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Hinkley: The real worry within the AFL's proposed draft changes
Jaiden Sciberras • March 25th, 2026 5:46 pm
Rebuilding an AFL side has become a vastly difficult task, and Ken Hinkley believes the compromised draft may be to blame.
Rebounding from the bottom end of the table to the depths of September takes a selection of correct decisions all coming to fruition at the right time, and as seen in recent history, these decisions aren’t always simple.
Take Essendon’s 21-year finals drought or North Melbourne’s persistent bottom three finishes as an example.
The theory surrounding a rebuild hasn’t changed, with the notion of talent acquisition and development remaining the key to driving a club forward. However, the AFL currently hosts a range of roadblocks that turn said acquisition into quite the task.
And according to Hinkley, simplifying the process to speed up the talent turnover isn’t a one-stop fix for league officials.
“There’s more than just one thing, I don’t think you can simply go, ‘just do this’ and it will be okay,” Hinkley told SEN Whateley.
“But I would start with (enforcing) as uncompromised a draft as you can get. That was the tool that clubs were allowed to go to to rebuild and bring themselves back up to get the very best players.
“Whether it be a Chris Judd, a Christian Petracca or player like that. Marcus Bontempelli was Pick 4 in his draft – you’ve got to get a hold of that type of person, because they are club shaping players. If you can get a Bontempelli to your club, you can build a lot of things around it.
“But you’ve also got to get a lot of other things right. Your development has got to be elite. You’ve got to squeeze every drop out of every lemon you get to make sure you can maximise your talent and become A-Graders.
“That’s the art of coaching; to get players in and make them A-Graders and find some that not many people could be A-Graders.”
Hinkley – mirroring the general consensus of the AFL world – believes that the draft is far too compromised, and if teams at the bottom end of the table are to advance their rebuilds, the system must be refurbished.
“I’ve wrestled with this one,” he said.
“I’ve been a bit romantic around father and sons… I’m starting to get weakened on that. I’m really starting to lose my attraction a little bit because of the compromise of this draft.
“Last year, I think there was something like 18 bids in the draft. 18 in a field that normally somewhere between 50-60 players get picked. We’re talking nearly 40 per cent of the draft compromised!
“To me, that’s just far too much. (There are) people better educated and understanding of the draft than me, but the simple view from my point of view is, how do we get better if we don’t make the purest players available the best players available to the weakest teams.
“I think that’s the key.”
AFL.com.au journalist Cal Twomey reported on Tuesday night that the AFL were looking into granting additional first round picks to the clubs that finish within the bottom five if impacted by an early bid.
Hinkley believes that given the draft’s current nature, percentages suggest it will hardly help.
“I heard that Cal Twomey’s scoop last night around giving clubs in the bottom five an extra pick at the back end of the first round,” he said.
“That will be pick 25 to 30, maybe later! The percentages of those players being great players – we used to have the numbers around (the likelihood that) a pick from 10 out would potentially turn into a good player for you.
“If you purely do it by maths and numbers, the chances are that it’s not that high of a return. One more pick at 25 plus is going to change the path or Essendon or West Coast or North?
“The facts are, that pick is not going to be enough. It can’t hurt, because it gives you another dart at the board. You might hit the bullseye, but that’s what it feels like; you’re throwing a dart at a dartboard.
“You’ve got to hit the bullseye with those picks to actually improve your position on the ladder. It’s a real worry.”
