Australian Football League Alters Draft Bidding System

Northern clubs in the Australian Football League will no longer be able to activate "hidden picks" during the draft in order to access academy players, according to Emma Quayle of THE AGE. The AFL "ruled that the number of selections a club holds going into the national draft must match the number of vacant spots on their primary list." The league hopes the change will create less incentive for clubs to trade down the draft in order to accumulate draft "points," as some did last year. They "wrote to clubs on Monday to advise them of the change to the bidding system, which will be effective at this year's draft." The AFL also told clubs it would not alter the 20% discount "that applies to academy and father-son players for clubs matching bids" (THE AGE, 8/22).