Exploring the skill of recruiting in the Australian Football League

The present study was designed to explore the skill of recruiting in the professional Australian Football League, with a particular interest in the approach to decision making and information processing. The research design utilised semi-structured interviews and a survey instrument. A total of 12 participants comprised of 11 active head recruiters representing 11 Australian Football League Clubs, and one former expert Australian Football League recruiter undertook semi-structured, in-depth interviews to provide insight into recruitment decision making. Additionally, all participants completed a survey determining preferences for intuitive and deliberative decision-making styles. A model created represents the identification of four influential factors in the recruitment approach including (a) recruiter background; (b) recruiter attributes; (c) recruiter understanding of team needs and (d) recruiter-coach relationship. In particular, recruiters revealed that the style of decision making they use is influenced by the relationship with the head coach. Recruiting as a stand-alone position is not well understood. This work shows that both intuition and deliberation are used, the extent to which appears to be influenced by the recruiter-coach relationship. This work offers a strong base to further explore recruiting and talent identification in professional sport, and, particularly, how relationships influence decision style and performance.