The AFL Draft’s new points-based bidding system is set to turn the November 24 draft into a statistician’s delight.

For the first time, AFL clubs could be forced to pay a higher price to secure Academy or father-son draftees and the draft order will change through the event in response to the use of draft points to match rival bids.

In recent years, all clubs have been allowed to bid for Academy or father-son draftees but their nominating club has only needed to use its next available draft pick to secure the player.

Sydney last year used pick No 18 to claim Isaac Heeney from its Academy, after Melbourne bid for Heeney with pick No 2. The same selection under the 2015 system would force Sydney to ‘buy’ pick No 2 with points collected from using picks 18, 37, 38 and 57. Melbourne then would have the next pick, No 3.

The new method gives each draft pick a value, starting at 3,000 points for No 1 down to No 73, worth nine points. The highest bid on draft night decides the points that must be “paid” by the nominating club, although a 20% discount is given for first round picks. The nominating club’s next pick (or picks) are then moved backwards.

Sydney could be the first club affected by the changes, having nominated highly-rated Academy midfielder Callum Mills. Greater Western Sydney has two early candidates - Jacob Hopper and Matthew Kennedy – and there is also likely to be some first round interest in the Brisbane Academy’s Eric Hipwood and Ben Keays.

The Swans have already prepared for securing Mills, trading out pick No 14 to gain some extra points.

If Melbourne bids for Mills with pick No 3 and Sydney choose to match, the Swans must find 1787 points (2243 minus 20%). Their first pick in the draft is No 33 (worth 563 points) and then picks No 36 (502 points), No 37 (483) and 44 (362 points) will also be needed. Picks 33, 36 and 37 move to the end of the draft but the leftover points from pick 44 move this selection to No 72.

GWS Giants have pick No 10 in the draft (worth 1395 points) and will probably need to use this to match an earlier bid for midfielder Hopper. If Essendon bids with No 4, for example, the Giants could reach the required 1628 points to match with No 10 and No 34 (worth 542 points). Then No 10 moves to the back of the draft order and No 34 slides to No 48.

But GWS may also need to consider matching an early bid for Kennedy, which could be why the Giants loaded up with a stack of third and fourth round picks.

Brisbane won’t need to use the No 2 pick in the draft for Academy points but has banked more than 2500 points by collecting picks 38, 39, 40, 41 and 42. This should allow the Lions to match most bids for Hipwood and Keays.

The good news is that fans won’t need to do the math on draft night. If a bid is matched, the draft order will automatically be updated.

For fans who are worried about their club’s draft pick number dropping down the order, the best way to look at the draft is to ignore the leading Academy and father-son candidates.

If Melbourne starts with pick No 3, which is then bought by Sydney to secure Mills, pick No 4 will still claim the third non-Academy player on the Demons’ list.

Although Adelaide enters the draft with pick No 9, it could become No 12 if there are three early matched bids for Academy players. But the Crows will still be picking the ninth non-Academy player.

Adelaide’s pick No 13 could actually be the 12th non-Academy player, if GWS needs to use No 10 to ‘buy’ an earlier pick.

BIDDING SYSTEM SUMMARY

  • Each draft pick has a value, starting with 3000 points (No 1), 2517 (No 2), 2234 (No 3), 2034 (No 4) down to zero (No 74).
  • Rival clubs can bid for father-son and academy-listed players during the draft.
  • Value of the highest bid determines points that must be paid by the nominating club to match the bid.  
  • The matching club’s next pick/s are moved backwards until the points are paid.
  • If the nominating club decides not to match, the player is drafted by the bidding club.
  • There is a 20% discount for matching bids in the first round. The discount is then fixed at 197 points.

PICKS INDEX VALUE 

1 — 3000 points; 2 — 2517; 3 — 2234; 4 — 2034; 5 — 1878; 6 — 1751; 7 — 1644; 8 — 1551; 9 — 1469; 10 — 1395; 11 — 1329; 12 — 1268; 13 — 1212; 14 — 1161; 15 — 1112; 16 — 1067; 17 — 1025; 18 — 985; 19 — 948; 20 — 912; 21 — 878; 22 — 845; 23 — 815; 24 — 785; 25 — 756; 26 — 729; 27 — 703; 28 — 677; 29 — 653; 30 — 629; 31 — 606; 32 — 584; 33 — 563; 34 — 542; 35 — 522; 36 — 502; 37 — 483; 38 — 465; 39 — 446; 40 — 429; 41 — 412; 42 — 395; 43 — 378; 44 — 362; 45 — 347; 46 — 331; 47 — 316; 48 — 302; 49 — 287; 50 — 273; 51 — 259; 52 — 246; 53 — 233; 54 — 220; 55 — 207; 56 — 194; 57 — 182; 58 — 170; 59 — 158; 60 — 146; 61 — 135; 62 — 123; 63 — 112; 64 — 101; 65 — 90; 66 — 80; 67 — 69; 68 — 59; 69 — 49; 70 — 39; 71 — 29; 72 — 19; 73 — 9; Picks 74 and onwards — 0

DRAFTING HEENEY UNDER NEW SYSTEM

Melbourne bid with pick No 2, a selection worth 2,517 points.

To match that bid and claim Heeney, after a 20% discount Sydney would need 2013 points.

Their first pick (No 18) was worth 985 points, with picks 37 and 38 worth a combined 948 points. The total of 1928 points is still not enough.

Sydney’s next pick (No 57) was worth 182 points, of which they need 80 points. The spare 102 points are worth pick No 64 in the draft, which is given to the Swans.

Sydney’s picks 18, 37 and 38 slide to the end of the draft.

ELIGIBLE 2015 ACADEMY NOMINATIONS

Brisbane Lions: Mabior Chol (Brisbane Lions academy), Eric Hipwood (Aspley), Ben Keays (Redlands), Corey Wagner (Aspley), Nick Weller (University of Queensland), Reuben William (Wilston Grange)
Gold Coast: Didymus Blanket (Southport Sharks), Robert Blood (Southport Sharks), Dyson Budarick (Labrador), Jesse Joyce (Palm Beach), Max Spencer (Palm Beach), Connor West (Labrador)
GWS: Jock Cornell (Magoplah), Nick Coughlan (Albury Tigers), Matthew Flynn (Nerrandera), Harrison Himmelberg (Mangoplah), Jacob Hopper (North Ballarat Rebels), Jack Irvine (Temora), Matthew Kennedy (Collingullie), Lachlan Tiziani (Albury)
Sydney Swans: Darcy Baron-Hay (North Shore), Lachlan Behagg (Manly Giants), Ryan Hebron (North Shore), Callum Mills (Mosman Swans), Matthew Wilson (Maroubra)