Tanking and the AFL Draft System
Losing Games to Win Prized Picks
The West Coast Eagles were premiers in 2006. By 2008 they were second last on the ladder with just four wins, and on the receiving end of a contentious priority pick. Stuck on four wins as of Round 17, they will receive another priority pick this year if they fail to win another game, leading to claims that the club is "tanking".
The issue of “tanking” in the AFL seems to be raised every year as a direct result of the draft system.
The AFL Draft System
In November each year, AFL clubs pick up new players via the national draft. The draft order depends on the order in which teams finished at the end of that season – for example the team that finished on the bottom gets the first pick, the team that finished second last gets the second pick, and so forth. However, draft picks can be traded between clubs in exchange for other picks and/or players during trade week, which takes place in October.
In a bid to equalise the competition, additional priority draft picks are also awarded to clubs that win four games or less in a season. This Priority Round takes place between the first and second rounds of the national draft. However, clubs that win less than five games in consecutive seasons are entitled to priority picks before the first round.
Tanking: Exploiting the System
The AFL’s equalisation policy has led to claims of “tanking”; that is, clubs deliberately losing games once they are out of finals contention, in order to receive early draft picks.
Perceived tanking strategies include:
- Resting senior players
- Playing inexperienced youngsters or players who do not deserve to be selected
- Not coaching to the best of one’s ability during a game
Former Richmond coach Terry Wallace recently revealed that he made no positive coaching moves in the last quarter of Richmond’s narrow final round loss to St Kilda in 2007. Losing the game ensured Richmond received the number two pick in the national draft that year.
In 2008, former Carlton assistant coach Tony Liberatore claimed Carlton had selected players who did not deserve games and refused to make any coaching moves, in order to secure high draft picks. Pick number three was, in turn, traded to West Coast as part of the exchange for Brownlow Medallist Chris Judd.
Tanking vs List Management
Once a team cannot make the finals, they may opt for a “youth policy”, trying out inexperienced players in favour of established stars. They may send players with niggling but manageable injuries away for season-ending surgery. Is this tanking or simply responsible list management?
After all, once you are out of finals contention, it would make sense to start planning for the future by making sure your best players are fit for the following season and the younger players will be ready to lead the club’s next era of success. On the other hand, such practices are likely to result in short-term losses, leading to allegations of tanking.
Does the Draft System Need to Change?
Collingwood president Eddie McGuire, AFL coaches Mick Malthouse, Mark Thompson, and Matthew Knights, star players Matthew Richardson and Jason Akermanis, and former AFL chief executive Wayne Jackson are among those who have called for a review or overhaul of the draft system in the wake of Wallace’s admission.
Suggested changes include removing priority picks and introducing a lottery system to determine the draft order.
But AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou said there would be no change to the current system, defending the rationale of equalisation. He said a priority pick did not guarantee success and that to accuse a club of tanking was the same as calling them cheaters and questioning their integrity.
He also said there were some clubs that really needed priority picks.
However, there is little doubt that while the current system is in place, allegations of tanking will continue.
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