St Kilda president Andrew Bassat has launched another scathing attack on AFL’s player movement system at the club’s best and fairest awards night, shocked that premiers Brisbane could end up with two of the best picks in the draft.
After voicing his anger at a meeting of club presidents earlier this year, he again took aim at the AFL’s draft system, particularly how interstate clubs build their list through academy talents and the cheap price of father-sons.
“The system is not a level playing field as you know and the more I look at the system, it is designed to favour the wealthier clubs and to favour the northern clubs,” he said.
“Our role is meant to be to make up the numbers and not complain about it.
“In terms of what we are doing about it, it is fair to say our club is sick and tired of meekly accepting this.
“It’s rubbish and we’re absolutely committed as a club to fight relentlessly to ensure that we are given a fairer opportunity for success.
“We led the charge this year to ensure a fairer price is paid for father-sons and academy.”
Bassat has promised to continue the fight against AFL HQ, and even mentioned that he confronted commissioners at the grand final.
He voiced his frustration that the potential No. 1 talent Levi Ashcroft, brother of Will, could be headed to the premiers under the father-son rule, making them an even stronger club.
In addition, Sam Marshall is also expected to make his way to the Lions thanks to Northern Academy access concessions.
“Unfortunately the AFL in its wisdom chose to make the changes next year, so I had a great time after half-time after it was clear that Brisbane was going to win, every commissioner I found I gave them my idea,” he said.
“How about you give the best player in the draft to Brisbane this year? They’d start to walk away from me.
“The system is absolute nonsense. It is absolute nonsense and we will fight the battle hopefully until my last day as president and beyond.
“We will fight this. And we will make progress because right is on our side. Don’t be daunted because change will only happen slowly. We should use this to galvanise us.”
Meanwhile, Josh Battle did not attend the best-and-fairest night for the Saints.
Despite the defender finishing third, SEN’s Sam Edmund reported that he was asked not to attend the awards night after announcing his intention to join Hawthorn as a free agent.
Defender Harry Perryman is set to join Collingwood as an unrestricted free agent in the AFL trade period after shunning an offer to remain at GWS.
Perryman has shunned a long-term offer from Port Adelaide to join the Magpies in another blow to the Giants before the trade period opens.
“Harry Perryman has informed the club of his decision to explore his options as an unrestricted free agent,” the Giants said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Perryman has selected Collingwood as his club of choice.”
GWS have also lost Isaac Cumming, another unrestricted free agent, who will join Adelaide after also considering an offer from Port.
The Giants will receive draft-pick compensation for losing both players – depending on the size of the contract in monetary and length terms, the picks could be in the first round.
Cumming, 26, played 81 games for the Giants in seven seasons while Perryman played 129 matches in eight seasons.
Perryman had long been linked to Port, who were understood to have offered about $850,000 a season for the 25-year-old.
But the Magpies swooped late with a similar cashed-up offer for the versatile utility who supported Collingwood as a child.
Collingwood coach Craig McRae has made clear to his list management team that he wants players, not draft picks, from the trade period.
“I’m a coach that wants to bring players in,” McRae told SEN radio last week.
“It’s such a hard market fishing from the same pond, but I don’t want picks … let’s bring players in and make us better.
“We’re somewhat deliberate on that and we think Harry can make us better.”
The AFL’s free agency period starts on Friday and runs until October 11 while the trade period opens on Monday and finishes on October 16.
The AFL has conceded the newly introduced score assist technology incorrectly overturned a crucial goal for Gold Coast in their AFLW loss to Collingwood.
Suns forward Jamie Stanton’s goal in the second quarter of their round five clash against the Pies was chalked off after the sensors inside the ball indicated it had been touched.
Stanton was bumped by Pies defender Muireann Atkinson before she snapped towards goal, but broadcast footage did not show Atkinson making contact with the ball.
The ball also cleared defender Stacey Livingstone in the goal square, with the on-field umpire awarding the goal.
Stanton’s overturned major proved costly for the winless Suns, who lost by three points.
Cam Joyce’s side sit at the bottom of the ladder after four losses and one draw.
“The protocols for overturning a decision require that it must be conclusive that the ball and vision align, so this was a case of human error,” an AFL spokesman said.
“The ball-tracking technology incorrectly recorded that the ball was touched after the kick, which can occur rarely as the ball continuously improves and gathers further data.
“The score assist official at the ground viewed one angle of vision that aligned with the ball so intervened to overturn the decision to award a goal.
“Subsequently, further vision angles were viewed at halftime that whilst available, weren’t inspected at the time of the review which showed the decision to overturn was incorrect.”
Gold Coast has called on the AFL to provide a thorough demonstration of the score-assist technology process.
The men’s competition does not use a smart ball in its score review system.
Field umpires unsure of the score will first make a provisional call before footage from various angles is reviewed to determine the outcome.
“The official at the ground should not have overturned the on-field umpires’ decision, and we understand the possibility for human error,” the club said via a statement.
“We are, however, more concerned with the ball tracking technology incorrectly recording the ball was touched.
“Given the potential impact on the outcome of games, it’s important for us to understand the technology and process for overturning scores.
“We have arranged with the AFL for a full demonstration and explanation of the technology and processes involved.”
Brisbane’s thumping grand final triumph over Sydney was the most-watched AFL decider since 2021.
But the bumper TV audience still fell well short of the benchmark set by the Matildas in their ground-breaking Women’s World Cup run last year.
The Seven Network confirmed Saturday’s game had a national reach of 6.09 million and a national total TV audience of 4.024 million, including 655,000 on 7plus Sport, becoming the most-watched program of 2024.
It was up more than 20,000 total TV viewers on the 2023 decider between Collingwood and Brisbane.
The figure arguably reflected the fact the game was between two non-Victorian sides, attracting interest from Queensland and NSW.
“In a fantastic story for football in Australia’s northern states, we are thrilled to have captured every corner of the nation on Australian sport’s biggest day,” Seven’s head of AFL and sports innovation Gary O’Keeffe said.
The 2021 audience marker (4.11 million) is a difficult one to reach as that year’s grand final between Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs occurred in Perth while many Victorians were in COVID-19 lockdowns.
Saturday’s figure was also well short of the Matildas’ efforts last year.
The Matildas’ semi-final against England last August broke new ground as the most-watched TV program in more than two decades.
It had an average audience of 7.2 million and a reach of 11.15 million, which didn’t include viewers on partner Optus Sport.
Excluding Saturday’s match, the AFL finals reached 8.5 million people, with the two preliminary finals reaching more than three million each.
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