The AFL has tightened its regulation on a player approach and signing on with a new club in a bid to prevent the game going down the same path as the National Rugby League, where a player can in the present season compete with one club despite having already signed with another club for the following season.
AFL clubs had been unable to reach a binding agreement with a player before he had finished the season with his current team, but were permitted to make contract offers in advance, in the off-season window of opportunity, before commencement of the last year of their contract.
Under the new rule revision, players can no longer be signed during that window of opportunity and that any discussion during the current season should be informal and non-binding. This has come about because the advent of the ‘free agency’ rule and to prevent clubs from signing opposition players during the course of the season.
Although the Power’s Travis Boak, Collingwood’s Travis Cloak and Kurt Tippett from the Crows have been in discussions with other clubs for their playing future, no AFL player has ever admitted to signing with a rival team in advance of a season.