Former Australian Football League coach Mick Malthouse "has offered a scathing assessment of player pathways in the AFL draft," saying there is "no plan of substance to deal with junior development," equalization issues and player retention, according to Andrew Tate of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. In the wake of calls for a "priority pick to assist the Brisbane Lions," Malthouse said that the AFL required "wholesale reform of the structure of football in Australia," which he described as "Animal Farm." He said, "It all sounds good, it makes you feel good, makes you feel good inside, 'Oh guess what, we are going to get an extra pick this year.' It's a lot more deep seated than that and it has to be addressed from the ground up, not at the top." Malthouse said that the AFL draft "was designed to give all clubs a chance to build a competitive team, but it was failing to achieve that aim." He added that this week's English Premier League example of Everton's John Stones being poached by Man City "highlighted how better-resourced clubs will always benefit until structures are in place to lift all clubs." Malthouse: "That is so typical of top-level sport here, the top [wins]. It's George Orwell's Animal Farm revisited every time I look at it" (SMH, 8/10).
