The AFL Trade and Draft Process

Tuesday Oct 2	Friday Oct 5 - NAB AFL Draft Camp
Saturday Oct 6	Victorian State Screening Session
Monday Oct 8 to 2pm Friday Oct 12	Exchange Period
Saturday Oct 13	South Australian State Screening Session
Sunday Oct 14	Western Australian State Screening Session
Wednesday Oct 31 (2pm)	List Lodgement One, including rookie promotions, retained second year rookies and father / son selections
Wednesday Nov 14 (2pm)	Draft Nominations Close
Friday Nov 16 (2pm)	List Lodgement Two
Wednesday Nov 21 (2pm)	Delisted Player Nominations Close
Saturday Nov 24 (10am)	NAB AFL Draft Selection Meeting
Tuesday Nov 27 (2pm)	Uncontracted Listed Player Nominations Close
Friday Nov 30 (2pm)	List Lodgement Three and TPP Estimates
Friday Dec 7 (2pm)	Delisted Player Nominations Close
Tuesday Dec 11 (10am)	NAB AFL Pre-Season Draft Selection Meeting
Tuesday Dec 11 (10.15am)	Nomination of Brisbane Lions and Sydney eligible rookie list players
Tuesday Dec 11 (10.30am)	NAB AFL Rookie Draft Selection Meeting

AFL Trade Week – rules and regulations

AFL club meetings
Representatives of the 16 AFL clubs will all meet at TelstraDome on Monday, October 8, to discuss their options for the Exchange Period, which concludes at 2pm on Friday October 12.
The clubs will meet from 10.30am-2.45pm at Telstra Dome.

Father-son bid selections
Any clubs wishing to nominate eligible players as a father-son selection for this year's 2007 NAB AFL Draft must do so by 2pm Friday, October 5.

The bidding meeting for any nominated players will be at 10am on Monday, October 8.

Each other club in the competition has the option to bid, in reverse ladder order, for that nominated player.

If a bid is made, the club that nominated the father-son player must use its next available selection if it wishes to retain hold on that player. If the club nominating the father-son player declines to match the selection nominated, the club with the successful bid must use that selection at the Draft. Any club that makes a successful bid on a father-son selection is bound to the pick they nominate. If no bid is made by another club, the club that nominated the father-son eligible player will forfeit its last selection in the draft to select the player.

Key rules to note in the Trading / Drafting Process
• A club may exchange a player or players on its primary list for a player or players on the primary list of another club;
• A club may exchange a player or players on its primary list for the draft selection or draft selections of another club;
• A club may exchange a player or players on its primary list for a combination of a player, players, draft selection or draft selection of another club;
• A club may exchange a draft selection or draft selections for a draft selection or draft selections of another club;
• No more than five players shall be exchanged by any one club.
• No more than three players shall be exchanged by any one club in any one transaction, or series of related or interdependent transactions.
• A club cannot on-trade a player received in any exchange until the following year.
• A club may exchange a draft selection it has received from another club, provided that the selection is not traded directly back to that club.
• Where the exchange of a player(s) and draft selection(s) involves more than two clubs, it is not a requirement that each club involved in the transaction make an exchange between each other.
• Any draft selection received in an exchange does not need to be exercised. However, any club that passes on a draft selection shall be excluded from exercising any remaining selections at that same meeting.

Information Source afl.com.au/04Oct07

The AFL Draft - Eligible Players
To be eligible for the draft, a player must be at least 17 years of age on or before April 30 in the year in which they are drafted.

An even competition:
The AFL's drafting system which began in 1986 is a cornerstone of the competition. Along with the Total Player Payments and the gate equalisation policy it assists in developing an even and stable competition.

How it works:
In simple terms, the NAB AFL Draft is designed to give clubs which finished lower on the ladder the first opportunity to pick the best new talent in Australia. At season's end, all clubs are allocated draft selections. The club that finished last receives the first selection, the second last team gets the second selection and so on until the premier receives the 16th selection. This is called a round of selections. A club which finishes the season with fewer than five wins may also receive a priority draft pick. A priority pick would give that club a selection prior to the second round. The drafting process takes place between seasons and has four distinct phases: the trading (exchange) period, NAB AFL Draft, NAB AFL Pre-Season Draft and NAB AFL Rookie Draft.

Trading period:
The trading period occurs shortly after the end of the season and allows clubs to trade players on that year's list to other clubs in exchange for other players, draft selections or a combination of both. The simplest form of this deal is to trade player A for player B, but often the deals are more complicated involving combinations of clubs, players and draft selections. Players involved must consent to the swap before a deal can be finalised and deals must be forwarded to the AFL by an agreed deadline.

NAB AFL Draft:
It is compulsory for clubs to participate and by this stage they can have a maximum of 35 players on their list. The AFL forms an official order of selection for that year's NAB AFL Draft and distributes it to all clubs and media. Potential AFL players from around Australia must nominate for the NAB AFL Draft by the cut-off date to be eligible for selection. Clubs can also nominate players they will select under the father/son rule (explained later) before the draft and elevate players from the Rookie List on to their senior list. The NAB AFL Draft is the centrepiece of the AFL's off-season. It commands huge media attention with all selections analysed and each club's strategy assessed. The number at which a player is selected in the draft has implications for his minimum entitlements under the AFL/AFL Players' Association Collective Bargaining Agreement. Much of the attention is focused on the No.1 draft selection.

Rookie List:
The Rookie List has been a successful innovation in AFL football. Each club is allowed to select a maximum of six players, or nine in the case of Sydney and Brisbane, to be placed on the rookie list. These players can play in the pre-season competition or be promoted as a long-term injury replacement player during the home and away season.

Father/son rule:
Sons of former AFL players can play with the same club their father played or officiated with under the father/son rule. The main eligibility requirement is that the son's father must have played 100 games for that club. The rule is designed to continue the traditions of association that a family has with a particular club.

West Australian and South Australian AFL teams have a modified father/son rule in place relating to games played in the WAFL or SANFL. This potentially gives the four "new" AFL teams a similar chance to unearth father/son players, noting that it will be some years before genuine father/sons of those AFL clubs will appear as prospects through the natural course of time.

Information Source afl.com.au

AIS - AFL Academy

AIS-AFL Academy Squad for 2007-08
The AFL has nominated 30 of the nation's elite young footballers to receive an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship and become a member of the 11th AIS-AFL Academy Squad intake. The 2007/2008 AIS-AFL Academy Squad features 21 players who took part in the recent NAB AFL Under-16 Championships in Queensland and four from the AFL Under-18 Championships.

The squad management:
To be managed by AIS-AFL high performance coach Alan McConnell.

Candidates were considered if they:
• had displayed the potential to play Australia football at the elite level;
• had represented their state at the NAB AFL Under-16 or Under-18 Championships, or were nominated for consideration by their relevant state talent managers;
• were ineligible for the 2007 NAB AFL Draft;
• displayed evidence of appropriate values and attitudes needed to become an AFL player;
• displayed evidence of a commitment to school and education outside their football interests.

The 2007/08 AIS-AFL Academy Squad:

South Australia
Tyson Davis-Neale (South Adelaide/ Encounter Bay), Alex Carey (Glenelg/Flagstaff Hill), Matthew Thompson (Sturt/Murray Bridge), Lewis Johnston (North Adelaide/Parks FC), Matthew Broadbent (Eagles/Henley)

Queensland
Jesse Haberfield (Southport), Declan Bevan (Sandgate)

Tasmania
Liam Jones (North Hobart FC)

Vic Country
Steele Sidebottom (Murray/Congupna), Jack Ziebell (Murray/Wodonga Bulldogs), John Butcher (Gippsland/Maffra), Nick Suban (North Ballarat/Baccus Marsh), Ayce Cordy (Geelong/Geelong College), Nicholas Heyne (Gippsland/Orbost Snowy Rivers)

Vic Metro
Tom Scully (Dandenong/Narre Warren), Jack Fitzpatrick (Western/Wyndamvale), Sam Blease (Eastern/Norwood), Liam Shiels (Eastern/The Basin), Ben Griffiths (Eastern/Mitcham), Jake Melksham (Calder/Oak Park), Jack Watts (Sandringham/East Sandringham), Tom Hill (Northern/Preston Bullants), Jackson Trengrove (Calder/Strathmore), Michael Hurley (Northern/Macleod), Tom Lynch (Sandringham/Hailebury College)

Western Australia
Kane Lucas (East Fremantle/Winnacott JFC), Clinton Garlett (Swan Districts), Kieran King (East Fremantle/Rossmoyne), Anthony Morabito (Peel Thunder/Harvey JFC), Michael Walters (Swan Districts/Midvale JFC)

The AIS-AFL Academy is part of the NAB AFL Rising Stars Program, which supports young players from grassroots to the elite level.
The NAB AFL Rising Stars Program provides recognition and a clearly identifiable direction for a player's career. It comprises the following elements:
• NAB AFL Under 16 Championships
• AIS-AFL Academy
• NAB AFL Under 18 Championships
• NAB AFL Draft Camp
• NAB AFL Draft
• NAB AFL Rising Star Award.

Information Source: saints.com.au/16Aug07

2007 Scholarship Holders

AIS/AFL Academy 10th Intake
AIS Website Profile and image	State of origin
Aaron Cornelius	Tas
Trent Cotchin	Vic
Patrick Dangerfield	Vic
Joseph Daye	Vic
Bradley Ebert	SA
Steven Gaertner	Vic
Clayton Garlett	WA
Hamish Hartlett	SA
Jack Grimes	Vic
Michael Gugliotta	NT
Lachie Henderson	Vic
Addam Maric	Vic
Tom McNamara	SA
Cale Morton	WA
Marlon Motlop	NT
Nicholas Naitanui	NSW
Tony Notte	WA
Scott Reed	NSW
Samuel Reid	Qld
Daniel Rich	WA
Dylan Ross	WA
Ashley Smith	Vic
Luke Stanton	Vic
Tom Swift	WA
Patrick Veszpreni	Vic
Tyrone Vickery	Vic
Dale Walker	Vic
Brendan Whitecross	Qld
James Wundke	SA
Chris Yarran	WA

AIS/AFL Academy10th Intake List ais.org.au