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“Mystifying”: Eagles compo versus Bombers compo
SEN • October 9th, 2025 10:34 am
Why did West Coast receive Pick 2 as compensation for Oscar Allen and Essendon only receive Pick 20 for Sam Draper?
That was the question on the lips of Sam Edmund and Kane Cornes who were both critical of the AFL’s free agency model after the Eagles were handed a top pick for their departing co-captain who has joined Brisbane.
Also joining the reigning back-to-back premiers is Draper with the Bombers only copping a pick at the end of the first round (currently 20) as their compo.
Edmund couldn’t quite understand why there was such a stark difference between the compensation received by the two clubs.
“The free agency model is the source of so much debate and secrecy,” Edmund said on AFL Trade Radio.
“Essendon get Pick 20 for Draper and West Coast get Pick 2 for Allen. It’s a big compensation difference of two players.
“Is there a big difference between the two of them? And if you’re Essendon would you feel hard done by that you get an end of first-round pick and West Coast get one right at the pointy end?
“Allen is 26, Draper is 27, Allen has signed a six-year deal with Brisbane, Draper has signed a five-year deal with Brisbane - there might not be that much difference contractually and yet there’s a massive difference on the pick compensation.”
Cornes feels that the Eagles have been well looked after from an assistance package and compensation perspective, while the Dons, who have battled away for the past two decades, have been overlooked.
“I felt sorry for Essendon when West Coast were given an assistance package. ’Why do you get one? Just because you’re right down the bottom?’,” he pondered.
“‘We (Essendon) have been struggling for 20 years. Where is our assistance package?’
“(Geelong coach) Chris Scott on AFL360 said, ‘If you’re not in the top four, you may as well be bottom’. To be in the middle is the worst spot in the league.
“That just shows that there in that compensation model. The AFL say we’ll help West Coast out because they’ve struggled for the last five years, but don’t worry about Essendon because they’re middle-of-the-road and they’ll work it out on their own two feet.
“That’s what I don’t quite understand. Why do they get the assistance package and the best compensation for a free agent? Whereas Essendon, who you could argue are in just as much strife as West Coast, don’t get any help at all.”
The pair were unable to work out how the AFL comes to its inclusions on free agency compo which was described as lacking in transparency and mystifying.
Edmund: “I don’t know what the answer is with the free agency model. It’s been murmured, rumoured, reported, whispered that changes will happen.
“But there’s a lack of transparency around it as well that has always smelt and so we’ll always be suspicious.
“It’s a bit of an itch that the competition can’t scratch. It needs to be reviewed regularly at a minimum.”
Cornes: “There needs to be a forensic review of the whole system.
“We need to start from scratch. We’ve had 15 years of free agency…”
Edmund: “We’re not having a go at the Eagles, we’re having a go at the system. The Eagles are just privy to the system at the moment.
“It’s mystifying to say the least and the lack of transparency doesn’t help.”
