AFL considering changes to free agency system

The AFL will consider changes to free agency in the interests of ensuring that the system does not skew the competitive balance of the competition in favour of the teams in premiership contention.

AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon confirmed that the league would discuss potential changes to the free agency rules to make sure that the competitive balance of the 18 clubs was not distorted.

“Look, I think it’s been in place for now probably 12 or 14 years,” the AFL boss told this masthead in grand final week. “I think what we’re seeing in the last couple of years is what everyone thought would happen at the start, and it didn’t necessarily.

“But it’s something that we’ll talk with the players’ association about because competitive balance is really important. That you know, we do a lot of work around the draft, we do a lot of work around the salary cap, a lot of work around the soft cap.”

Asked if the AFL would consider changes to free agency, Dillon said: “Yeah, with the agreement [with the players], just to make sure that the competitive balance isn’t distorted”.

The potential to reform free agency – which was introduced for 2012 and has been the subject of minor changes and ongoing debate – comes as the Brisbane Lions, once stragglers, won their third flag on end in their fourth consecutive grand final. They attracted both Sam Draper and Oscar Allen from lowly Essendon and West Coast as free agents, albeit the Eagles received a generous pick No.2 for their ex-skipper.

The AFL wanted to change the compensation system at the end of last year to remove compensation picks inside the top 10, and thus not compromise the draft for teams who weren’t finalists (not counting the new wildcards).

But the AFL Players’ Association resisted that change, and the status quo remained. As a result, Port Adelaide can receive pick No.5 in return for exciting superstar free agent Zak Butters and Gold Coast can gain pick No.7 for key forward Ben King, who is crossing to Hawthorn.

These deals give the clubs losing the star arguably superior compensation compared to what they could gain in a trade if they choose to match the free agent offers. The AFL is closely watching the side deals that those clubs – the Western Bulldogs and Port, Hawthorn and Gold Coast – propose, to make sure that they are “commercial” and reflect market value.

One potential reform, which is likely to be canvassed, is a rule that forces the top teams to give up a draft pick, such as their first pick, for a high-value free agent. Under that reform, Hawthorn, as a top four team, would lose their first draft pick for King, and still land him as a free agent. This could potentially apply to the top four, top six or top eight teams from that season.

Most of the most prized free agents have gone to teams that had been in premiership contention. These include Lance Franklin (Sydney), Patrick Dangerfield (Geelong), Tom Lynch (Richmond), Jeremy Cameron (Geelong) and Joe Daniher (Brisbane Lions). It is rare for a restricted free agent to opt for a team in the bottom six or eight.

The position on free agency varies among clubs. Some would argue that it should be less restricted, others that the system is skewed towards teams in premiership contention.

AFL free agency is enshrined in the players’ collective bargaining agreement (CBA) and needs the players’ union’s consent to be altered in that agreement.

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