Riewoldt calls for revamp
ST KILDA star Nick Riewoldt thinks it is time the AFL considered throwing out the national draft — at least in its current format.
Riewoldt said the draft, which along with the salary cap acts as one of the league’s main equalisation measures, might need to be overhauled as it was “not a big enough tool” to help perennial cellardwellers climb the ladder.
Himself a No.1 draft selection, Riewoldt was talking about Gold Coast’s on-field struggle when he suggested more needed to be done for the competition’s battling teams.
“Talk of giving them pick one (compensation) in the draft, well, Sam Walsh is having as good a year as a pick one as anyone (but) is he really elevating Carlton dramatically?” he said. “It’s one player. The draft as a mechanism in our competition, it’s not a powerful enough tool any more.”
Asked what he proposed to expedite clubs’ revivals, Riewoldt suggested some radical thinking might be needed.
“I would tear the draft up and come up with a new formula, scaled to help clubs develop a lot quicker,” he said.
“Because at the moment the only difference between the team that wins it and the team that comes last is an 18-yearold kid, 17 picks apart.
“It’s not a big enough tool to help you improve.”
Riewoldt said while a top draft pick had the ability to quickly transform a team in rival sports, that was difficult in the AFL.
“In the NFL . . . you can go out and get the best quarterback in the country, who (with) every possession in offence has got the ball in his hands.
“So you can make a big difference and they’re coming out (of the draft) at 21, 22.
“In the NBA, you can go and get Zion Williamson, well he’s 20 per cent of the team when he’s on the court.”