Josh Francou could not be stronger.<\/p>\n
He hates the impact the AFL mid-season draft has on the SANFL, describing the crapshoot as an \u201cabsolute disaster\u2019\u2019 and capable of \u201cripping the guts out of SANFL clubs\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom an SANFL coach\u2019s perspective, it\u2019s an absolute disaster,\u2019\u2019 the North Adelaide coach and former Port Adelaide AFL star said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s absolutely brilliant for players who get to live out their dream by ending up on an AFL list, but from a coach\u2019s perspective and anyone involved in the SANFL, it rips the guts out of SANFL clubs.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can lose key players who you\u2019ve planned to have in your side all year – and you\u2019ve trained a certain way all through the pre-season and early part of the (regular) season thinking you will have them – and then suddenly they could be lost to the AFL.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt makes for a really challenging landscape.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
A year after six SANFL players were ruthlessly snapped up at the 2025 AFL mid-season draft, South Australia\u2019s state league clubs are bracing themselves for another hit (on May 26) which could change the dynamics of their seasons.<\/p>\n
Last year, Glenelg, which was chasing a hat-trick of premierships for the first time in its history, was dealt a mid-year hammer blow when it lost two key defenders – Harrison Ramm (to Port) and Oscar Adams (Gold Coast) – and was smashed in the grand final by Sturt.<\/p>\n
Like Francou, who used his ABC Grandstand radio segment to express his concerns, triple Double Blues premiership coach Martin Mattner fully understands the opportunities afforded to SANFL players who get snapped up by AFL clubs in the mid-season draft.<\/p>\n
But he believes AFL clubs should cough up more for them, so that SANFL clubs are better compensated for the work – and often high financial expense – they put into players to help them get to the next level.<\/p>\n
Under current rules, SANFL clubs receive $10,000 for losing a player in the mid-season draft.<\/p>\n
Mattner believes the figure should be raised to $50,000.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt should be more, I think it should be $50,000, which would make AFL clubs make a bigger call on whether to take a player because then it\u2019s a big investment,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the base contract for a mid-season draftee should also be 18 months, it can\u2019t be six months, so the player at least gets a decent opportunity to go and prove himself and isn\u2019t just being picked up willy-nilly to fill the spot of an injured player.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t want players being used as a bandaid measure for six months and then being shown the door.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd for SANFL clubs, it\u2019s not as simple as, \u2018oh, you can go and replace that player at the end of the year\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve invested a lot of time and money into that player. Every time you manage to recruit someone from interstate you\u2019ve probably had conversations with five other players because of the recruiting competition with other clubs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a big cost which comes with that because you have to fly the player to Adelaide, get them accommodation, show them around town and look after them, which all costs money.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf mid-season draftees are offered an 18-month contract and SANFL clubs are compensated with $50,000 then at least AFL clubs will have to make a really clear choice about what they are doing.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
SANFL club powerbrokers have revealed that signing a key interstate recruit costs them, on average, about $10,000, taking into consideration the costs involved with flights, which can include partners and family members, accommodation, other travel arrangements, dinners and meetings.<\/p>\n
This is before a player makes a commitment and doesn\u2019t include signing fees and match payments.<\/p>\n
Clubs also say that while one of their focuses is to produce AFL players, their members and supporters are most concerned with having success and winning premierships.<\/p>\n
Losing players in the middle of a season might not only hurt their premiership and finals hopes, but also cost them plenty of money due to not playing in the big games, resulting in less commercial and membership revenue.<\/p>\n
Glenelg coach Matthew Clarke, who like Francou and Mattner has vast AFL experience, said he simply was \u201cnot an advocate for the mid-season draft\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am an advocate for people getting (AFL) opportunities but I just think they should do it (drafts) at the end of the season because ultimately the AFL clubs aren\u2019t using it (mid-season draft) to fill a need in the short term,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are using it as a second dip for taking talent that they aren\u2019t necessarily going to use that year, but instead think will be part of their list the next year.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I\u2019d encourage the powers that be to leave it (drafting) to the end of the season or the pre-season draft. They should leave mid-season alone.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Woodville-West Torrens coach Sam Jacobs agreed with his counterparts.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe (clubs) understand that one of our roles is to help provide a path and development for players with ambitions to play AFL, but I really believe it (the draft) is something that should happen at the end of the year,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n
Several SANFL players are understood to be on the radar of AFL clubs for this year\u2019s mid-season draft.<\/p>\n
Among those to have caught the eye are Eagles quartet Ted Clohesy, who trained with the Power in the pre-season, Max Beattie, Ethan Grace and Kade Herbert, giant West Adelaide ruckman Caleb May, North\u2019s Alex Van Wyk, Adelaide\u2019s Tom Bell, Port\u2019s Rome Burgoyne and Sturt\u2019s Luca Slade.<\/p>\n
Bloods tall Tom Scully, a former Power-listed key forward, has reportedly met with the Western Bulldogs.<\/p>\n
He has been ruled out of this week\u2019s SANFL-WAFL interstate clash after suffering a minor knee injury against Norwood last Saturday.<\/p>\n
NUMBERS GAME<\/p>\n
8<\/p>\n
Total margin of four Port Adelaide defeats this season – against Adelaide (one point), West Coast and the Western Bulldogs (two) and Hawthorn (three).<\/p>\n
8<\/p>\n
Consecutive Fremantle wins – one shy of its club record.<\/p>\n
QUOTES OF THE WEEK<\/p>\n
\u201cTonight we were horrible – just a really bad night. I felt there was probably a number of passengers.\u2019\u2019 – Port Adelaide coach Josh Carr on the two-point loss to the Western Bulldogs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are not where we were last year, that\u2019s pretty clear. But we sit with optimism knowing we\u2019ve got a lot better to come.\u2019\u2019 – Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks after the 37-point win against Richmond.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Josh Francou could not be stronger. He hates the impact the AFL mid-season draft has on the SANFL,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9569,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[10781,395,10790,6824,23,133,7701,4142,10769,10789,10521,10766,368,1311,10775,6805,10779,10792,10771,10778,10794,10793,539,10764,10783,10773,10767,10780,10763,10782,10784,1358,120,10788,10786,524,212,10776,10768,10770,8974,10777,10785,121,10787,10772,10791,10774,10765,3048],"class_list":{"0":"post-9568","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-adelaide","8":"tag-absolute-disaster","9":"tag-adelaide","10":"tag-alex-van-wyk","11":"tag-andrew-capel","12":"tag-australia","13":"tag-australia-and-new-zealand","14":"tag-club-powerbrokers","15":"tag-club-record","16":"tag-costs-money","17":"tag-ethan-grace","18":"tag-family-members","19":"tag-finals-hopes","20":"tag-getty-images-inc","21":"tag-gold-coast","22":"tag-interstate-clash","23":"tag-josh-carr","24":"tag-josh-francou","25":"tag-key-interstate-recruit","26":"tag-luca-slade","27":"tag-martin-mattner","28":"tag-match-payments","29":"tag-matthew-clarke","30":"tag-matthew-nicks","31":"tag-max-beattie","32":"tag-membership-revenue","33":"tag-mid-season-draft","34":"tag-mid-season-draft-nightmare","35":"tag-mid-season-draftees","36":"tag-mid-year-hammer-blow","37":"tag-midfield-misery","38":"tag-minor-knee-injury","39":"tag-north-adelaide","40":"tag-oceania","41":"tag-oscar-adams","42":"tag-player-raids","43":"tag-port-adelaide","44":"tag-queensland","45":"tag-recruiting-competition","46":"tag-recruiting-radar","47":"tag-russell-freeman","48":"tag-sam-jacobs","49":"tag-shock-comeback-sparks","50":"tag-signing-fees","51":"tag-south-australia","52":"tag-state-league-clubs","53":"tag-sturt-coach-martin","54":"tag-thomas-george-bell","55":"tag-tom-scully","56":"tag-travel-arrangements","57":"tag-western-bulldogs"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9568"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9568\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}