What exactly is the downside to ‘jumping the queue’? It’s good for the players picked, because for half a season they get paid, get to demonstrate they are good enough to play AFL footy and get to use AFL standard training facilities. Even if clubs let them go at the end of the year, aren’t they in a better position?
It's better for AFL clubs because they get to either plug gaps in their list, or take a flyer on a young or older player with half a season more game time to base it on.
It’s bad for the WAFL clubs because they lose a good player.
The ‘queue’ in question is an AFL draft system that is an artificial restraint of trade. If you aren’t a WAFL club, how is one more opportunity for young men to walk through the door of an AFL club a bad thing? What’s the point in Deluca or O’Reilly being kept off an AFL list until November?
