Club Statement – Mid-Season Draft

The Board and Management of the Norwood Football Club advise its members, supporters and partners that we, along with other foundation SANFL Clubs are firmly opposed to the preseason supplementary listing and mid-season draft recently introduced by the AFL. We are disappointed that the AFL have made such a decision with no consultation or respect for the state league clubs and the competitions that feed them.

The Norwood Football Club accepts that any player taken by Adelaide or Port Adelaide would be required to train with the AFL side, however we strongly believe the player should be released to play for their SANFL Club if not selected for senior AFL duty. This is to include minor round and finals matches. This is the case in the Western Australian Football League (WAFL), where players drafted in the mid-season draft by the West Coast Eagles will remain with their state league club throughout the minor and major rounds for the remainder of that year.

We wish to make it absolutely clear that our club works extremely hard to develop players for the AFL and supports the player’s career path wishing to produce as many AFL players as possible. We simply do not see the merit in both a mid-season draft and an extension of the pre-season listing which we believe adversely affects the 140-year-old SANFL competition.

The SANFL, at the request of the Clubs, has approached both Adelaide and Port Adelaide regarding this request and we await their response.