Former AFL coach's drastic plan to revolutionise draft
Sydney Swans premiership coach and former Melbourne mentor Paul Roos says the draft age should be higher to help prevent young players from making mistakes early in their careers.
Roos, who coached troubled Fremantle star Jesse Hogan for three seasons after he was drafted by the Demons, has long advocated for the draft age to be raised.
In an interview with the West Australian, Roos said he was planning to contact Fremantle coach Ross Lyon to see if there was anything he could do to help Hogan.
The star forward, whop was lured to the Dockers in the off-season, is not available to play in round one after the club revealed his battle with clinical anxiety had led to “poor decisions with alcohol”, resulting in Hogan being unfit to train on Sunday morning.
“I think there is a general problem with the draft age and I think we are seeing it over and over again with these young kids dealing with football and life,” Roos said.
“From a resilience point of view, from a leaving of home point of view. That is a general statement rather than anything specific to Jesse. In terms of my specific dealings with Jesse he is just a good kid.
“But you could tell that going from Perth to Melbourne was a very big step. You are leaving your family and leaving your friends.”
In the wake of the controversy, Roos continued to advocate for players to be drafted later.
He said he “hadn’t heard a strong reason” why such a change shouldn’t be implemented.
“They say players will pick other sports. I don’t agree with that,” he said.
“They say what about the kids that are ready to play and my answer is ‘why don’t we cater for the masses and not a few that are ready to play in their first year’.”
Suspension ‘not accurate’
Meanwhile, Lyon has looked to calm the waters surrounding his star recruit, insisting Hogan hadn’t been suspended by the club.
“In regards to ‘suspended’ with Jesse, that’s not completely accurate,” he said on 7 News Perth.
“It’s a mental health issue and Jesse needs professional support to work through and get him back available for playing.
“We’re really confident as a club we can give continued support for Jesse and we really respect the mental health space.
“Because, really, we’re a people business and we’ve done a lot of education on this and it’s really foremost in AFL minds at the moment with all the pressures these young men are under.”