Tuesday night’s NAB AFL Draft at the Adelaide Convention Centre will see a revolution of the drafting system as live bidding is introduced for the very first time.

In a complete overhaul of the Father/Son and Academy player selection process, the AFL has introduced a bidding system whereby each draft selection is allocated a points value on a sliding scale.

The move is designed to ensure clubs are paying a fair price for top-end talent. Under the old Father/Son system Gary Ablett Jr was pick 40 and the Bulldogs only had to give up picks 22 and 41 to get Mitch Wallis and Tom Liberatore.

And last year, Melbourne put a bid on Swans Academy player Isaac Heaney at pick 2 and the Swans only had to match the bid with their next pick, selection 18.

The focus is on making things equal for top-end talent, but to encourage clubs to take Academy players as later picks.

This means that as we go into the 2015 NAB AFL Draft, we still don’t know the final order of the picks. It’s a complicated system but we’ll do our best to unravel it for you. 

As the GIANTS aren’t likely to have a Father/Son player for another 20 or so years, we’ll stick to just using the Academy system as an example but it’s worth noting the Father/Son system is exactly the same.

Under the new system, each selection in the the draft has been allocated a points value, beginning with pick 1 which is worth 3000 points. The points then reduce on a sliding scale where pick 10 is worth 1395 points, pick 50 is 273 points and so on until pick 73 which is worth 9 points. 

All later selections are not worth any points but remain as usual draft selection. If the bid for the player comes in the first round, the Academy club will also receive a 20 per cent discount on the points needed.

With a maximum amount of points crucial for Academy clubs looking to pick up Academy selections, this is why we saw some unusual deals during trade period as the northern states looked to gain extra points wherever they could.

During the trade period the GIANTS started with 2713 points but ended the period with 3215 points to go into the 2015 NAB AFL Draft with.

So, how does it work?

In a practical sense, clubs will use their picks in draft order as usual, until an Academy player is bid on.

That player is then be considered to be worth that number of points and the Academy club has the option to match the number of points or pass on the player. If they choose not to match the bid, the bidding team will then select the Academy player with that pick.

If the Academy club chooses to match the bid, they will then need to make up that number of points with the draft selections they hold at the time.

Let’s use an example from last year where Melbourne bid on Academy player Isaac Heeney. 

Melbourne would call out Heeney's name at pick 2 which is worth 2517 points. The Swans would then have the option to match the bid and they would need to find 2013 points to do so (the value of pick 2 minus the 20 per cent discount in the first round).

With last year’s picks, instead of just using pick 18, the Swans would have used picks 18, 37, 38 and 57 to make up the points to select Heeney.

The Swans would jump to pick 2 in the order and everyone would slide back a spot until pick 18 where the Swans aren’t sitting anymore and so everyone moves up. 

The Swans have lost those draft selections but received Heeney and with their remaining points from that transaction, also received picks 64 and 88. Melbourne have missed out on Heeney but still have their pick available and can pick another player with what is now pick 3.

The fascinating thing is this process will all be done live on draft night with computer software designed to spit out these calculations as each selection goes along. 

For the first time, the club recruiters will be in a separate room and instead of calling out the players’ names, will lodge their picks in a computer. 

When an Academy player is bid on, the Academy club will be informed of what it will need to give up to get that player and can either match the bid or pass.

It all makes for an intriguing process on draft night to see how it all plays out.

The GIANTS currently hold selections 10, 34, 42, 52, 54, 57, 62 and 63 at the draft.

Keep an eye on gwsgiants.com.au and on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for all the action from the Adelaide Convention Centre on Tuesday night.