The MLR Draft And What Players Need to Remember
The MLR Draft And What Players Need to Remember
Over 170 student-athletes are going through the Major League Draft process this week—most will find out what happens on Thursday, but in fact the picks have already been made.
If a player coming out of college wants to be considered for an MLR team for the beginning of the 2023 season, they need to go through the draft process, so even a player with a low profile who, frankly, has no chance of being drafted, needs to declare for the draft.
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Many don't declare, however, and that's OK, too. The plan then would be a) to not play professional rugby and go pursue another career and maybe play men's club rugby, or b) pick a team and a city and move there, get settled, playing locally or with the MLR team's academy, and when the season is about half over or, more likely, at the beginning of the season after, can sign.
Here's the rule from the MLR website: "Players who are eligible but do not declare for the draft will not be eligible to play in MLR until the next competitive MLR season after their eligibility expires. ( MLR may, at its sole and absolute discretion, choose to grant a waiver for entry into MLR no early (sic) than after season’s mid-point. These are evaluated on a case by case basis)"
So what we think this means is, the if you don't declare for the draft this year, your eligibility to be signed if you had gone through the draft would be midway through the 2023 season. That would mean you couldn't sign until the 2024 season. However, the MLR can change its mind on that at any time.
Players Declare for the Draft as Juniors
Why would you do this? One reason is that you want to leave early and sign for the 2023 season and you know you only have a couple of credits you need to finish up to get your degree. If you're thinking of leaving early without a degree, that would be what, in technical terms, is called "a stupid idea."
A more common reason players go through the draft with eligibility left is to "test the waters." This is also silly in that it is very unlikely that a team will spend a draft pick on a player who isn't committed to playing. However, it is possible that a team might want to Larry Bird someone (as in, draft the player as a junior and then wait until spring of 2023 to sign him). The deadline looks to be early April (midway through the season but they don't specify whether that includes the playoffs or not). So you'd need to sign before spring graduation ... however it's possible to sign if you don't worry about 7s and you 15s were done in the fall.
Don't Negotiate Early
It's not being in the draft that kills your eligibility, it's getting an agent or negotiating with a team that kills your eligibility. That is why (one of the reasons, anyway) Major League Rugby instituted the draft, to stop teams jumping the gun and hurting college teams by talking to players during the season.
So advice for players—if you still want to keep your eligibility, say for the fall, don't negotiate until you're done playing.
The Pay Sucks
You have no guarantee of any decent money. Here's what Major League Rugby says about that:
"Once a player is drafted, the specifics of each contract, including type, compensation amounts, and term, will be negotiated between the League, team, and the player, once the player completes his collegiate eligibility."
There are two types of contract:
Standard Player Contract – Salaried, fixed term
Associate Player Contract – Hourly wage
Now ... call us crazy, but consider the rule that players must be willing to relocate to any MLR team if he is draft. (Actually, he doesn't have to; he just has to hold out until the middle of the next season and he's a free agent). But if a player does follow this somewhat forced move, he should at the very least have a minimum salaried contract for two or three years. Let's say three. There should at least be a minimum for a first-rounder, and there isn't.
Being drafted and then being told you need to move and you find out you get a part-time contract isn't really a good deal. That's partly why players are sometimes drafted based on where they live—if they are local to the team then they don't have to spend the money to move, and can probably figure out a low-cost living situation more easily as they get started.
Hope You Didn't Get Drafted
If you go through the process and your eligibility is done, you're now an undrafted free agent, and can pick who you want to sign with. Then what you do is choose where you want to live, get your career started, set down roots, and then work to get the part-time pro thing going as well. That gives you a much better platform from which to launch your figurative attack plan on adulthood.
So look at the videos, look at hte player names, and follow the draft. There will be players who are drafted who become regular starters and hugely successful rugby players, but there will also be players who need some time, and if they're smart, they will set things up so that they have time.
