Kane Cornes wants two rules around recruitment to be tightened up, following the Gold Coast Suns’ blunder in walking Hugh Greenwood to the draft only to lose him.
Gold Coast cut Greenwood, who played 32 games in red and gold and finished fourth in the best and fairest in 2020, with the intent to select him in next week’s National Draft.
With the Suns already at the upper limit of 38 players on their primary list, the plan was to bring Greenwood and defenders Rory Thompson and Jez McLennan back through the lottery.
However North Melbourne swooped to sign the 29-year-old as a delisted free agent in the window between his delisting and the draft, leaving a fragile team short of a veteran presence.
The Port Adelaide premiership player believes the situation has outed the current draft parameters as “ridiculous.”
“(There are) two rules that have got to change,” he began on SEN’s The Captain’s Run.
“The rookie list, just scrap it. I’m sorry to be repetitive on that but why do we have a rookie list?
“There’s no need for it. Just make it as many spots as you want on the list, and they’re all full spots.
“We don’t want Grant Birchalls and Eddie Betts running around on a rookie list, for a start.”
The rookie list, introduced as a means for clubs to take a swing on raw talent, has more recently been used as a cap flexibility tool.
Matthew Boyd, Dean Cox, Brett Kirk, Nick Maxwell and Aaron Sandilands each won their first opportunities on the rookie list, with the first four going on to play in premierships.
Last season, with $80,000 of each rookie contract having fallen outside the salary cap, we saw premiership players Birchall and Betts shuffled onto the rookie list at Brisbane and Carlton.
“If you’re going to have a rookie list, have it for what it’s designed to be,” Cornes added.
“(Like) players who have been overlooked in the draft… I think there needs to be an age limit on it, though.
“Whether it’s under the age of 22, and hasn’t played AFL football… I’m okay with that.
“Use it the way it’s designed to be used, to give players a second opportunity who have missed out on the first one via the national draft.
“Let’s not have loopholes everywhere. I mean, Shane Mumford could be a rookie right now if he wanted to be.
“That’s not what it’s designed to be.”
Cornes made a similar case for the national draft, which will take place over next Wednesday and Thursday nights.
“The three selections have got to go to young players,” he asserted.
“The whole idea of having three picks in the draft, which every club is required to make, is to give younger players the opportunity to live their AFL dream.
“It’s not so you can delist 29-year-olds and pick them up again in the draft.
“(They’re) two ridiculous rules, and I’m glad they have been exposed as just that this week.
“Well done to North Melbourne.”
Greenwood was far from the only player left in limbo as clubs whittled down their lists in preparation for the drafts.
The Roos’ own Jared Polec, Port Adelaide defender Sam Mayes and Carlton defender Lochie O’Brien are just a handful of the players set to win reprieves as rookies.