- 1991 AFL Draft
= History =
When the competition was known as the
Victorian Football League (VFL), the league introduced the first incarnation of adraft system in 1981, where teams had two selections each of interstate players determined by reverse finishing position order. [ [http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2006/11/17/1163266783992.html The draft blows in] ,Emma Quayle ,The Age , November 17, 2006.] This was introduced as an equalisation strategy in response to the increasing transfer fees and player salaries at the time, which in combination with declining attendances, threatened to derail the league. It was also a result of the failure of country zoning, introduced in the late 1960s, which had led to a systematic inequality whereby the clubs with the best zones, like Carlton and Hawthorn, could dominate over clubs with poorer zones like Melbourne.In 1986, the first VFL Draft was held. The draft saw players tied to zones based on their location of residence, with each club having first call on players falling within that zone. The
West Coast Eagles received access to all West Australian players, while theBrisbane Bears received 6 concessionary picks before the other clubs.Draft Rules
The minimum draft age was 16. Clubs were allowed to select only one WA player each and
South Australia was off-limits because of the introduction of Adelaide. Players inQueensland andNSW/ACT could only be selected by clubs other than theBrisbane Bears andSydney Swans respectively, if the player was older than 19 and not required by the 'local' club. Faced with these restrictions the league reduced the number of choices from 8 to 6. In exchange for the SA moratorium, the Crows were excluded from the draft (they could pick any South Australian, but only South Australians).Background
The talent pool was clearly shallow and most clubs shied away from investing too much hope in the draft. A number of the Victorian clubs, notably Richmond and Fitzroy, couldn't afford to recruit established players so stuck with country footballers and young unproven youngsters. Clubs were believed to be looking to
Tasmania as perhaps the only recruiting ground which hadn't been ravaged.The Under-19's competition was still in operation and clubs had only to list players who had been drafted, and those over the age of 19. Essendon and North Melbourne at this point for example had very talented reserves sides drawn from their metropolitan zones (these zones would later provide the basis for theNorthern Knights Under-18 teams).Pre-Draft Picks
References
External links
* [http://www.comcen.com.au/~weaver/ The Complete AFL Draft]
* [http://www.afl.com.au/Season2007/NABAFLRisingStarsProgram/NABAFLDraft/tabid/282/Default.aspx Official AFL Draft page]
* [http://www.thedrafter.net AFL Draft]
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