My footy team won again on the weekend, and look certain to play a big part come finals time in September. But this time last year was a different story. The demons were almost last on the ladder, with a lousy 4 wins from 16 games. Given how useless we were playing, and had absolutely no chance of making the finals, I remember barracking hard for us to lose our remaining games.
And listening to Sports Tonight on the way home, Richmond, Hawthorn and Bulldogs fans are equally enthusiastic this year for their team to lose more games than the win for the remaining six games.
Now, why would I, or any true fan, will their team on to a loss, you ask? Simple really, the AFL rewards such mediocrity.
Teams winning five games or less jump the queue when it comes to snaring the latest young talent, and this goal is seen in too many quarters as being almost more important than performing admirably in the last six weeks of the season. And while there is no certainty teams throw matches, it must be said that some teams do not choose their strongest possible team late in the season.
This obviously seems to fly in the face of what footy (or any competitive sport) is all about; having pride in each and every performance, no matter what week of the season or where the team is placed on the ladder.
It is not right that concession picks make it grossly more advantageous for a team to finish with the wooden spoon with five wins or less, than to finish the year with 10 or 11 wins and miss the finals on percentage.
The cold reality under the current draft system is that if you miss the finals it is best to miss them by a long way. This current system already allows for the lower teams to gets first crack in round one of the draft so why do we need to go further than that with these priority picks? I think the draft does enough to even the playing field and help the clubs down at the bottom of the ladder without the priority pick concessions
Perhaps it is time the AFL considered what the NBA does: a lottery for the top four draft picks between the bottom four teams. The difference of finishing last and 13th is therefore nullified.
And as for priority picks? The easy answer is to scrap them. But St Kilda did deserve them after three years of dreadful performances, while Carlton, bottom and second bottom the last two years, would not have had their number two pick last year had they not been there.
Priority picks should therefore be awarded if a team wins less 11 games or less over two years. That way teams that are genuinely struggling can be isolated from those just having a bad year.
After all, no team will enter a season hoping to win only a certain amount of games for the sake of the draft because they only had five wins the previous year. It will separate the boys from the men.
The AFL has its heart in the right place with priority picks, it's just that it is a system ripe for exploitation. And I don't think it is healthy for it fans wanting teams to lose games.
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