List Mgmt. 2023 GWS Giants List Management - Academy, Free Agent, Trade, Draft

[Giant Strides]

Trade Period, October 6–18

• Restricted & Unrestricted Free Agency Period: Friday, October 6, 9am – Friday October 13, 5pm (bid matching ends Monday October 16, 5pm)
• Trade Period (1), picks & players: Monday, October 9, 9am – Wednesday October 18, 7.30pm

Quiet Period, October 19–November 20

• Trade Period (2), picks only: Monday, October 23, 9am – Friday November 10, 5pm
• List Lodgement 1*: Tuesday, October 31, 2pm
• Delisted Free Agency Period (1): Wednesday, November 1, 9am – Wednesday November 8, 5pm
• Delisted Free Agency Period (2): Friday, November 10, 9am–5pm
• List Lodgement 2*: Tuesday, November 14, 2pm

Here's the list of GWS players who are out of contract in 2023 (I'll progressively cross them out as they re-sign):

• Lachie ASH
• Callan WARD (Free Agent)
• Brayden PREUSS
• Tom GREEN
• Finn CALLAGHAN
• Lachlan KEEFFE (Free Agent)
• Jake RICCARDI
• Harry HIMMELBERG (Free Agent)
• Cam FLEETON - delisted (25/9/23)
• Matt FLYNN (Free Agent) - signed by West Coast as an Unrestricted Free Agent
• Xavier O'HALLORAN
• Jack BUCKLEY
• Callum BROWN

Rookie lists:

• Phil DAVIS (Free Agent) - retiring at end of 2023 season
• Jacob WEHR (Free agent)
• Dan LLOYD (Free Agent) - retiring at end of 2023 season
• Cooper HAMILTON
• Wade DERKSEN
• Nick MADDEN (Cat B) - assumed re-signed due to 2 sources of info
• Jason GILBEE (Cat B) - delisted (25/9/23)

Current list sizes (for when we get to list/draft/trade speculation):

• main list = 36 minus 3 (Fleeton, Flynn + Kennedy delisted with a view to be re-selected in the rookie draft)
• rookie A = 6 minus 2 (Davis, Lloyd)
• rookie B = 2 minus 1 (Gilbee)
• total = 44 minus 5

This is the future pick spreadsheet that comes into play only at trade time, as future picks are used in end of season (2023) trading:


Here's the 2023 AFL Academy Squad, so these (roughly) represent the best players for next year as they stand now:

2023 NAB AFL ACADEMY​

NAME	SURNAME	STATE	STATE LEAGUE CLUB	COMMUNITY CLUB
Lachlan	Cabor	NSW/ACT	Sydney Swans Academy	Shellharbour
Nate	Caddy	VIC M	Northern Knights	Yarrambat
Jack	Callinan	TAS	Tasmania Devils	Clarence
Caiden	Cleary	NSW/ACT	Sydney Swans Academy	Sydney University
Daniel	Curtin	WA	Claremont	West Coast
Jack	Delean	SA	South Adelaide	Reynella
Zane	Duursma	VIC C	Gippsland Power	Foster
Mitchell	Edwards	WA	Peel Thunder	South Mandurah
William	Green	VIC M	Northern Knights	Northcote
Riley	Hardeman	WA	Swan Districts	Caversham
William	Lorenz	VIC M	Oakleigh Chargers	Boroondara Hawks
Kane	McAuliffe	SA	North Adelaide	Central Augusta
Colby	McKercher	TAS	Tasmania Devils	Launceston
Ashton	Moir	SA	Glenelg	Plympton
Connor	O'Sullivan	NSW/ACT	Murray Bushrangers	Albury
William	Patton	SA	West Adelaide	Mitcham
Nathan	Philactides	VIC M	Oakleigh Chargers	Blackburn
Ethan	Read	QLD	Gold Coast Suns Academy	Palm Beach Currumbin
Archer	Reid	VIC C	Gippsland Power	Inverloch-Kongwak
Harley	Reid	VIC C	Bendigo Pioneers	Tongala
Archie	Roberts	VIC M	Sandringham Dragons	Hampton Rovers
Jake	Rogers	QLD	Gold Coast Suns Academy	Broadbeach
Ryley	Sanders	TAS	Sandringham Dragons	North Launceston
Cooper	Simpson	VIC C	Dandenong Stingrays	Mount Martha
George	Stevens	VIC C	GWV Rebels	South Warrnambool
Koltyn	Tholstrup	WA	Subiaco	Newtown-Condingup
Orlando	Turner	NT	West Adelaide	South Alice Springs
Jed	Walter	QLD	Gold Coast Suns Academy	Palm Beach Currumbin
Nick	Watson	VIC M	Eastern Ranges	East Ringwood
Darcy	Wilson	VIC C	Murray Bushrangers	Wangaratta Rovers

Happy speculating for 2023!

EDIT: 11/12/22 - Added Free Agent status to OOC player list
EDIT: 24/2/23 - Crossed out Tom Green

12

Tom Green

Age

23

Ht

192cm

Wt

92kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

11.5

3star

K

4.3

2star

HB

7.3

5star

M

1.8

2star

T

2.3

4star

CL

2.8

4star

D

11.5

3star

K

4.3

2star

HB

7.3

4star

M

1.8

2star

T

2.3

3star

CL

2.8

4star

D

11.5

3star

K

4.3

2star

HB

7.3

5star

M

1.8

2star

T

2.3

4star

CL

2.8

5star

from OOC player list! (Woo Hoo!!) & Added 2023 Coates Talent League Fixture Link
EDIT: 27/2/23 - Crossed out Finn Callaghan from OOC player list! (Woo Hoo Hoo!!!)
EDIT: 27/4/23 - Crossed out Jacob Wehr from OOC player list
EDIT: 10/5/23 - Crossed out Jack Buckley from OOC player list
EDIT: 9/7/23 - Crossed out Callum Brown from OOC player list
EDIT: 18/7/23 - Crossed out Lachie Ash from OOC player list
EDIT: 20/7/23 - Crossed out Xavier O'Halloran from OOC player list
EDIT: 3/8/23 - Crossed out Harry Himmelberg from OOC player list
EDIT: 9/8/23 - Crossed out Wade Derksen from OOC player list
EDIT: 17/8/23 - Noted Dan Lloyd retiring at end of season
EDIT: 19/8/23 - Crossed out Jake Riccardi from OOC player list
EDIT: 28/8/23 - Noted Phil Davis

1

Phil Davis

Age

34

Ht

197cm

Wt

94kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

13.0

3star

K

7.6

3star

HB

5.4

4star

M

5.2

5star

T

1.7

4star

MG

55.5

1star

D

8.5

2star

K

4.4

2star

HB

4.1

3star

M

3.4

3star

T

1.3

2star

MG

55.5

1star

D

14.0

4star

K

8.0

3star

HB

6.0

4star

M

5.8

5star

T

1.4

4star

retiring at end of season
EDIT: 25/9/23 - Noted Cam Fleeton & Jason Gilbee delisted
EDIT: 4/10/23 - Noted Flynn, Preuss & Keeffe situations
EDIT: 9/10/23 - Updated Flynn to WCE, removed Preuss from OOC player list
EDIT: 12/10/23 - Updated Madden with 2 sources of information
EDIT: 19/10/23 - Updated Keeffe & Hamilton re-signed
EDIT: 31/10/23 - adjusted main list numbers with Adam Kennedy

40

Adam Kennedy

Age

32

Ht

183cm

Wt

80kg

Pos.

D/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

14.9

4star

K

8.4

3star

HB

6.5

4star

M

4.4

4star

T

1.8

4star

MG

245.6

4star

D

1.0

1star

K

1.0

1star

HB

0.0

1star

M

0.0

1star

T

0.0

1star

MG

10.0

1star

D

18.6

5star

K

9.8

4star

HB

8.8

5star

M

4.0

4star

T

1.4

4star

delisting (with a view to be re-selected in rookie draft)

 

[Maximus 2011]

Sometimes I think I share this sentiment, but then i think a little more on the matter. So let's unpack a few things:

We've already got an incredibly young team, with a large number of people on our list with less than 20 AFL games to their name (I.e. less than a season of experience). We've got HEAPS with less than 10. We're also clearly going back to the draft with a strong hand next year. So more kids.

I agree, we need to get games into the kids, but we're playing a new structure, and we struggle with injuries. The only way to get some consistency to how we play is by having a core to the team... Just playing the kids doesn't necessary mean good 'practice' if they are getting smashed, or don't have a structure to fit into. The coaches can only do so much from the sidelines, they need some experienced players; heads and bodies, on the field to lead by example. Without Ward being able to slip back into the midfield when we lost Kelly/Whitfield/Perryman in game 1. Without some of those 'cooler' heads in those final 5 minutes, would we have got it done?

How important was that win... imagine how much worse we'd all be feeling (let alone inside the club) if we're 0-4. Experience (in part) won us that game, which won us some confidence/pride.

So, on Harry:
1. We don't know he's going at the end of the year?! You ready to just let him go?
2. Hogan can't physically play a full season yet. It's round 5, and we had to take Cadman last week just incase Hogan wasn't fit.
3. Harry is a different kind of forward to the others (as has been discussed elsewhere). He blocks a lot. He leads differently to the other talls (granted, this can be frustrating)
4. You lose HH/Hogan, and think about how many games our talls have. Ricca, the next most capped, is hardly going to lead by example, so we're presuming our young guys can do it all?
5. The Briggs thing confuses me. I feel like people know things about him I don't.

I've said it several times, I don't think Harry is ever going to be our number 1 KPF, but he's a damn good foil. Kicked our third highest number of goals last year, and played a third of the season down back. Similarly high number of goal assists (2nd or 3rd. He is also the clubs 3rd highest goal scorer of all time!!! Still young, a generation younger than the current top 5-6, just joined the leadership group for the first time (along with Perryman). I don't think now is the time to give up on him AT ALL. Also, just kicked 3 goals from pretty average service last game.

Taking a step back from HH, and to the broader sentiment of make way for youth Giant Pete would you bench Kennedy, Lloyd and toughest of all Ward for the rest of the season too?

1. yes
2. I would like to see us play 2 ruckmen and the resting ruckman would play forward bringing the ball to ground.
3. A different kind of forward? I have nothing against the guy we just need someone who is going to actually hold their ground and create a contest to bring our small into the game.
4. Ricardi is not AFL standard. Yes, I know we need someone to replace these players but you look at the 2017 Richmond premiership team and they had Riewoldt as their main forward with Caddy / Townsend as their CHF. Essentially relying on smalls to kick all their goals.
5. All Briggs needs to do is create a contest and not be out marked.

Sure Harry kicked our 3rd most goals last year with a whopping 22 goals. To me he is not a forward. That's all I am saying. Either we keep playing him forward and get 25-35 goals for the year out of him and watch his value on the trade market decrease or we slide him back in to the backlines and maximise his foot skills (cause god knows Ash and Whitfield need help back there at the moment in that regard) and get his value up before he leaves.

I think ultimately we draft another key forward at the end of the year to partner Cadman going forward.

I look at a team like Melbourne who I regard as the best in the league and they don't really have fantastic talls in their forward line. I think we can do without playing 3 talls and score from our smalls.

 

[Giant Pete]

For those that are arguing the case for HH using the fact that he’s more a third forward type… then we shouldn’t be offering large money to retain him.

 

[PaythePerryman]

For those that are arguing the case for HH using the fact that he’s more a third forward type… then we shouldn’t be offering large money to retain him.

I can understand this.
If the market price pushes him up to being 700k a year or so....then we probably have to let him go.
I think teams would pay 600/700k for an All Australian style rebounding/intercept defender.
Would they pay that if they could only play him forward? Nope.

It's a weird spot we are in with Haynes being on such a large contract and having no flexibility.
If Buckley, Taylor or Haynes went down surely we would push him back immediately. Leek is also an option there.

We just need more quality forwards.
I really like the way Himmel plays both positions to be fair but what other teams saw when he went back will make him a big target for teams like St Kilda.

We have been hamstrung by our big contracts. Especially the ones that were signed on our premiership run. Gotta do what you gotta do sometimes but I'd rather pay Callaghan/Green/Cadman/Ash/Taylor going forward

 

[PaythePerryman]

Also Hogan has to be one of the best Value Pickups in the league right now

 

[dlanod]

For those that are arguing the case for HH using the fact that he’s more a third forward type… then we shouldn’t be offering large money to retain him.

McStay was a prototypical second forward, got about $650k pa. Lobb was a second forward/ruck, got about $700k pa. Cam McCarthy got offered insane money. Second (or third) talls get pretty big money these days, and have one of the worst returns on investment if poaching off another team.

 

[PMBangers]

Game Day - AFL Academy v Port Adelaide SANFL April 15th @4PM ACST

https://www.afl.com.au/news/902577/2023-draft-guns-on-show-in-afl-academy-v-port-adelaide-sanfl-clash Game will be live streamed on the AFL website # NAME SURNAME STATE STATE LEAGUE CLUB COMMUNITY CLUB 1 Nick Watson VIC M Eastern Ranges East Ringwood 2 Jack Callinan TAS...

www.bigfooty.com

AFL Academy (Draft eligible prospects) v Port SANFL tomorrow after the North v Brisbane match, given we're likely to have 2 top 10 picks I assume there'll be a few keen eyes on the game. A lot of the top enders appeal to our list needs so none that are really specifically 'ones to watch' above others, but my dream is still a Zane Duursma and Archer Reid combo come draft time

 

[PaythePerryman]

Game Day - AFL Academy v Port Adelaide SANFL April 15th @4PM ACST

https://www.afl.com.au/news/902577/2023-draft-guns-on-show-in-afl-academy-v-port-adelaide-sanfl-clash Game will be live streamed on the AFL website # NAME SURNAME STATE STATE LEAGUE CLUB COMMUNITY CLUB 1 Nick Watson VIC M Eastern Ranges East Ringwood 2 Jack Callinan TAS...

www.bigfooty.com

AFL Academy (Draft eligible prospects) v Port SANFL tomorrow after the North v Brisbane match, given we're likely to have 2 top 10 picks I assume there'll be a few keen eyes on the game. A lot of the top enders appeal to our list needs so none that are really specifically 'ones to watch' above others, but my dream is still a Zane Duursma and Archer Reid combo come draft time

Blimey that would be incredible.

 

[Giant Strides]

A lot of the top enders appeal to our list needs so none that are really specifically 'ones to watch' above others, but my dream is still a Zane Duursma and Archer Reid combo come draft time

What are your thoughts on Nick Watson versus Zane Duursma?

 

[PMBangers]

What are your thoughts on Nick Watson versus Zane Duursma?

Watson is the most talented player in the crop, I'd have no issue with us picking him over anyone but Harley Reid, but with how we've traditionally set up our forward 6 I don't think he'd appeal that much. We seem locked in to playing 3 talls, Toby as a pseudo tall, and then one sub 180cm forward + another medium forward (Stone, Peatling, Lloyd, etc.). Now I think Watson would instantly be our best small forward, probably our best forward overall after Toby, but I wonder where that'd leave Daniels, Bedford and Jones in the long run.

Whereas Duursma has a clearer path into our 23, he'd be an upgrade on all the medium options up forward, and long term I could see him as our Kelly successor through the midfield (Both clean skills, hard workers, arguably do their best work on the outside) but with greater scope to impact as a resting forward as well, and right now I think that's a bigger need for us both short and long term than another small forward, although admittedly even with all that I'm still 50/50 on it, it's a no lose situation in terms of the talent you're bringing onto the list.

I think overall for where we're at, Duursma would be the choice though, Watson is fantastic but at the end of the day almost certainly just going to be a small forward, not to undervalue them of course, but I see that as more of a 'cherry on top' once you've got your more core pieces set in place

 

[MelbourneGWS]

Himmelberg and the club both don’t seem to be in a rush to renew? Before the season, I would have thought that Ash and HH would be the priorities after Green and Callaghan. Now, whilst we would still like them to re-sign, Buckley and a couple of others are higher priorities?

GWS Giants free agent forward Harry Himmelberg not rushing contract decision

"It’s something I don’t really want to be focusing on this early in the season".

www.zerohanger.com

 

[Giant Pete]

I reckon he’s gone for sure.

 

[Colonial]

I reckon he’s gone for sure.

I agree and I think the club isn’t overly upset over it.

 

[Giant Gutsache]

I agree and I think the club isn’t overly upset over it.

Yep. The salary cap remains a mess.
They’d rather a good player walk than having the public be reminded how badly they’ve screwed it up.

 

[Colonial]

Yep. The salary cap remains a mess.
They’d rather a good player walk than having the public be reminded how badly they’ve screwed it up.

Is he good though? He hasn’t taken on the role of a leader in the fwds that was given to him.

As for the cap, no better or worse than a lot of other clubs. Should we of let TFG, Green, Kelly etc etc all walk?

 

[Giant Pete]

What we can learn from the Tigers at the moment is the importance of speed and run to the turnover based gamestyle. They thought they needed more inside presence, and overlooked how much run and speed they’ve lost over the last few years.
This misunderstanding has clearly been to their detriment in my opinion.

At the moment we don’t have the balance right. I look forward to when we have Jones, Bedford and Daniels in the same lineup.

 

[Giant Pete]

Himmelberg and the club both don’t seem to be in a rush to renew? Before the season, I would have thought that Ash and HH would be the priorities after Green and Callaghan. Now, whilst we would still like them to re-sign, Buckley and a couple of others are higher priorities?

GWS Giants free agent forward Harry Himmelberg not rushing contract decision

"It’s something I don’t really want to be focusing on this early in the season".

www.zerohanger.com

Buckley over HH for sure.

 

[Giant Gutsache]

Is he good though? He hasn’t taken on the role of a leader in the fwds that was given to him.

As for the cap, no better or worse than a lot of other clubs. Should we have let TFG, Green, Kelly etc etc all walk?

I guess I don’t take comfort from knowing there are other clubs that haven't managed their salary cap so well either . To me it’s a bit like being okay with finishing 16th because there are other teams just as bad.
Of course you don’t let all your best players walk. Keep in mind Cameron, Taranto, Hopper, Hill and Caldwell represent quite a lot of talent to have walked over the past couple of years anyway.

 

[Colonial]

I guess I don’t take comfort from knowing there are other clubs that haven't managed their salary cap so well either . To me it’s a bit like being okay with finishing 16th because there are other teams just as bad.
Of course you don’t let all your best players walk. Keep in mind Cameron, Taranto, Hopper, Hill and Caldwell represent quite a lot of talent to have walked over the past couple of years anyway.

Cameron was always going after the disaster that was covid.
Taranto and Hopper aren’t killing it and we had to much inside.
Hill wanted out for family reasons
Caldwell was/is a mummy’s boy.

 

[Giant Strides]

I feel that people don't understand the fundamental nature of the salary cap problem in Sydney.

Non-AFL market, so less opportunities outside of the actual contract for additional $ value, and not "home" for the majority of the players drafted. Add in that Sydney is an expensive place to live, and it's clear that it is more difficult to retain drafted players or attract good players to the club. Even if the financial whizzes do the optimal job of creating salary tiers & not overpaying, the problem is that any Vic, SA or WA club can pay less than that in contract $ but deliver more in value to a player (through third party contracts, marketing opportunities, simply being at home amongst mates, or the possibility of "underhanded" payments). So there's a clear possibility that sticking to a plan of not overpaying sees players depart GWS regularly. Cogs to Hawks, Kelly to Norths etc etc.

So, the risk is that we continually lose our best guys because they can always get more elsewhere. And with 10 Victorian clubs (plus SA, WA) each club would only need to make one "above the tier" offer every 10 years, and GWS loses 1 gun each and every year.

People (especially those who dislike the expansion/non-traditional clubs) will always point to "culture" and "buy in" and "winning flags", and that is true as an element in this discussion. But as someone in the industry has said in the past, "culture doesn't put food on the table, or a roof over your head". Now, to be clear, it's not a basic issue about food and housing, but the point is essentially that any player is looking at the $ that they can generate for themselves over their career.

GWS has made a clear decision to keep some of the players they perceive as the "best", by paying above the tier and getting them above the extra inducements that home/Victorian clubs can offer. At the time, that core of Greene, Coniglio, Kelly, Whitfield, Haynes (although part of that is COVID-induced AFAIU) and I daresay Cameron was pretty reasonable to assume they would continue to develop and play well - with that aspect providing an inducement to younger players to re-sign and stay with them. And of course, there's the journeymen that are important to all clubs for the value they provide in capability beyond their pure $ (for us, Dan Lloyd, Lachie Keeffe and probably Adam Kennedy

40

Adam Kennedy

Age

32

Ht

183cm

Wt

80kg

Pos.

D/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

14.9

4star

K

8.4

3star

HB

6.5

4star

M

4.4

4star

T

1.8

4star

MG

245.6

4star

D

1.0

1star

K

1.0

1star

HB

0.0

1star

M

0.0

1star

T

0.0

1star

MG

10.0

1star

D

18.6

5star

K

9.8

4star

HB

8.8

5star

M

4.0

4star

T

1.4

4star

). (I feel that Cameron was a case of really bad timing for COVID to strike, and without that, he probably stays.)

Having NSW-born players has also proven to be not as useful as hoped - at least yet. Part of that problem IMHO is because they aren't Sydney-born players, and hence less attraction to staying with GWS being in Sydney, because they're still away from their family and mates - so many will be happy to move to Melbourne or elsewhere for extra $ or opportunity (Hopper, Steele, Bruce etc). GWS needs them to be satisfied to stay at GWS for less than their salary tier - to help the overall situation - but that hasn't necessarily eventuated.

What that means is that players in the second and third tiers are getting paid less than their salary tier in order to balance those bigger contracts. Which is why kids coming through into their second or third contract - e.g. Caldwell, Hately, Bruhn - will jump ship to a home club that can pay the same $ as we're offering, or a little more. It's a clear choice for GWS - lose stars, or lose second/third/developing tier players.

And that's where HH sits IMHO. If the market is reasonably prepared to throw $ at him above his salary tier, we need him to reject that and stay for at least his actual tier, if not less (desirably). But as dlanod pointed out, second and third talls seem to attract $ above their actual output. If we pay him what other clubs are offering, then we're falling into the trap that people are saying we have to avoid - of overpaying players. I like HH, but we need to be realistic about what his value to the team is. His most goals in a year is 38, at best he is 1.5 goals a game, and his best work is really done in a mobile role. For comparison, Hogan is around a 2 goal per game guy, Cameron was a 2.5 to 3 goal a game guy. For what Hogan is probably being paid (because of his circumstances), he's a bargain for GWS and someone we need. A bit like the movie "Moneyball", ignore what he can't do, focus on what he can do.

Anyway, Victorians want to ignore this problem and the fundamental advantage they have in the player market - it suits them to be able to laugh at interstate clubs and proclaim loftily that it's "culture". People are now saying "must keep Tom Green

12

Tom Green

Age

23

Ht

192cm

Wt

92kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

11.5

3star

K

4.3

2star

HB

7.3

5star

M

1.8

2star

T

2.3

4star

CL

2.8

4star

D

11.5

3star

K

4.3

2star

HB

7.3

4star

M

1.8

2star

T

2.3

3star

CL

2.8

4star

D

11.5

3star

K

4.3

2star

HB

7.3

5star

M

1.8

2star

T

2.3

4star

CL

2.8

5star

", so "pay him more". OK, I agree, but that's the same situation as we were in with Cogs, Kelly, Whitfield etc. We are assuming that Tom continues to develop. If we pay him big bucks and he doesn't continue to develop - for whatever reason - then you get a situation that say people would say we're in with Cogs and Whitfield (which personally I think is debatable) and then people will be saying "stupid GWS for overpaying for Tom Green

12

Tom Green

Age

23

Ht

192cm

Wt

92kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

11.5

3star

K

4.3

2star

HB

7.3

5star

M

1.8

2star

T

2.3

4star

CL

2.8

4star

D

11.5

3star

K

4.3

2star

HB

7.3

4star

M

1.8

2star

T

2.3

3star

CL

2.8

4star

D

11.5

3star

K

4.3

2star

HB

7.3

5star

M

1.8

2star

T

2.3

4star

CL

2.8

5star

when they need to keep (next brilliant young player coming through)".

It is, IMHO, an intractable problem unless we can find the exact people who are prepared to stay for less $ and perform above that $ cost (which I think is fairytale kind of thinking), or VFL House understands the problem and acts to solve it by some means, which inevitably someone will proclaim as "unfair" because the solution is in a different dimension to the problem, or our academy starts churning out lots of high quality players whom we can get to replicate the Melbourne "home" factor (which IMHO would simply result in more Vic whinging and the academy turned off).

 

[PMBangers]

Had the absolute PLEASURE of watching our Academy side against Sandringham yesterday at Trevor Barker Oval. If you ever hear people complaining about Northern Academies again, please make them watch a replay of ours, Brisbane's or Sydney's at U18's level and you'll cease to hear complaints, I promise you that!

Our best prospect for this year in Harvey Thomas has been out injured for a couple of weeks, he's a minimal chance of going in the ND due to his size (175 cm midfielder) but is a super clean user by foot and hard at it despite a slight frame. Unless something dramatically changes I don't think we're taking any of our draft eligible products this year, with Charlie McCormack and Matt Brown the other two that trained with the AFL side over the pre season, Brown was virtually invisible (a bit harsh but I didn't note anything about him) and McCormack looked ok on the stats sheet kicking 3 goals, has some good athleticism and strong mark but falls over like a baby giraffe. Very skinny and very raw at the moment but has some scope, just not convinced it's as an AFL level player.

A couple of bottom agers showed a few good signs, Logan Smith is already 202 cm and took the bulk of the ruck duties for the game, held his own in ruck contests but has room for improvement in terms of impact around the ground, and Josaia Delana has some athleticism to him, looks to have a rugby background with his side steps and approach to tackles/ contested footy, execution by foot needs to be more consistent but showed some promising signs.

Sandy once again have the best draftable depth in the country, I'd say 16/17 of their 22 showed that, if you're going to watch any replays of Coates Talent League this year, make it a Sandy one

 

[Giant Pete]

Had the absolute PLEASURE of watching our Academy side against Sandringham yesterday at Trevor Barker Oval. If you ever hear people complaining about Northern Academies again, please make them watch a replay of ours, Brisbane's or Sydney's at U18's level and you'll cease to hear complaints, I promise you that!

Our best prospect for this year in Harvey Thomas has been out injured for a couple of weeks, he's a minimal chance of going in the ND due to his size (175 cm midfielder) but is a super clean user by foot and hard at it despite a slight frame. Unless something dramatically changes I don't think we're taking any of our draft eligible products this year, with Charlie McCormack and Matt Brown the other two that trained with the AFL side over the pre season, Brown was virtually invisible (a bit harsh but I didn't note anything about him) and McCormack looked ok on the stats sheet kicking 3 goals, has some good athleticism and strong mark but falls over like a baby giraffe. Very skinny and very raw at the moment but has some scope, just not convinced it's as an AFL level player.

A couple of bottom agers showed a few good signs, Logan Smith is already 202 cm and took the bulk of the ruck duties for the game, held his own in ruck contests but has room for improvement in terms of impact around the ground, and Josaia Delana has some athleticism to him, looks to have a rugby background with his side steps and approach to tackles/ contested footy, execution by foot needs to be more consistent but showed some promising signs.

Sandy once again have the best draftable depth in the country, I'd say 16/17 of their 22 showed that, if you're going to watch any replays of Coates Talent League this year, make it a Sandy one

Shouldn’t our academy be churning out better prospects?

 

[PMBangers]

Shouldn’t our academy be churning out better prospects?

God I wish

 

[Colonial]

I feel more needs to be done in Western Sydney, place is so big and populated (and unusually talented for sport) surely we can get a pipeline going. Been over 10 years now.

 

[BarryAglett]

Westfield Sports High school has an Aussie Rules program. Not sure how long it's been running.

 

[Andre the Giant]

I feel more needs to be done in Western Sydney, place is so big and populated (and unusually talented for sport) surely we can get a pipeline going. Been over 10 years now.

You’re right, the Swans, regardless of whether we loathe them have built an excellent system. Rather than whinging we need to put time and resources into developing that very prolific area. It’s difficult but if we get it right there is such a pool of talent. The AFL needs to lead this.