CLUBS have been asked their thoughts on introducing pick purchasing, extra salary dump rules and the return of a veterans list as part of an AFL survey on player movement.
The League sent a memo to clubs on Friday asking for feedback on a number of different list management and player movement questions as they work with the clubs for the next evolution of the trade, draft and free agency landscape.
Included in that was whether pick purchasing should be brought into the trading sphere, a mechanism that would allow clubs to buy draft picks off each other outright for salary cap space alone. AFL.com.au first revealed pick purchasing as a concept, with leading coaches Brad Scott and Sam Mitchell among those to support the proposal.
The League has asked for feedback on if the clubs should be able to trade future draft picks for salary space, if there should be a cap on how many contributions and how much a club can pay for other clubs, and whether the clubs should be able to negotiate their own salary value for a draft pick or whether the League should determine that in a similar fashion to the points attached to the bidding system.
The question of whether total player payments relief only applies to the year the draft pick is in, or can stretch further, has also been put forward for clubs to give their views.
The AFL is also looking for feedback on whether clubs who take on players as part of 'salary dumps' should have to pay the remaining years of the player's exact existing deal or if they could extend and smooth out the contract as long as 80 per cent of the guaranteed existing contract is paid as the original deal was set.
Whether the club doing the salary dump is able to contribute top-up payments to the club receiving the player has also been asked.
A return of a veterans list will also be discussed by clubs, with the AFL asking if clubs should have the ability for one veteran to sit outside of playing list if he met certain criteria.
The former veterans list was phased out of the competition between 2011 and 2017, but the AFL could revisit a version of it to avoid veterans and older experienced players being pushed into retirement due to the squeeze on list spots.
Players would only be eligible if they were over 32 years old and had served at least 10 years at the same club, meaning if it was brought in, North Melbourne would be able to add Todd Goldstein as a veteran off its primary list. However no other club would be able to add Goldstein as a veteran given he wouldn't meet the eligibility of 10 years' service anywhere but the Kangaroos.
If introduced, there would be a cap of only one veteran per club who could sit outside the 36 primary-listed players and their salary would still be paid in the salary cap.
A number of other potential rule tweaks were included in the survey for club feedback, with some changes requiring AFLPA consultation and AFL Commission approval if they are to proceed.
The potential for mid-season rookies to be able to spend three and a half years as rookies instead of the current two and a half years has been floated, with the possibility for that to be introduced immediately with strong support.
That would mean players such as Collingwood's Ash Johnson, who has signed a two-year contract with the Pies, could spend another year on the Magpies' rookie list as he comes to the end of his two and a half years so far on their list, having been a 2021 mid-season selection.
Under another proposal put to clubs, the AFL has asked if a change should be applied to the future trading rules.
Currently clubs can only trade a future first-round pick if they hold a 'full suite' of that year's selections – their first, second, third and fourth-round future picks.
But the AFL has raised whether removing the need for the future fourth-round pick as being part of the full suite would increase movement of future selections and stop deals being thwarted or held up by clubs needing to have fourth-round picks if they are willing to deal their future first-rounders.
That move would also reduce the allowable points deficit by 19 points to 1707 draft points under the bidding system, which Gold Coast will navigate this year with star Academy trio Jed Walter, Ethan Reid and Jake Rogers coming through.
An increase of clubs waiting until the start of the draft to swap picks instead of in the pre-draft window could see some administrative changes in the list lodgement process, while clubs have also been quizzed on whether they should have to continue to nominate their father-sons as national or rookie picks or simply wait until if a rival bid comes at the draft.
Changes to category B rookies have also been floated, including what the appropriate length of time players who have come from international backgrounds or as athletes from rival sports are permitted as category B rookies.
As previously flagged in Inside Trading, the League will also look at whether Next Generation Academy prospects can be listed as category B rookies at another club if the club they are tied to does not draft them.
