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Up to three season-ending injuries in the AFL first round have cast a shadow over state football leagues, which are bracing for a mid-season raid for replacements on their best players.
The AFL has released final details for its controversial mid-season rookie draft, which will allow AFL clubs to draw from state leagues for injured player replacements after round 10, irrespective of the impact it has on state teams.
It came days after the AFL's new pre-season supplementary selection period finished, which resulted in 15 players being enlisted from across Australia as top-up players, including a key forward just two weeks from SANFL's round one.
"The decision is not in the best interests of state league competitions," SANFL football general manger Adam Kelly said.
"Our clubs are now in a position where they are not going to be able to replace a player, given the timing of the player lost."
Both of SANFL's SSP players were taken from South Adelaide, including Hayden McLean — who the club had recruited from Victoria and helped with organising a job and accommodation — and former skipper Keegan Brooksby.
The WAFL lost three players and the VFL four.
"As an individual we are extremely pleased to see Hayden realise his dream of making an AFL list," South Adelaide chief executive Neill Sharpe said.
"It is, however, very disappointing for our club to lose one of our key recruits on the brink of the new season."
The 2019 SANFL league season starts Friday night.
A 'disheartening' situation
Kelly said the players would be given 12-month contracts by their AFL clubs, but there was no onus for the club to re-list them the following season.
"It's a very tough situation for South Adelaide to find themselves in this week as Hayden was going to be a key player in the line-up," he said.
"Even more so, the mid-season draft to take a player out of the club in the middle of the year is certainly not in the best interests of football."
The SANFL and WAFL have warned the AFL Commission against the mid-season draft but their reservations were overlooked.
Only the Northern and Next Generation academies have been given some protection, with 19-year-olds who have committed for the year to be considered ineligible for the AFL.
"It will certainly be disheartening to all involved at any state club to see a player be taken in the middle of the year and not return," Kelly said.
He said no compensation was offered to state leagues for the time spent developing those players for the season.
"They've changed the acquisition model yet they haven't reflected that in any funding or compensation model.
"We're now going to have players taken on the eve and the middle of the season and yet the funding model and compensation model hasn't changed."
The AFL has been contacted for comment.
Rookie eligibility
Players must have previously nominated for the national draft or be a delisted AFL player, although they cannot be re-listed by the AFL club they left the previous season.
Kelly said mid-year rookies could be selected for six or 18-month contracts and must reimburse their state league clubs for 50 per cent of the money they were paid up front, while those drafted in the SSP must reimburse their state league for all monies paid upfront.
The AFL also ignored a SANFL request to allow those players recruited by local AFL clubs — the Adelaide Crows and Port Adelaide Power — to continue playing for their state side regardless until they are called up to play an AFL game.
Instead, players recruited by local AFL sides will only be allowed to play in the reserves against their previous state team if all parties agree to it, and they will only be allowed to return to their original club to play state finals if their service is no longer required by the AFL club.
The SANFL's own finals eligibility requirements still stand.
Topics: sanfl, australian-football-league, victorian-football-league-vfl, wafl, sport, adelaide-5000, perth-6000, melbourne-3000