THIS will no doubt bring unwanted negative attention from Sydney supporters, who believe their team’s rise — and sustained success — at the top have come about “the hard way”.

Just like their share portfolio and their harbourside yachts. No insider trading here, move along people.

The Cash of Living Allowance (COLA) saw an unprecedented splash towards free agency splurging, to the point where copyright complaints were made from the Monty Python crew regarding their fictional creation, ‘Mr Creosote’ from The Meaning of Life. They believed their portrayal of morbidly obese character Mr Creosote, who gorged himself to death and exploded over a number of patrons, was being played out by the AFL and its handfeeding of the Swans. (Well, not actually. But you get the picture.)

With COLA being managed away from the Swans, the AFL found other ways to ensure the Swans aren’t denied access to the cream of the talent available.

Finals Week 1

This time, the league provided long-term sustainability through a murky draft points system that allowed the high-end talent to find its way to the Swans’ list.

Here come the Swans supporters and their ferocious handbag-wielding posse.

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The Swans used pick No.3 last year to select Callum Mills, who this week was crowned the 2016 AFL Rising Star after a brilliant debut season.

Pick No.3, in the AFL’s eyes, amounted to picks 33, 36, 37 and 43, after the 20 per cent academy discount was taken into consideration.

Let me provide a very famous sporting example of how the Mills draft pick/points swap fiasco might have looked if it had happened in the NBA in, say, 1984:

— Michael Jordan (pick No. 3)

FOR

— Steve Colter (33), Charles Jones (36), Ben Coleman (37) and Greg WiItjer (43)

Yep. This is ugly.

Surely when deciding upon a system that only makes the fat tummies of Sydney become Mr Creotsoe, Gillon McLachlan went back through his own game’s draft history and worked out that the sale of third and fourth-round picks wouldn’t provide fair and equitable acquisition of high-end talent?

It shouldn’t matter how much time and AFL funds go into the Sydney academy.

McLachlan only needed to track back to 2009 to get the appropriate information to see this idea as a poor one. Or maybe it’s part of a broader and uglier deal to soften the blow of COLA?

Either way, it’s a stinker.

AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan and Callum Mills before the 2016 AFL Rising Star. Source: Getty Images

Let’s look at the 2009 AFL national draft.

At pick No.3, Richmond took Dustin Martin, who on Thursday night won his club’s best and fairest award. A ball magnet with a creative flair in the forward half, you could argue this boy is now a top-10 player in the game.

Now let’s swap him with the below players — because that seems a fair thing to do.

— Anthony Long at pick No. 33 (delisted)

— Joel Houghton at 36 (delisted),

— Jamie Macmillan at 37 (a very serviceable half back-wing for North Melbourne), and

— Marcus Davies at 43 (delisted).

If you are a Sydney supporter and can’t see the injustice for league-wide equality in this, you are a delusional mess.

There is no question Mills was a worthy winner of the Rising Star award. The boy is a silky decision-maker who has already made the Sydney defence a smoother and more efficient place to be. Rhys who I hear you say?

Take nothing away from Mills, he is a bona-fide star.

But he should be playing at Melbourne or Brisbane.

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