World Footy News

List changes today announced by AFL Football Operations Manager Adrian Anderson today are set to allow more opportunities for internationals to be added to AFL club lists. The AFL Commission has approved these changes to the AFL Player Rules to widen the ability of clubs to be able to attract and develop talent during the expansion period while Gold Coast and Team GWS join the national competition.

Mr Anderson said the Commission’s meeting in Melbourne today had approved recommendations from the AFL Player Movement Working Party, as part of the annual examination of the competition's draft and trading rules. He said the changes would come into immediate effect for the 2010-11 off-season, covering:
- Rookie List Rules.
- The ability for clubs to attract Athletes from other sports to the AFL competition.
- Eligibility Rules around Rookie List, International, International Scholarship and Three-Year Non-Registered Players.
- The introduction of an Inactive List, allowing players to take a 12-month leave of absence for exceptional and compelling circumstances, without taking up a list spot.

“The Player Movement Working Party met in April and May this year, with a particular focus to look at ideas on how we could increase the flexibility for clubs to manage their lists during this current period of competition expansion with the addition of Gold Coast and Team GWS,” Mr Anderson said. “All clubs were asked for their feedback in July and we also met with the AFLPA to discuss a range of proposals, along with gathering the views of the state leagues in South Australia and Western Australia.

“A number of proposed alterations to the Player Rules were put to the AFL Commission today and these were passed, and will now apply immediately,” he said. The various Rules that were approved in greater detail are as follows:

Rookie Lists– Clubs will have the option to leave one rookie position ‘open’ after the rookie draft and can now be filled after the NAB Cup Grand Final and prior to the start of the premiership season. Clubs can have up to three trialling players as part of a training squad at any time during the summer as to be able to assess state league players, before making a decision on the eve of the season.

Leading Athletes From Other Sports – Clubs will now have the capacity to attract elite athletes from other sports on an ‘Alternative Talent’ Rule. The player may not have been registered or played in an Australian Football competition for at least three years, and played in a recognised elite sporting competition. Clubs may offer one spot under this rule and a signing would be in place of an additional scholarship or Sydney / Brisbane zone rookie, to ensure list sizes remain at 49 players. Player payments would be outside the salary cap, if he does not play senior football, with a pro-rata payment inside the cap for any senior matches. A player may remain on the ‘Alternative Talent’ list for three years, before being placed on the Primary List.

Rookie / International / Three-Year Non-Registered Eligibility – Removal of the age requirement from rookie eligibility. Clubs to be allowed to include international players and three-year non-registered players to the three additional rookie spots rather than the main rookie list. The definition of an international scholarship player has been expanded to allow the inclusion of athletes who were born overseas but resident in Australia for no more than three years to be placed on the International Scholarship List.

Inactive List – Clubs may apply for a special ruling that a player can return directly to a club’s list after a one-season absence. The absence would be an unpaid leave of absence, for exceptional and compelling circumstances at the discretion of the AFL Commission or General Manager of Football Operations.

Mr Anderson said the focus was to allow clubs to explore all potential avenues to build their list, and ensure the competition continued to remain as competitively balanced as it has been with 16 teams, into the future with 18 teams. "The competitiveness of the AFL is the stand-out feature of our competition and it is has been achieved with the agreement of our player group.

“It is extremely important that we continue to provide the best opportunities for players to enter our competition and for clubs to be able to develop talent during this expansion period, with Gold Coast and Team GWS having a major impact on early selections in the next two National Drafts," he said.

The working party comprised Adrian Anderson (AFL General Manager Football Operations), Rod Austin (AFL Football Administration Manager), Scott Clayton (Gold Coast FC Recruiting Manager), Brett Clothier (AFL Manager Integrity Services), Andrew Dillon (AFL General Manager Legal Affairs), Andrew Ireland (Sydney Swans FC Chief Executive Officer), Simon Lethlean (AFL Manager Broadcasting, Legal & Business Affairs), Chris Pelchen (Hawthorn FC General Manager Player Personnel and Strategy), Peter Rohde (Port Adelaide FC Football Operations Manager), Steven Trigg (Adelaide Crows FC Chief Executive Officer) and Ken Wood (AFL Manager TPP Assurance & Advice).