Once again the AFL Draft’s big flaw was on display as Gold Coast landed four first-round prospects for very little.
A perennial problem with the bidding system for father-son and Academy players is how it forces one club to become the antagonist, and bid on a rival team’s prospects so they have to match.
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In an ideal world, prospects would receive a bid based on their talent. But we don’t live in an ideal world. And just like Nick Daicos sliding to No.4 a couple of years ago, allowing Collingwood to save points, Gold Coast took advantage of Jed Walter sliding to No.3 (rather than No.2) in the 2023 draft.
We don’t know exactly why North Melbourne chose not to bid on Walter at No.2. But if they were willing to bid on him at No.3, there’s absolutely no reason (in that ideal world we spoke about) why they wouldn’t have done it at No.2, since it would’ve forced Gold Coast to pay more points. They were always going to match the bid, after all.
The whisper going around rival clubs was that it was link...
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