DRAFT BATTLE: LAWYER’S WARNING TO AFL AFTER SPRAY FROM SUNS BOSS
A LEADING lawyer has warned that Suns CEO Mark Evans’ threats of legal action against player managers could expose the AFL to a court challenge against the draft.
Rugby league’s draft was killed off in its first season by a Federal Court challenge and Monash University law school senior lecturer Dr Eric Windholz said the legality of the AFL’s draft had yet to be tested in court.
Evans on Sunday threatened to sue any player manager who tried to block a draftee’s move to the Suns.
It followed a revelation from Collingwood and West Coast premiership coach Michael Malthouse that some managers had been told by their clients they did not want to be drafted to the Gold Coast.
Dr Windholz said he did not believe Evans was sincere in his threat but added a counterchallenge against the draft was a potential response.
“I suspect it was just emotion and a shot across the bows,’’ Dr Windholz said. “I suspect what Mick Malthouse said is probably true and if it’s not agents there would be mothers and fathers out there who are advising their kids to make it known they do not want to go there.
“And Mark Evans was trying to put a stop to it but I can’t imagine it was a serious threat.
“The reality is once you open it up to a legal process and bring in high-powered lawyers, you can quickly lose control of where it goes.
“It is like picking the thread off a piece of clothing, if you pick enough threads off you unravel the shirt.’’
The NSWRL draft was abolished in its first season in 1991 after the Federal Court ruled it was an unreasonable restraint of trade following a challenge by 170 players, with Terry Hill as the central figure.