AFL Victoria was never going to get its player points system completely right in the first year.
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It has said as much by acknowledging the player points will be a moving policy with adjustments from year to year as clubs provide feedback on the structure.
However, the first review has thrown up little change for next year, meaning one of the most contentious topics of 2016 will remain as is for 2017 – the “transferred junior” category and its three-point rating.
What has made it such a hot topic is the potential impact on young players who want to come in from a minor league to have a crack at playing major league football.
The example in this region is a junior player from the Heathcote District or Loddon Valley league wanting to take the next step and join a Bendigo league club.
That player may come in to first play under-18s, but when selected in the BFNL seniors they do so with a hefty three point price tag attached to them.
Young players from the minor leagues shouldn’t have a handbrake put on them from wanting to step up and have a go at the next level, and major league clubs shouldn’t be discouraged from wanting to offer that opportunity.
But three points for a young yet-to-be-proven minor league player seems a bit rich when for four points a major league club can recruit a TAC Cup player, State League Tier 2 (NEAFL or TASFL) or Premium Community Player (finished top five in the senior best and fairest the previous year).
The player points system is all about loyalty and encouraging clubs to fill their senior team with home-grown talent, rather than going out and spending big dollars trying to lure recruits.
But do we want major league clubs to be knocking back aspiring minor league youngsters who want to step up because at three points it’s just too high a price?
Perhaps a one-point deduction down to two for an “aspirational” transferred junior making the move to major league from minor league is worth consideration.
At the same time we don’t want minor league clubs suffering an exodus of young talent, for it’s juniors who are their future.
Yet the positive for those minor league clubs is if their young players do head into major league and get a taste of what the next level is about, in time they will, hopefully, bring that valuable experience back to their home club, and do so as a one-point player.
Luke West – sports reporter