One trend that seems to be consistent amongst non-Victorian clubs that are genuinely challenging for the premiership these days is the recruitment of talent from your home state - whether it be through the draft, trades or free agency. Prelim finalists Brisbane have done a really good job of recruiting the right Queenslanders like Charlie Cameron, Eric Hipwood, Harris Andrews and Keidean Coleman to put themselves in a position to genuinely compete for a flag. Fellow prelim finalists Sydney have done the same with local players like Callum Mills, Isaac Heeney, Nick Blakey and Errol Gulden taking the team forward. Even semifinalists Fremantle went about doing the same thing by recruited WA talents like Rory Lobb, Griffin Logue, Jye Amiss and we should be able to add Luke Jackson to that list soon.
It's these local talents that have really pushed the non-Victorian teams mentioned above into the territory of genuinely competing for a flag. Sure, Buddy Franklin and Lachie Neale are superstars but it takes 22 players to win a flag and it's the emergence of these local talents that have turned things around for the three clubs mentioned above. It seems that if you build a solid core of talents from your home state then that holds you in really good stead to genuinely compete for a flag and once you get to a certain point you get the opportunity to bring in other big name players like Lachie Neale, Joe Daniher and Buddy Franklin as well but the core of talent definitely seems to be more homegrown these days.
I think we made a really good start of this process last year when we brought Mabior Chol home to Queensland and you could even go back to recruiting Lachie Weller if you wanted an earlier start date. I guess you could also argue we've tried to do something similar this year by targeting NT players like Dan Rioli and Ben Long. Next year is when it should really go into overdrive with Jed Walter, Jake Rogers and Ethan Reid all potentially being first round picks. There aren't many other talented Queenslanders in the AFL that don't already play for one of the QLD teams other than Noah Cumberland and Bailey Scott so I think we have to focus on the draft/our academy for the time being but this tactical list build seems to be very consistent amongst the teams that compete for the premiership these days and I hope our recruiting staff are prioritising this to some degree.
It's these local talents that have really pushed the non-Victorian teams mentioned above into the territory of genuinely competing for a flag. Sure, Buddy Franklin and Lachie Neale are superstars but it takes 22 players to win a flag and it's the emergence of these local talents that have turned things around for the three clubs mentioned above. It seems that if you build a solid core of talents from your home state then that holds you in really good stead to genuinely compete for a flag and once you get to a certain point you get the opportunity to bring in other big name players like Lachie Neale, Joe Daniher and Buddy Franklin as well but the core of talent definitely seems to be more homegrown these days.
I think we made a really good start of this process last year when we brought Mabior Chol home to Queensland and you could even go back to recruiting Lachie Weller if you wanted an earlier start date. I guess you could also argue we've tried to do something similar this year by targeting NT players like Dan Rioli and Ben Long. Next year is when it should really go into overdrive with Jed Walter, Jake Rogers and Ethan Reid all potentially being first round picks. There aren't many other talented Queenslanders in the AFL that don't already play for one of the QLD teams other than Noah Cumberland and Bailey Scott so I think we have to focus on the draft/our academy for the time being but this tactical list build seems to be very consistent amongst the teams that compete for the premiership these days and I hope our recruiting staff are prioritising this to some degree.
jks
