Matt Rendell has slammed the AFL draft format, saying the league deliberately prolonged the time between picks being made and revealed.
“What were they doing? Fair dinkum AFL,” a frustrated Rendell said on Dwayne’s World.
“Has there been anyone that actually thought it was great? The length, the delays and the whole lot. I don’t think there’s one. The clubs were mighty pissed I think.
Rendell understands that many clubs had in fact made their picks soon after they were on the clock but were themselves made to wait before their selections were revealed at the discretion of the broadcasters.
“Clubs were putting in their picks within 20 seconds, and they were just letting it draw out and saying the pick was in in the last minute," he said.
“So they were using the extra time for some interviews, a bit of chat, for advertising. You had clubs sitting around saying ‘come on, let’s get on with it’. They weren’t happy either.
“It’s not the first time they’ve stuffed it up. It’s not that hard to get right, is it? This is about the fourth or fifth time now they haven’t got the draft right. I’m just staggered."
Last week's draft played out within a single night after the event was extended to two days in 2018.