Geelong coach Chris Scott has slammed the AFL over their decision to hand an assistance package to North Melbourne.
The Kangaroos were given an extra first-round pick this year and two more next year as part of the package announced on Monday.
It came after the Roos finished 17th – their fourth consecutive season in the bottom two.
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But Scott said the fact North Melbourne will receive pick No.2 in the draft is enough compensation.
He also added the rival club had chosen this path of rebuilding and the AFL’s move was “blatant manipulation”.
“There is a mechanism of equalisation within the competition already. If you finish second last, you get second pick in the draft,” Scott told Fox Footy.
“They’ve (North) had that for a number of years now because they chose to go down a certain path.
“The AFL pretty quickly has to get to the point, in my view, where they just get out of the way and let the system operate without this blatant manipulation.
The Roos have added top-five picks Harry Sheezel, George Wardlaw and Will Phillips to their side in the past three years and are set to have another two top-five picks this year.
They also have top-10 talents Luke Davies-Uniacke and Tarryn Thomas, who are about to enter their prime.
Scott highlighted the lag that comes with rebuilding, referencing Hawthorn’s golden era that was built off top-five picks Luke Hodge, Lance Franklin and Jarryd Roughead.
“The problem here is in any business there is always a lag,” Scott said.
“You can’t look at this season and go, ‘OK you’ve finished second last so we’ve got to support you again’. The support has already been there over previous years.
“They’ve got so many top-five picks now look at the midfielders that they’ve got.
“What they can’t do now is go, ‘now all of the sudden you’ve got a dominant midfield because you’ve had all of these picks’, and take something away.
“But they never take something away.
“Clarko (Alastair Clarkson), he’s a genius because that Hawthorn team if you go back was made of Hodge pick 1, Franklin pick 4 and Roughead pick 2 and he (and Hodge) was a priority pick.
“So you get that lag then all of the sudden you go bang.”
The two-time premiership coach conceded he was saying too much in the lengthy takedown, but added that North Melbourne played in two preliminary finals in the past decade (2014 and 2015), which is more than a lot of other clubs.
“There are clubs who have performed at a lower level than North Melbourne over the last decade that haven’t got one single thing,” Scott said.
“I don’t understand how you can play in (two) prelim finals (over the last decade) and get compensation, priority …
“The worst place to be clearly in today’s competition is middle of the road because you get nothing.
“The AFL just shouldn’t be in a position where they are manipulating the competition the way they are.”
St Kilda coach Ross Lyon agreed with Scott’s viewpoint.
“I think the real question is if you put yourself in the hole, because there’s been a lot of decisions over a long period of time – not unlike the Saints and other clubs, to keep going back to head office and asking for assistance, I think there’s a bit to be said to dig yourself out,” Lyon said.
“You’ve got gifts being given to clubs that have been down the bottom for a long time.”
– With AAP
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