SANFL Star Mitch Grigg Hits Out At The AFL's New Mid-Season Draft

Norwood star Mitch Grigg has strongly voted against the upcoming AFL mid-season draft, saying it’s “just not on” to pluck mature-age stars from reserve sides halfway through a season.

MITCH GRIGG HITS OUT:

Grigg, who has won two Magarey Medals and a Jack Oatey Medal for best on ground in a grand final for Norwood and looks well placed to return to the AFL system, was asked about the upcoming introduction on Triple M’s Dead Set Legends.

The system will see teams able to pick up stars from outside the AFL system halfway through a season to bolster their list, and has been approved by the AFL.

But Grigg said he wouldn’t want that to have happened to him or anyone else.

“If I was to be picked up halfway through a year, I just wouldn’t want that to happen to me,” he said.

“In regards to taking a player out of the VFL, out of the SANFL halfway through the year, it’s a lot to give up for potentially four months just to play footy.

“In that respect, I don’t think it’ll work.”

Grigg was very cautious about the damage it could cause to a side like his own.

“If you think about the damage it could do to a SANFL club if their best player is potentially taken out of their team, it can disrupt the whole season,” he told Triple M.

“It’s just not on, I think, in my eyes. Obviously having seen it from both sides, I don’t see how that player could come in and have an impact halfway through a season anyway.

“If you have the, so to speak, stars taken out of a side, it’s extremely impactful and it can ruin the whole season.”