Richmond assistant coach Justin Leppitsch says he would welcome the introduction of live trading of listed players on draft night, declaring it needs to happen “quicker rather than later”.
It is expected that trading of draft picks will be in place for this year’s National Draft and as revealed by Sam McClure, the trading of listed players on the night could be in place shortly after.
“It works everywhere else in the world, so I think it can,” Leppitsch told SEN’s Time On.
“I think it’s something that we need to get to, and probably quicker more than later.
“I think it’s only a good thing. I know it’s hard and it’s new for our game, and new for our fans, but I just think any opportunity that a club can get itself better, without obviously the detriment to the player, which is the most important thing.”
Leppitsch doesn’t expect big name stars to be traded, as opposed to the NBA, however he feels it would be beneficial for out-of-favour players to get another chance elsewhere.
“I actually think it would be good for some of the players to move on,” he said.
“You think some players who aren’t getting a go mid-season, if they could move on they might get a new go at a new organisation and do pretty well.
“It’s very rare the situation is going to be where the gun players are going to be leaving.
“I think there’s actually more positives than negatives when the AFLPA and the clubs think about it.”
The former Brisbane Lions mentor will coach the Tigers in the upcoming AFLX competition, and while he admitted to having “no idea” how to teach the concept, he expects teams to try and kick plenty of “Zooper goals”, which are worth ten points from outside 40 metres.
“A zooper goal is worth ten points and a goal is worth six. You might see a lot of strategizing to get as many ten pointers as you can, because it is such a limited timeframe,” Leppitsch said.
“Look out for a fair bit of kicking backwards in a few games to kick as many ten pointers as possible.”
To hear Justin Leppitsch's entire chat with Sam McClure on Time On listen in the player below: