“It makes no sense at all”: Why Buckley is against the AFL changing Father-Son/Academy bidding rules

Former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley is against the AFL possibly changing the Father-Son and Academy bidding rules during the season.

The rules have been an AFL regulation that allows teams to draft players outside of the regular system if their father played 100 games or more for the club in question.

However, with clubs having to prepare in advance for talent who fall under the rule in upcoming drafts, Buckley believes the rule must not be changed without sufficient time for clubs to prepare.

It comes after the likes of Adelaide, Brisbane, Gold Coast and Carlton made trades last year to position themselves with points for father-son or academy picks in the 2024 draft.

“I can’t see how you can do it for this year’s draft,” Buckley told SEN's Whateley.

“Make the call for the draft beyond this, now you’ve got 15 to 16 months of heads up.

“The recruiting, the trading and all the points, we’re 75 per cent into that time. It’s like changing something mid-stream.

“I don’t understand it. It makes no sense at all to do it now.

“There’s going to be some trauma when it does change, there’s going to be some clubs that feel like they have had something taken away and others that are happy maybe an advantage to other clubs have been removed.

“Clubs have made their planning already based on the rules that have been written.

“If they’re going to change them, give fair notice.”

The 2024 AFL National Draft will take place on November 20 this year.