Andy Maher says that the hype around the National Draft is nothing minuscule to the NFL and NBA in America and more should be done by the league to ensure the public knows who the young kids are that could be your club's next superstars.
“I know it’s a really big deal but I don’t know the blokes we are talking about, so it’s hard to get too hooked by the whole thing,” said Maher on SEN radio on Tuesday morning.
“If the draft’s going to be a big deal and a bigger event is it not incumbent on the AFL that there is some consistent television coverage somewhere of the under 18 competition.”
Maher said that in order for the draft to gain a bigger audience and more publicity, we must know who the players are come draft day.
“They’ve got partners all over the place in the media,” he said.
“I’m not saying you have to cover it like Friday night footy, three-camera coverage and one or two games a week.
“So, by the time we get to draft day you know who they are.
“I wonder whether people would watch it – if it was on at 10 o’clock on a Saturday morning and it was on a regular slot on Fox Footy or AFL.com I would watch it,” said Maher.
“At least you could identify some of the players when their name is called out.”