Following on from the AFL New Zealand Premiership, a “Retained Players List” has been added as an additional tool to create balance and competitiveness within the competition.
With study, work, injury and locational alterations playing a role in player availability from season to season, it is important that each team is afforded the opportunity to retain players from the previous seasons list from each of the established draft categories.
Once the “Retained Players List” has been finalised by the Premiership teams, the remaining players will be re-entered into the national draft and will be available for selection by any of the four teams. This ensures an even spread of all draft categories across the four team rosters and equalises player availability that can be restricted due to location.
The 2018 AFL New Zealand Premiership will contain the following categories within the Retained Player List.
Category 1: Retention of Auckland based players who have not played for the New Zealand Senior team over the past 12 months. (Up to 7 players to be retained)
Category 2: Retention of Auckland based New Zealand Senior Representatives. (Up to 3 players to be retained)
If a team cannot supply this amount of representatives from the 2017 season, a priority draft pick will be allocated at the National Draft to rectify this.
Category 3: Retention of Regionally based players (Christchurch/ Dunedin/ Wellington) who have not played for the New Zealand Senior team over the past 12 months. (Up to 4 players to be retained)
Category 4: Retention of Regionally based New Zealand Representative (Christchurch/ Dunedin/ Wellington) (Up to 1 player to be retained). If a team does not have 1 NZ Regional Rep from the 2017 season, a priority draft pick will be allocated at the National Draft to rectify this.
