WolfgangV
Debutant
- May 19, 2017
- 127
- 125
- AFL Club
- Melbourne
- Other Teams
- All Blacks, Darebin Falcons
To be honest I think our club seem so seething with anger at the moment I wouldn't be surprised at any outcome with this situation. I've never seen this level of resentment and anger from 1) playing group 2) Head of Football 3) CEO, over a player trying on what Lever is.
I'm wondering if there is a lot more behind this. Lever is, from all we can tell, above all keen to return home to Victoria, and this could be a vital factor here. Of the 44 players on the Crows list this year, only 12 are from South Australia (22 are Victorians). At last year's draft, of the 80 players taken by the 18 clubs, only four were from SA (plus one "NT/SA"). Bottom line - SA just isn't producing AFL footballers, and as a result the Crows are becoming very reliant on drafting players from other states. Every time a player "returns home" it further establishes this as a viable and acceptable path - get drafted to the Crows, but after a contract or two, right when you are coming into your prime, you return to Victoria (or WA, NSW, etc.) I'm wondering if this is something the Crows hierarchy is fearing, hence the strong reaction from the club.
Obviously players wanting to return home is a concern for every club, but the Crows are more exposed than most - even GWS has more NSW players on its list than the Crows have South Australians!