Do we really need a rookie draft anymore? After 76 players were chosen in last week's national draft, another 35 untried players were given their chance on Wednesday, 22 of them teenagers. But it seems that clubs are using the rookie draft more and more to recruit ready-to-go support for their senior list, giving injuries less opportunity to derail an on-track season. Some clubs had to scratch around for players after last week's draft, having reached the end of their lists, meaning the gap between the drafts was handy, but why not give clubs one list of 44 players (plus category b players from overseas or other sports), but let them offer one-year contracts to anyone they pick up beyond, say, the third or fourth round?

Free agency = less draft spots for recycled AFL players

Clubs steered away from mature age state league players last week (with the exception of Carlton's first round choice, Blaine Boekhorst), perhaps indicating an end to the 'expansion era'. A bunch got called out on Wednesday but what was interesting was how few AFL players were recycled. Delisted free agency has changed things, with clubs able to make earlier and easier decisions on who they wish to give another chance to so it's hard to see many being picked up in the national draft from here. A number of clubs redrafted their own players, with seven others picked back up because they have contracts. Which again raises the question of why we need another list.

Bring back the 17-year-olds

There has been plenty of talk this year about whether the draft age should be raised to 19. It didn't happen, and shouldn't, and there's an argument to be made that clubs should in fact have access to a 17-year-old each year. Whether or not they can play them in the senior side until after they've turned 18 is another question (the wait worked for Jaeger O'Meara), but for all the draftees who finish school at 17 and spend the next year productively, there are more who tread water while waiting for their time to come. Clem Smith this year is a good example: he was an All-Australian last year, one of the yet made it to pick 60 in the draft after drifting through the second half of the season. He, his new club and we as football watchers would have been so much better off had he been able to get to a club after he finished school last year, and there are many more in the same boat.

How Darcy Moore could have made it to the second round

It is time for father-son and academy player bidding to be moved to later in the year, probably to draft night itself. This would create some complications for the trade period, given clubs that have players on the way might hold back from moving picks. On the flipside, clubs would have more time to evaluate the players they are being asked to bid on (there were 12 this year, with bidding conducted just a few days after the draft combine). It might also mean clubs don't hold back from bidding because of trade deals they have in the works, which happened this year. Carlton wasn't in a position to bid for Darcy Moore because the Kristian Jaksch trade was underway, and the Western Bulldogs wouldn't have risked it had Ryan Griffen already quit and Tom Boyd been within reach. The Suns say they most likely wouldn't have either, meaning Moore, a clear top 10 talent, would have made it through to Collingwood's second round pick.

Sons get chances - at other clubs

The bidding system also means clubs have to make tough calls on how they view their borderline father-son prospects, with some not wanting to scuttle potential trade deals by nominating players and committing too early. Hawthorn let Tom Curran go a couple of years ago, and Collingwood did the same with James Stewart. This year the Hawks decided not to nominate Harry Dear, viewing him as a draftable player late or as a rookie, and he was taken by Adelaide. The Western Bulldogs chose not to nominate Jayden Foster, who won the TAC Cup goalkicking as a 19-year-old this year, and he ended up at Carlton. The Blues also grabbed Billy Gowers (whose father Andy didn't play enough games at either Hawthorn or Brisbane for him to qualify as a father-son pick for either club) and used one of their rookie picks to take Tom Fields, the son of Neville, who Essendon had looked at a number of times. Time will tell who has made the right call.