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Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes has criticised the current AFL draft system after an elongated first round on Monday night saw 29 players find homes.
There was a record-breaking number of picks in the first round of this year’s draft, increased by several Next Generation Academy and father-son selections.
Under the draft’s bidding system, which was altered in 2015, clubs nominating a player as a father-son or academy selection are forced to use their existing draft selections to match the points value of the pick used by the club bidding for the player.
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On Monday night, the Gold Coast Suns came out on top, armed with an extensive draft hand of later picks to match rival bids for four first-round picks.
The club secured Suns Academy players Jed Walter (No.3), Ethan Read (No.9), Jake Rogers (No.14) and Will Graham (No.26).
As the first round unfolded, with pick No.3 the Suns matched the Kangaroos’ bid for Walter.
They then matched Geelong’s bid for Read at No.9, before subsequently snatching Rogers from Sydney and Graham from Adelaide.
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Speaking on SEN’s Sportsday, Cornes argued it was unfair how some clubs could easily lay claim to leading draftees.
“I do feel for the clubs who haven’t had the access, you look at clubs who have never had pick one,” he said on Wednesday.
“North has had it two years in a row plus two and three this year plus everything they’ve had on the back of that.
“Clubs like Port Adelaide and Geelong, who haven’t had pick one since 1990… I know they’ve had a couple of good first-round father-sons. The Hawks have had just one.
”How are these clubs ever going to compete with the access these clubs have had recently with the top end of the draft?
“Even West Coast, yeah they get Harley Reid and he’s a gun. But they’ve had one pick inside 29, North have had five and the Eagles were worse.
“I fear for the equalisation model that the AFL has, it’s not right.”
With the reformed bidding system designed to ensure clubs pay closer to market value for top-end talent, Cornes was disappointed with the Suns’ priority bidding access.
“We love the father-son but I don’t know what can be done about that, maybe a fairer bidding system,” he said.
Cornes also questioned why North Melbourne did not bid on Walter at pick two.
“The conspiracy theorists say there was a pick swap that they had in the trade period and maybe a wink-wink that we’ll do this deal but on draft night you don’t bid on Walters at No.2 and we get him at three which saves us the points for matching it,” he said.
“So whatever it is, the system isn’t right.
“The Suns give up picks 34 and 38 to get Ethan Read at nine … It’s just not fair.
“I’m happy for the academies, I love the father-son’s but we need a fairer bidding system that speaks to true value.”
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