Kane Cornes believes the way AFL clubs are using their rookie lists is turning into a farce.
Cornes made the statement after the first list lodgement deadline on Tuesday, where several players were delisted with promises of being re-drafted through the rookie draft.
Several of these players are veterans including Sydney’s Sam Reid and Melbourne’s Jake Melksham and Cornes believes moving older players onto rookie lists defeats the purpose of what the mechanism is there for.
“The rookie list is a farce, honestly,” Cornes said on SEN Sportsday.
“I've had my say on this in the past when clubs go to place their final list lodgements, which has happened in the last 24 hours.
“You're hearing and you're reading such and such player is going to be delisted and then put on the rookie list.
“I'm going, ‘Hang on Sam Reid from Sydney is going to be delisted and then put on the rookie list?’. Sam Reid's 32 years of age in December. He's been on an AFL list for 13 years.
“This defeats the purpose of what the rookie list should be there for.
“Jake Melksham, great player, a wonderful footballer for Melbourne. He's injured, he's going to be delisted and rookie-listed.”
Cornes feels for younger players who have been overlooked in the National Draft and now have less of a chance to get an opportunity in the rookie draft with clubs using their rookie slots on delisted veterans.
He named several other examples of senior AFL players who are on rookie lists despite being multiple stages into their careers.
“Don't worry about the 21-year-old who's plying his trade,” Cornes said.
“One who has been overlooked in the National Draft a couple of times and he's gone back, and he's worked on his game at SANFL or WAFL or VFL level and he's craving for an opportunity to be placed on a rookie list,
“He can't be (rookie listed) because Jake Melksham is on the rookie list. He's 32 and he's played 221 games.
“Jai Newcombe, Hawthorn fans, what is he? A top three player at your club? Certainly, top five.
“He's been re-contracted since he was picked in the mid-season draft. That's fine. Go on the rookie list.
“But once he signs a new long-term deal, surely he comes off the rookie list. He is a star of the game.
“Liam Shiels at North Melbourne is a rookie. He's played 271 games and he's 32 years of age … I can go on and on.
While rookie lists are being used by AFL clubs in unique ways in 2023, Cornes believes they should be forced to use the mechanism as they were decades previously.
He referenced an example from his days in Port Adelaide as a player when the club would use their rookie spots on untried players and developing prospects.
“This is a joke, when I started in 2001, the rookie list was there for exactly that, rookies,” Cornes said.
“Dean Brogan was a rookie, he came from a unique background of playing basketball and he wasn't ready to be an AFL footballer.
“Then you get the advantage of putting him on the rookie list and he couldn't kick a drop punt when he first started. So, he goes on the rookie list and works at it.
“He plays reserves football at South Adelaide for a while. Then he plays league footy and then he comes in and wins a premiership four years later.
“That's what the rookie list is there for.”
With experts expecting that approximately 50 players will be drafted in 2023, Cornes pondered whether enough young players were getting the opportunities they needed in the modern game.
“I keep hearing we're going to have 50 draft picks,” Cornes said. “This is what they're saying. Only 50 (players will be taken).
“A lot of clubs are upgrading rookies because they don't want to draft young players.
“I just think the game is in an interesting state if we don't have enough young players getting opportunities and we are not using the rookie list in the way that it should be used.”
The 2023 pre-season and rookie drafts will take place on Wednesday, November 22.