.

 

[cherry_poppins]

Just been watching the news on the AFL draft for the best young players and shaking my head at why we don’t have this in the NRL.

Yeah I know the story as to why we don’t have a player draft but this young player draft is a bloody good idea.

Im not exactly sure how it works but I guess the last placed side gets first pick and then goes up to the first placed side getting the last pick.

Then clubs can trade picks ( not sure why but they do ).

So your thoughts on this ???

And would it work in the NRL ???

And if it works in the AFL, and you think it won’t work in the NRL, why ???

No

 

[Woodsie]

Our rookies can be any thing between 17 years old and 26 years old with 6 years in NSW cup ... who decides who is a rookie and goes in the draft?

 

[Nordburg]

If there is a will there is a way to make it work. For example, you could allow a club to sign 2 of its juniors directly and the rest go in the draft.

I acknowledge that there are some good reasons why it won’t work. However, the AFL gets a lot of off season mileage (promotion wise) from its free agency and draft, and personally I would love something similar in the NRL.

Not saying it couldn’t happen,it would just require a complete overhaul of how Rugby League is set up in Australia,from top to bottom.An internal draft,as in players that are already in the system and want to move to another club,would be easier to set up but I suspect,like in Terry Hill’s era,players may knock back that idea.

 

[Ranga]

Not saying it couldn’t happen,it would just require a complete overhaul of how Rugby League is set up in Australia,from top to bottom.An internal draft,as in players that are already in the system and want to move to another club,would be easier to set up but I suspect,like in Terry Hill’s era,players may knock back that idea.

We’re on the same page.

Re the players, they are rightly focused on getting their fair share of the pie. I can’t help but feel that some like a draft, transfer system or similar would help grow the size of the pie in which they can all benefit.

 

[Bearfax]

Maybe we should ask this guy.

View attachment 22850

Yes Hill and Tutty killed the draft concept for personal reasons, not necessarily in the interests of the game. Players like Tallis even challenge contracts and stood down for a year out of petulance (same person who gave DCE a serve for backing down on Titans contract). They had legal backing but does that make it in the best interest of the game?

 

[Nordburg]

Yes Hill and Tutty killed the draft concept for personal reasons, not necessarily in the interests of the game. Players like Tallis even challenge contracts and stood down for a year out of petulance (same person who gave DCE a serve for backing down on Titans contract). They had legal backing but does that make it in the best interest of the game?

Not many decisions made are in the best interests of the game.

 

[Tragic Eagle]

It won’t happen because the financially powerful clubs won’t want to loose their advantage. There is no question the game from grass roots up needs to be rebooted but that is beyond the capacity of the NRL.

 

[Once Was Brissie Kid]

AFL draft doesn't fall apart from someone taking a stance like Hill did because there's nowhere outside of the AFL for an Aussie rules player to earn a living. They have go where the AFL draft sends them. Any AFL player that legal action wise brings down the draft would probably get cold shouldered out of the sport.

If the NRL had a draft, there are heaps of choices elsewhere to avoid the draft such as the Super League as well as RU in Aust, NZ, France & UK. AFL lives in a vacuum and so what works in that code won't always work in NRL.

How many young blokes in Sydney looking for a pro football career would say if the NRL draft sends me to City X, stuff it I'm going to the Waratahs.

 

[manly al]

AFL draft doesn't fall apart from someone taking a stance like Hill did because there's nowhere outside of the AFL for an Aussie rules player to earn a living. They have go where the AFL draft sends them. Any AFL player that legal action wise brings down the draft would probably get cold shouldered out of the sport.

If the NRL had a draft, there are heaps of choices elsewhere to avoid the draft such as the Super League as well as RU in Aust, NZ, France & UK. AFL lives in a vacuum and so what works in that code won't always work in NRL.

How many young blokes in Sydney looking for a pro football career would say if the NRL draft sends me to City X, stuff it I'm going to the Waratahs.

Always pros and cons isn "t there and different and debatable scenarios but never less , interesting topic

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

Always pros and cons isn "t there and different and debatable scenarios but never less , interesting topic

Note I didn’t say I was for or against , it was simply a thread to create discussion , which has succeeded.

The post by @Once Was Brissie Kid above has probably the best explanation as to why it wouldn’t work that I’ve seen.

Ultimately I would like to see a greater spread of talent , which isn’t working under the salary cap.

 

[ShakeySeaEagle]

I love the idea of a draft.

With our hard salary cap, and the ludicrous 3rd party payments that are allowed to be made by outside parties, it is too hard for smaller market teams to compete.

There is a false economy created where player X's market value is $500000.
That player will go the Roosters/Storm for $350000 knowing that there is a chance to compete, but to the Titans/Tigers for $650000.

It is endearing to think about players from an area that are developed by a club and go on to play their whole career at one club but let's be honest that is getting rarer. The majority of our juniors are now raised in Western Sydney.

While it would be a shame to see Turbo playing in another strip, imagine if we had of been able to draft a Nathan Cleary or Latrell Mitchell. Let's go a step further and once Turbo sees out his minimum rookie contract, he signs up with the club from the area he is from, because we have the best halfback prospect since Andrew Johns. It would come and go.

I think with a majority of the Australia population now indulging in the American sports culture. Everyone knows how big an event the drafts can be, and it would be supported more by the younger players these days than previously.