Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell has floated a left-field idea for AFL list sizes which he believes would lift the standard of the competition.
After AFL club chief executives had a two-day Gold Coast summit earlier in the week and raised the prospect of shrinking list sizes, Mitchell indicated he would go the other way.
“My personal opinion is there should be a minimum list size, but no maximum. You should have any number of players on your list that you think you can manage,” Mitchell said.
“If you think you can have 34 might be the minimum, so be it, but if you want 60, and you think that's the best way to manage your salary cap, then my take is you should be able to do that in a way where you canvas more players if you're in a development phase of your club.”
The concept would be particularly beneficial for sides in the lower throngs of the AFL ladder, enabling them to expose more players to their elite environment, before making a decision about which players to take forward.
Giving more players time on AFL lists would also have a positive flow-on effect at lower levels, as more state league players will have cycled through an AFL list. It comes at a time where the clubs are increasingly showing a willingness to select readymade footballers from state league programs.
Increasing list sizes could further incentivise clubs to trial state league players or project-type players rather than having the pressure to pick best available talent. At a time where it's increasingly hard to rebuild via the AFL Draft, the proposed model would alleviate some pressure on list bosses by allowing them to list a greater pool of players before streamlining the list as they look to rebound.
“In my first couple of years coaching, I would have loved a few extra players on the list. With the salary cap the way it is where you have to pay out a certain amount, I would have loved to spread that and give a few more opportunities,” Mitchell said.
As it stands, the development is top-heavy and struggling clubs may be forced to overpay players to meet salary cap requirements.
Bigger lists may also enable veterans to stick around for longer and provide tutelage to developing players, rather than clubs needing to weigh up the risk-reward of keeping a player who is past their best on-field.
Coach-in-waiting Scott Pendlebury sticking around for an extra season at Collingwood, likely to be in a transition phase next season, is the perfect example of a club which would benefit.
Meanwhile, teams at the other end of the ladder could go all-in and back a smaller squad of more established talent.
“If we had three or four extra players on your list where you can try and get extra talent and you're not sure because they're later picks or from state league types, I think the scope for having bigger lists, if you have good coaches who can manage those players at a higher level still, is something we would have explored at a heavy development phase," he added.
“Now that we're competing a bit more earnestly with the top end, probably the list size is about right with where it is now.”
A mid-season trade period was something else which has been repeatedly floated in recent years, but Mitchell believes it would have too many negative flow-on effects.
“I don't like it. Mid-Season Trade creates a lot of ripples…you can steal a flag. I've got so many ways in mind already about how I would try to manipulate that so every coach and every person will try to,” Mitchell said.
“I don't think Mid-Season you should be able to do too much to your list.
Mitchell supported Josh Weddle's three game suspension given the need to protect players' heads but highlighted there was no malice involved.
Asked if he agreed with the AFL's crackdown on criticism of umpiring, match review, tribunal and other such matters, he said: “you are allowed to give an opinion, you're just not allowed to do it at a press conference or public forum so you can chat to the AFL and they're very open with that sort of thing. It's well out of the realm of my role and responsibility so I'll leave it with those who make those decisions.”
Mitchell also said Gunston was ruled out early in the week, but has been close in each of the three games he has missed, while important midfielder Conor Nash's complicated neck nerve injury is a week-to-week proposition.
