JB: “Garbage” Info Helps AFL Avoid Priority Pick Outrage

Triple M Footy’s James Brayshaw says the AFL have purposely filtered out “garbage” information into the media that Carlton and Gold Coast will receive priority picks at the start of the first round of this year’s draft in order to avoid outrage later down the track.

JB told Triple M’s Rush Hour on Monday that it was all part of the league’s plan to take the heat out of their final decision in awarding priority picks either in the middle or the end of the first round, which is what they were planning to do all along. 

“What the AFL are very good at, and they’ve been doing it for a long time, is throwing this sort of garbage in so then there’s outrage so then when they come back to the position they actually want, the outrage isn’t there because you’ve already had your outrage about something that was never going to happen,” JB said.

“They are the best in the world at it. So they’ll be preparing a compensation package that now will look like they’ve come back and listened to everyone, which is something they’ve already got ready.” 

However, Damian Barrett still reckons priority picks halfway through the first round wouldn’t be fair and thinks they should be pushed back to the end of the first round.