Bring back the mid-year draft

It has been 14 seasons between drinks, but it's time for the mid-season draft to be re-introduced into the AFL along with a mid-season trade period.

There were calls for the reintroduction of a mid-season trade period and draft five years ago when Kangaroos champion Wayne Carey had his much publicised falling out with team-mate Anthony Stevens, and the Dockers left Port Adelaide's Fabian Francis out in the cold after they realised they couldn't afford him.

League heavyweights need look no further than European soccer to see how crucial a mid-season draft and a trade period can be. The fact FIFA has established two 'transfer windows' per season in all European competitions is an acknowledgment of how sport can at times resemble a war of attrition and that clubs require the ability to replenish their playing squads.

Some will argue that since the advent of the rookie list, the concept of the mid-season draft has been rendered redundant. However, the need for such a draft is illustrated by the dearth of fit ruckmen at clubs like Richmond and Carlton.

"I think that's not a bad option," said Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy, who is one of the biggest advocates for clubs to have the ability to alter lists mid-year.

"What happens if the player had the opportunity, (where) he could go to another club and get a better contract for that half a year and maybe play in a final?"

Richmond's case is clear cut. The club has been without Trent Knobel and Troy Simmonds for much of the season and is unlikely to regain the pair for another month, leaving youngster Adam Pattison to shoulder the bulk of the ruck duties. Ridiculously, even spearhead Matthew Richardson has been thrown in the ruck on occasions, robbing the Tigers of firepower up forward.

"Obviously where we've been at … if there were short-term contracts in place, we would have short-term contracted a ruckman," said Richmond coach Terry Wallace.

It's a similar situation at Carlton, where long-term injuries to Cameron Cloke and Dylan McLaren have left Cain Ackland as the only fit ruckman.

If a mid-season trade period was held, there would be players available that would alleviate the problems that Richmond and Carlton currently face.

Forgotten Swan Stephen Doyle, former Cats captain Steven King and Magpie Guy Richards are all now third-string ruckmen at their clubs.

Or if you want to look at players currently not on any AFL list, triple-premiership player Clark Keating would gladly have his career extended by 11 games, while Hawthorn may have even considered signing up former Essendon ruckman Tristan Cartledge, who was invited to join the Hawks' training late last year, with tall Max Bailey sustaining a season-ending knee in the summer.

Sheedy believes an in-competition exchange period would provide clubs starved of finals success the chance to reach that last Saturday in September.

"Freeing up players and looking at an option where we might pick up a kid and let an experienced player go, (it) might create an opportunity for some clubs that haven't won a premiership for many decades," he said.

However, Sheedy stressed the welfare of players involved in any mid-year trade must be considered, and they should have as many avenues as possible open to them to chase their premiership aspirations.

"You'd hate after one year (into a contract, a player would be) thinking 'I wish I hadn't have signed and could I have gone to that other club?'" he said.

"As long as a player doesn't get less in the contract, but gets a better opportunity (for success), it mightn't be that bad a decision and it's something the Players Association could consider."