Each method has its advantages and disadvantages.
The NRL methodology has as its core philosophy that once "next year" is sorted out, the Rugby League professionals can then devote their full attention to the season at hand.
The advantages of this system are clear. The following year is sorted out, contracts are signed and put in the vault, that whole worry-some issue is put to bed, the athletes and their family (if married / partnered with children) have security for their immediate future.
The coaching personnel are also at an advantage in that their players have the following year out of their minds in the sense they can focus on the current season and put in "the big effort".
The disadvantages are also clearly identified, in that an athlete in a poor performing team can kind of take it a bit easier, especially toward the end of the latter part of the season, so as to avoid injury for the new club for the following year. Coaches don't want an injured yet contracted footballer coming across from another club. There is some realism here.
The AFL system also has significant advantages in that every effort needs to be made by a footballer as scouts are out there every week watching. A footballer that drops 100% effort is suspect and when the draft comes, along with the contract, and the big dollars, these things are not unnoticed.
The club colours for that season become imperative. Loyalty is undisputed. Not a word is said about the following season's possibilities, all focus is on the following match.
There are disadvantages also, in that a footballer uncertain about their future may be more prone to be anxious and therefore make abnormal mistakes and likewise have family concerns and issues about their welfare and continuing income.
So what is the better way to go? What are the lesser of two evils in this dog-eat-dog world of contractual formalities for a footballer's following year.
AIS Chaplain Reverend Peter Nelson has told this story at a number of functions as it also fits well with the scenario above (AFL – NRL draft methodologies).
This is the story he tells: "Two executive professionals were talking, and one said to the other that in the higher echelons of the Public Service, it's a "dog-eat-dog" world. And in the upper levels of Corporate world it's just the opposite."