David King strongly believes a mid-season AFL trade period would have positive long-term and short-term benefits for the competition.
For teams at the bottom of the ladder, they would be able to trade veteran players mid-season at higher premiums and stock up on draft picks.
Those teams receiving players mid-season would trade-off their long-term prospects for a better chance at winning the flag now.
King looks at West Coast in particular as a team stocked with veteran players who could have an impact elsewhere, while also having a desperate need for draft capital.
“I hate the fact that we’re now going to submit the West Coast to a six to eight year rebuild. It’s just ridiculous,” King told SEN’s Whateley.
“I think the AFL have to look at this mid-season trade period and have to look at it immediately.
“You should have the luxury of trading in-season for a two-week window or a one-week window or whatever it is and attract first-round and second-round picks this season.
“You can argue the names, but they’re going to go to teams that are in the window to win it. They’re going to go to the Western Bulldogs, Sydney, Geelong, Brisbane.
“Nic Naitanui to Geelong changes their whole profile. Jeremy McGovern to the Western Bulldogs changes their whole profile. You get first-round picks for those.
“So at the end of this year instead of the West Coast having one first-round and one second-round pick, they might have three or four of each and purge the lot and have a bad 10 weeks, not a bad six years.
“I think it’s a no-brainer, but I understand that it’s hard for people to get their head around that.
“But if you’re a West Coast fan, do you really want to have six bad years just because that’s the system?”
Gerard Whateley agrees with the concept and believes it would add intrigue to the season.
“You get more in-season for a player than you do out of season. If it was Jeremy McGovern for example, you would get twice as much in June as you will get in October because teams will go ‘this is the difference’,” Whateley said.
“But how many would you trade? This would be an interesting case study. Would (West Coast) be prepared to decimate the fabric of their team to fast-track (their rebuild).
“Or as a code and as a culture believe a bit too much in ‘you can’t do that to the critical mass of your absolute best players’. I’d be really interested in what this actually looked like.”
King went through how hypothetically a team like West Coast would see an opportunity like this and how it would look practically.
“You would allow McGovern to leave, but you’ve still got (Tom) Barrass. You allow Jack Darling to leave, he’s 30 in a few weeks, you might get a second-round pick from a team trying to win it this year. That becomes Oscar Allen’s forward line,” he said.
“A ruckman, Nic Nat, give him a chance to go and win that flag. You’ll get something serious for him because he’s a game-changer. For a 10-week span at another club, you would get a first-round pick in my opinion.
“Then you make a decision about one of your midfielders, because you’re pretty stacked there even though they’re underperforming.
“You’ve got Luke Shuey, Elliot Yeo, Tim Kelly, Andrew Gaff – so to lose one of those, it’s not really going to damage the model now.
“It’s irrelevant how many games you win. If it’s the difference between winning eight games next year six, but you get an extra three picks, you’re taking the extra first-round picks.
“This is something that has to be looked at. The AFLPA is the main stone in the shoe for this and I don’t understand that, because if Todd Goldstein is rotting in the twos in six weeks time because they’ve gone past him, surely a better option is playing senior football at the Swans or Geelong?
“I don’t understand the logic that comes back at me. People say it’s the finances, the finances stay with the West Coast this year and then next year you have to work out your arrangements.
“(The new club) satisfies your contract ahead of time. No one walks without knowledge of their finances going forward. I think it’s something that needs to be looked at.
“Can you imagine at Round 13 having Nic Nat walking out in Geelong colours? McGovern walking out in Dogs colours? Sydney gets Elliot Yeo? Melbourne’s suddenly thinking they need to get active.
“In affect what you’re doing is shortening the rebuild for teams at the bottom and at the top of the table, you’re taking first-round picks off those guys. You’re pulling them back. Your competition becomes more fluid.”