List Mgmt. Next Generation Academy Discussion

[shinboner magic]

Have we got any likely nga draftees this year

 

[giantroo]

Match Review boss hits back at tackle ‘confusion’; why expanded finals looms large — Talking Pts

Match Review boss hits back at tackle ‘confusion’; why expanded finals looms large — Talking Pts

www.foxsports.com.au

AFL’S ADMISSION ON WHY DRAFT ‘RORT’ MUST RETURN

An intriguing admission from AFL executive general manager Laura Kane has shone a spotlight on the return of a controversial draft rule.

We have written before about the problem of the AFL’s dual purposes - running a football league, and running football itself - and how they can come into conflict.

And once again, it’s the academy systems at the centre of the debate; though this time it’s not about the northern states, but everyone else instead.

It was widely reported last week the AFL will return to the Next Generation Academy rules of a few years ago, with clubs given full draft access to players tied to them who are from under-represented segments of the community or have a diverse background.


This system notably allowed the Western Bulldogs to land Indigenous prospect Jamarra Ugle-Hagan with the No.1 pick in 2020, despite not owning that pick - instead using six picks between 29 and 54 to match Adelaide’s bid at the top of the order.

The outcry at this unusual access to the top prospect in the pool saw the AFL tweak the rules, first so that NGA bids couldn’t be made or matched in the top 20, then in the top 40 - which in turn has sparked an outcry from clubs who’ve missed out on players they’ve helped to develop (or, in a more cynical view, players they would’ve had bargain-price access to but don’t any more).

This system reversion will, in the short term, most benefit Essendon who will gain access to prospective first-round small forward Isaac Kako.






A potential top-10 pick, Kako’s parents are from Iraq; not exactly a prime part of the world for footy talent in years gone by. His entry into the AFL would add diversity to the game, but now he’s almost certain to join the Bombers because he’s in their catchment area.

Except it’s not as if Essendon is the reason Kako is into footy (other than perhaps being a fan of them), as he explained recently on SEN.


“I was already playing Aussie rules footy so it’s not like they (the Bombers) introduced me to the game - I’ve been playing since under-8s, under-9s, and football’s always been what I’ve loved doing from when I was a young kid,” Kako said.

“I think I’d still be playing AFL whether the Academy was there or not.”

As Brownlow medallist Gerard Healy put it to Laura Kane on SEN last Friday night, this is exactly the sort of “rort” footy officials have been frustrated with - a player who already would’ve been drafted by normal methods being handed to one specific club.

“It (this new system) must be different to the one your predecessor got rid of a couple of years ago, when most people thought it was a rort,” Healy said.

“I haven’t met one senior person in footy that doesn’t think it’s a rort.”

In response to the Kako situation, Kane said: “We don’t have any players from Iraq that I know of.


Healy replied: “But he’s been in the system already?

Kane said: “And we want more. We want more kids who see him as their hero, and young kids who have no way otherwise to interact with our game unless they see someone who looks like them, who’s from the same country or heritage or background as them, and it’s really important.

“So sure, there’ll be examples of players who’ve come through what we’d call the mainstream talent pathway, our job is to continue to make sure the game is accessible and that the game on field, coaching boxes, umpires, those on the bench tonight, look like the community and that’s something that we’re really strong on and we’ll push on with.”


And this is the key, as Kane put it - more diversity in the AFL.

This is an admirable goal, and important both for Australian society and for Australian football. Growing the game is a key target of AFL executives, and in the same way Australia has succeeded through multiculturalism, football will be better when everyone feels included. Representation at the top level helps build this.


But that goal does not necessarily help run the fairest professional sporting league possible, and this is where Kane seems to be suggesting a sacrifice needs to be made.

In effect, the AFL accepts that the Next Generation Academy system can have an unbalanced impact on competitive balance, because the long-term benefits are worth it.

“We need our game to reflect the community, and our community is changing. And I say to my team all the time, I want on the field to look like the lounge rooms that sit and watches our game, the people that stream through these gates tonight. And we continue to evolve with the changing face of Australia,” Kane said on SEN.

“So how do we do that? We develop, we support, we understand cultural differences and we create a literacy in our football environments, our clubs to support people who haven’t played our game, who haven’t grown up with our game.

“Now does that mean we’re going to have some particularly talented players who are Indigenous or culturally diverse by birthplace of their parent or themselves, that play at a very high standard that play through our Coates League, our talent pathways and even go pick one? Yes. But what that will continue to do is encourage five- and six-year-old boys and girls to play our game.”

As Healy fairly responded, given the concerns around balance: “So why don’t you leave it at the Coates level?”


Kane replied: “Because it’s not working. The next generation academy talent concession was removed and we have seen a sharp decline since then, and we’ve seen a steady decline in numbers overall.

“And I want to change that, and the AFL is committed to changing that, and we know that the ultimate prize is our draft - talent is the most important thing as you all know. And the ultimate prize are the players that are available to you, and that’s, if we go out for a second, the whole crux of our competitive balance review; to make access to players fairer.

“So whilst we are re-opening a proposal to reopen access, we’re also proposing to make the whole system fairer, so it won’t be the same bidding system that existed last time.”

That last part is important as well; the points system is likely to be changed so that academy players aren't quite the extraordinary bargain they’ve been for the past decade.

But they will still have to be below-cost, because that’s the incentive in the system for clubs to develop players, whether through their club academies or through the NGAs - even if the latter may only involve meeting with a prospect a few times every 12 months, and giving them a gentle push through their teenage years.

In the AFL’s view, the system has to be unfair to make the sport a better place. Whether this is a fair sacrifice in a sporting context will remain up for debate.

 

[FootySmartSimpson]

Match Review boss hits back at tackle ‘confusion’; why expanded finals looms large — Talking Pts

Match Review boss hits back at tackle ‘confusion’; why expanded finals looms large — Talking Pts

www.foxsports.com.au

AFL’S ADMISSION ON WHY DRAFT ‘RORT’ MUST RETURN

An intriguing admission from AFL executive general manager Laura Kane has shone a spotlight on the return of a controversial draft rule.

We have written before about the problem of the AFL’s dual purposes - running a football league, and running football itself - and how they can come into conflict.

And once again, it’s the academy systems at the centre of the debate; though this time it’s not about the northern states, but everyone else instead.

It was widely reported last week the AFL will return to the Next Generation Academy rules of a few years ago, with clubs given full draft access to players tied to them who are from under-represented segments of the community or have a diverse background.


This system notably allowed the Western Bulldogs to land Indigenous prospect Jamarra Ugle-Hagan with the No.1 pick in 2020, despite not owning that pick - instead using six picks between 29 and 54 to match Adelaide’s bid at the top of the order.

The outcry at this unusual access to the top prospect in the pool saw the AFL tweak the rules, first so that NGA bids couldn’t be made or matched in the top 20, then in the top 40 - which in turn has sparked an outcry from clubs who’ve missed out on players they’ve helped to develop (or, in a more cynical view, players they would’ve had bargain-price access to but don’t any more).

This system reversion will, in the short term, most benefit Essendon who will gain access to prospective first-round small forward Isaac Kako.






A potential top-10 pick, Kako’s parents are from Iraq; not exactly a prime part of the world for footy talent in years gone by. His entry into the AFL would add diversity to the game, but now he’s almost certain to join the Bombers because he’s in their catchment area.

Except it’s not as if Essendon is the reason Kako is into footy (other than perhaps being a fan of them), as he explained recently on SEN.


“I was already playing Aussie rules footy so it’s not like they (the Bombers) introduced me to the game - I’ve been playing since under-8s, under-9s, and football’s always been what I’ve loved doing from when I was a young kid,” Kako said.

“I think I’d still be playing AFL whether the Academy was there or not.”

As Brownlow medallist Gerard Healy put it to Laura Kane on SEN last Friday night, this is exactly the sort of “rort” footy officials have been frustrated with - a player who already would’ve been drafted by normal methods being handed to one specific club.

“It (this new system) must be different to the one your predecessor got rid of a couple of years ago, when most people thought it was a rort,” Healy said.

“I haven’t met one senior person in footy that doesn’t think it’s a rort.”

In response to the Kako situation, Kane said: “We don’t have any players from Iraq that I know of.


Healy replied: “But he’s been in the system already?

Kane said: “And we want more. We want more kids who see him as their hero, and young kids who have no way otherwise to interact with our game unless they see someone who looks like them, who’s from the same country or heritage or background as them, and it’s really important.

“So sure, there’ll be examples of players who’ve come through what we’d call the mainstream talent pathway, our job is to continue to make sure the game is accessible and that the game on field, coaching boxes, umpires, those on the bench tonight, look like the community and that’s something that we’re really strong on and we’ll push on with.”


And this is the key, as Kane put it - more diversity in the AFL.

This is an admirable goal, and important both for Australian society and for Australian football. Growing the game is a key target of AFL executives, and in the same way Australia has succeeded through multiculturalism, football will be better when everyone feels included. Representation at the top level helps build this.


But that goal does not necessarily help run the fairest professional sporting league possible, and this is where Kane seems to be suggesting a sacrifice needs to be made.

In effect, the AFL accepts that the Next Generation Academy system can have an unbalanced impact on competitive balance, because the long-term benefits are worth it.

“We need our game to reflect the community, and our community is changing. And I say to my team all the time, I want on the field to look like the lounge rooms that sit and watches our game, the people that stream through these gates tonight. And we continue to evolve with the changing face of Australia,” Kane said on SEN.

“So how do we do that? We develop, we support, we understand cultural differences and we create a literacy in our football environments, our clubs to support people who haven’t played our game, who haven’t grown up with our game.

“Now does that mean we’re going to have some particularly talented players who are Indigenous or culturally diverse by birthplace of their parent or themselves, that play at a very high standard that play through our Coates League, our talent pathways and even go pick one? Yes. But what that will continue to do is encourage five- and six-year-old boys and girls to play our game.”

As Healy fairly responded, given the concerns around balance: “So why don’t you leave it at the Coates level?”


Kane replied: “Because it’s not working. The next generation academy talent concession was removed and we have seen a sharp decline since then, and we’ve seen a steady decline in numbers overall.

“And I want to change that, and the AFL is committed to changing that, and we know that the ultimate prize is our draft - talent is the most important thing as you all know. And the ultimate prize are the players that are available to you, and that’s, if we go out for a second, the whole crux of our competitive balance review; to make access to players fairer.

“So whilst we are re-opening a proposal to reopen access, we’re also proposing to make the whole system fairer, so it won’t be the same bidding system that existed last time.”

That last part is important as well; the points system is likely to be changed so that academy players aren't quite the extraordinary bargain they’ve been for the past decade.

But they will still have to be below-cost, because that’s the incentive in the system for clubs to develop players, whether through their club academies or through the NGAs - even if the latter may only involve meeting with a prospect a few times every 12 months, and giving them a gentle push through their teenage years.

In the AFL’s view, the system has to be unfair to make the sport a better place. Whether this is a fair sacrifice in a sporting context will remain up for debate.

Interested to know how the decision to open up the NGA for all picks in the draft has any impact on diversity?

The NGA kids that rise to the top as genuine prospects as one of the top 60 kids will get picked no matter what.

How does Essendon (and others in future) have any baring on diversity in comparison to the previous system?

Weird.

 

[Passmore]

Kako's not exactly toeing the company line.

I don't care if he goes there or not, but that explanation from Kane is ludicrous.

Sent from my SM-A908B using Tapatalk

 

[roos_fanatic08]

Match Review boss hits back at tackle ‘confusion’; why expanded finals looms large — Talking Pts

Match Review boss hits back at tackle ‘confusion’; why expanded finals looms large — Talking Pts

www.foxsports.com.au

A potential top-10 pick, Kako’s parents are from Iraq; not exactly a prime part of the world for footy talent in years gone by. His entry into the AFL would add diversity to the game, but now he’s almost certain to join the Bombers because he’s in their catchment area.

Except it’s not as if Essendon is the reason Kako is into footy (other than perhaps being a fan of them), as he explained recently on SEN.


“I was already playing Aussie rules footy so it’s not like they (the Bombers) introduced me to the game - I’ve been playing since under-8s, under-9s, and football’s always been what I’ve loved doing from when I was a young kid,” Kako said.

“I think I’d still be playing AFL whether the Academy was there or not.”

As Brownlow medallist Gerard Healy put it to Laura Kane on SEN last Friday night, this is exactly the sort of “rort” footy officials have been frustrated with - a player who already would’ve been drafted by normal methods being handed to one specific club.

“It (this new system) must be different to the one your predecessor got rid of a couple of years ago, when most people thought it was a rort,” Healy said.

“I haven’t met one senior person in footy that doesn’t think it’s a rort.”

In response to the Kako situation, Kane said: “We don’t have any players from Iraq that I know of.

This is the part that shits me the most...and it's the same reason the Blakey & Walter situation were bullshit as well. Those clubs have essentially done nothing to get him into footy at a younger age. He was already playing footy and in the elite pathways by the time he was in under 14's. He was never going to be "lost to another code" or any of that sort of shit.

IMO, if this thing is fair and equitable there has to be some sort of age restriction on these kids. In that they didn't start playing football until 14 or 15, and were outside the traditional development pathways.

Ideally though, the academies should be funded and run by the AFL and all teams should have access to them via the draft.

 

[Roosurgence]

Just don't understand why the AFL don't run academies all over the country themselves and players then go into open draft.

The first round of the draft should be protected. That should also apply to the Northern academies.

It’s farcical to think that a super talented kid would be lost to the game without an academy.

It’s actually disrespectful to the grass roots clubs that nuture this talent through their footy journey as kids.

It’s a stacked deck, the AFL knows it and doesn’t give a **** about it.

 

[justroyal]

I would love someone to ask just how long did they consider Sanders then

 

[hellas_johnny]

Although it wouldn't happen clubs that have missed players such as sanders Andrew etc deserve some form of compensation. It's an absolute joke to back track on their decision to change it in the first place.

 

[Roosurgence]

Although it wouldn't happen clubs that have missed players such as sanders Andrew etc deserve some form of compensation. It's an absolute joke to back track on their decision to change it in the first place.

Joke and AFL go hand in hand with this administration.

To change this type of stuff on the fly shows how little idea the current administration has on how to run a sporting competition. But let’s get serious this game died as a true sporting competition long ago.

 

[desie]

The first round of the draft should be protected. That should also apply to the Northern academies.

It’s farcical to think that a super talented kid would be lost to the game without an academy.

It’s actually disrespectful to the grass roots clubs that nuture this talent through their footy journey as kids.

It’s a stacked deck, the AFL knows it and doesn’t give a **** about it.

It’s not farcical at all, look at Mitchell Woods who was an All-Australian U/16 and part of the Swans Academy who has now gone off to play in the NRL for Canterbury.

Even with the Academy it wasn’t enough.

Unless they’re father sons like Blakey or McCartney, ‘super talented kids’ in NSW will most likely be such in multiple sports and lean towards the one that guarantees they don’t have to move away from their family and friends.

Making them AFL branded and available to all defeats the purpose.

Instead, make clubs pay a proper market rate.

 

[Only Forwards]

I don't care if he goes there or not, but that explanation from Kane is ludicrous.

She excels in double speak.

Absolute snake oil sales person like Brad before her.

 

[Roosurgence]

It’s not farcical at all, look at Mitchell Woods who was an All-Australian U/16 and part of the Swans Academy who has now gone off to play in the NRL for Canterbury.

Even with the Academy it wasn’t enough.

Unless they’re father sons like Blakey or McCartney, ‘super talented kids’ in NSW will most likely be such in multiple sports and lean towards the one that guarantees they don’t have to move away from their family and friends.

Making them AFL branded and available to all defeats the purpose.

Instead, make clubs pay a proper market rate.

Which proves the point that the Academies are not the reason talented kids play at the highest level, they get there because they are talented.

It’s a professional sport. The quicker that the AFL gets away from the mindset that overly panders to player wishes the better. In its current state the clubs themselves are having access to the best talent removed from them because of a postcode.

If you want to play at the highest level and be paid well to do it, then be prepared to go to the team that selects you in an open draft. Player welfare is at an all time high, I just don’t get the excuse of why players need to be based 5 mins from home.

The average punter moves states for work and and on a lot less than some of these guys will earn. It’s called making sacrifices.

 

[Only Forwards]

Instead, make clubs pay a proper market rate.

This is the answer.

Market rate should be a pick within a range of the pick being bid. you could even have it tiered for talent. Within 5 in the first round (first 18 picks) and within 10 beyond that.

so Kako bid on at pick 10 Essendon have to match with a pick between 11 and 15. Bid on at pick 20 and they have to match between 21 and 30.

Hey look at that no club getting top end talent for junk.

It will also mean that the draft itself becomes less compromised.

We have live trading of picks so this absolutely can happen. but it will mean that clubs will need to give up enough to trade into the picks they need to use.

THe AFL have no desire to enter into fair though. It is not a lens they want to actively look through.

 

[koshari]

Interested to know how the decision to open up the NGA for all picks in the draft has any impact on diversity?

The NGA kids that rise to the top as genuine prospects as one of the top 60 kids will get picked no matter what.

How does Essendon (and others in future) have any baring on diversity in comparison to the previous system?

Weird.

It doesnt, it was a textbook bait and switch response.

 

[Psicosis]

Do we even have an NGA zone?!

 

[desie]

Which proves the point that the Academies are not the reason talented kids play at the highest level, they get there because they are talented.

It’s a professional sport. The quicker that the AFL gets away from the mindset that overly panders to player wishes the better. In its current state the clubs themselves are having access to the best talent removed from them because of a postcode.

If you want to play at the highest level and be paid well to do it, then be prepared to go to the team that selects you in an open draft. Player welfare is at an all time high, I just don’t get the excuse of why players need to be based 5 mins from home.

The average punter moves states for work and and on a lot less than some of these guys will earn. It’s called making sacrifices.

They’re a big part of the reason.

I can only speak for the environment in Sydney, but leaving them to play local club or school football coached by a parent or teacher who barely knows the rules and surrounded by kids who can’t kick the ball properly gives them absolutely no chance.

Interestingly the only two players in recent times who are genuinely from Western Sydney and have played in the AFL came through the old scholarship system that sent Tex Walker to Adelaide.

Jarrod Witts and Michael Hartley.

The Giants Academy has produced squat.

 

[Chewy Chewman]

The Giants Academy has produced squat.

Tom Green and Jack Steele say hi

 

[ExorcismOfArdenStreet]

This is the answer.

Market rate should be a pick within a range of the pick being bid. you could even have it tiered for talent. Within 5 in the first round (first 18 picks) and within 10 beyond that.

so Kako bid on at pick 10 Essendon have to match with a pick between 11 and 15. Bid on at pick 20 and they have to match between 21 and 30.

Hey look at that no club getting top end talent for junk.

It will also mean that the draft itself becomes less compromised.

We have live trading of picks so this absolutely can happen. but it will mean that clubs will need to give up enough to trade into the picks they need to use.

THe AFL have no desire to enter into fair though. It is not a lens they want to actively look through.

It's honestly the only way I see it being remotely fair, this will also stop the first round from pushing out to like pick 40 as well. I also think another kicker is you should only be able to match a bid on 1 academy talent per round to prevent like last year GC having 3 kids in the first round from happening in the future and is fairer for all the teams, also makes for some tough list decisions and more excitement in the draft.

 

[Lomas]

Do we even have an NGA zone?!

French Island

 

[Roo202]

Kako's not exactly toeing the company line.

I don't care if he goes there or not, but that explanation from Kane is ludicrous.

Sent from my SM-A908B using Tapatalk

"We don’t have any players from Iraq that I know of..." and after Kako goes to * there still won't be as he was born in Australia!

My mum was born in Scotland, maybe that's why I never played AFL, no NGA to stop me being lost to the game, it definitely wasn't because even in under 10s I could barely get a touch!

 

[Its a Process]

Tom Green and Jack Steele say hi

They are from Canberra which already had a strong AFL presence

 

[desie]

Tom Green and Jack Steele say hi

Clearly I was referring specifically to Western Sydney, where the club’s actually meant to represent.

 

[kool kangas]

Match Review boss hits back at tackle ‘confusion’; why expanded finals looms large — Talking Pts

Match Review boss hits back at tackle ‘confusion’; why expanded finals looms large — Talking Pts

www.foxsports.com.au

AFL’S ADMISSION ON WHY DRAFT ‘RORT’ MUST RETURN

An intriguing admission from AFL executive general manager Laura Kane has shone a spotlight on the return of a controversial draft rule.

We have written before about the problem of the AFL’s dual purposes - running a football league, and running football itself - and how they can come into conflict.

And once again, it’s the academy systems at the centre of the debate; though this time it’s not about the northern states, but everyone else instead.

It was widely reported last week the AFL will return to the Next Generation Academy rules of a few years ago, with clubs given full draft access to players tied to them who are from under-represented segments of the community or have a diverse background.


This system notably allowed the Western Bulldogs to land Indigenous prospect Jamarra Ugle-Hagan with the No.1 pick in 2020, despite not owning that pick - instead using six picks between 29 and 54 to match Adelaide’s bid at the top of the order.

The outcry at this unusual access to the top prospect in the pool saw the AFL tweak the rules, first so that NGA bids couldn’t be made or matched in the top 20, then in the top 40 - which in turn has sparked an outcry from clubs who’ve missed out on players they’ve helped to develop (or, in a more cynical view, players they would’ve had bargain-price access to but don’t any more).

This system reversion will, in the short term, most benefit Essendon who will gain access to prospective first-round small forward Isaac Kako.






A potential top-10 pick, Kako’s parents are from Iraq; not exactly a prime part of the world for footy talent in years gone by. His entry into the AFL would add diversity to the game, but now he’s almost certain to join the Bombers because he’s in their catchment area.

Except it’s not as if Essendon is the reason Kako is into footy (other than perhaps being a fan of them), as he explained recently on SEN.


“I was already playing Aussie rules footy so it’s not like they (the Bombers) introduced me to the game - I’ve been playing since under-8s, under-9s, and football’s always been what I’ve loved doing from when I was a young kid,” Kako said.

“I think I’d still be playing AFL whether the Academy was there or not.”

As Brownlow medallist Gerard Healy put it to Laura Kane on SEN last Friday night, this is exactly the sort of “rort” footy officials have been frustrated with - a player who already would’ve been drafted by normal methods being handed to one specific club.

“It (this new system) must be different to the one your predecessor got rid of a couple of years ago, when most people thought it was a rort,” Healy said.

“I haven’t met one senior person in footy that doesn’t think it’s a rort.”

In response to the Kako situation, Kane said: “We don’t have any players from Iraq that I know of.


Healy replied: “But he’s been in the system already?

Kane said: “And we want more. We want more kids who see him as their hero, and young kids who have no way otherwise to interact with our game unless they see someone who looks like them, who’s from the same country or heritage or background as them, and it’s really important.

“So sure, there’ll be examples of players who’ve come through what we’d call the mainstream talent pathway, our job is to continue to make sure the game is accessible and that the game on field, coaching boxes, umpires, those on the bench tonight, look like the community and that’s something that we’re really strong on and we’ll push on with.”


And this is the key, as Kane put it - more diversity in the AFL.

This is an admirable goal, and important both for Australian society and for Australian football. Growing the game is a key target of AFL executives, and in the same way Australia has succeeded through multiculturalism, football will be better when everyone feels included. Representation at the top level helps build this.


But that goal does not necessarily help run the fairest professional sporting league possible, and this is where Kane seems to be suggesting a sacrifice needs to be made.

In effect, the AFL accepts that the Next Generation Academy system can have an unbalanced impact on competitive balance, because the long-term benefits are worth it.

“We need our game to reflect the community, and our community is changing. And I say to my team all the time, I want on the field to look like the lounge rooms that sit and watches our game, the people that stream through these gates tonight. And we continue to evolve with the changing face of Australia,” Kane said on SEN.

“So how do we do that? We develop, we support, we understand cultural differences and we create a literacy in our football environments, our clubs to support people who haven’t played our game, who haven’t grown up with our game.

“Now does that mean we’re going to have some particularly talented players who are Indigenous or culturally diverse by birthplace of their parent or themselves, that play at a very high standard that play through our Coates League, our talent pathways and even go pick one? Yes. But what that will continue to do is encourage five- and six-year-old boys and girls to play our game.”

As Healy fairly responded, given the concerns around balance: “So why don’t you leave it at the Coates level?”


Kane replied: “Because it’s not working. The next generation academy talent concession was removed and we have seen a sharp decline since then, and we’ve seen a steady decline in numbers overall.

“And I want to change that, and the AFL is committed to changing that, and we know that the ultimate prize is our draft - talent is the most important thing as you all know. And the ultimate prize are the players that are available to you, and that’s, if we go out for a second, the whole crux of our competitive balance review; to make access to players fairer.

“So whilst we are re-opening a proposal to reopen access, we’re also proposing to make the whole system fairer, so it won’t be the same bidding system that existed last time.”

That last part is important as well; the points system is likely to be changed so that academy players aren't quite the extraordinary bargain they’ve been for the past decade.

But they will still have to be below-cost, because that’s the incentive in the system for clubs to develop players, whether through their club academies or through the NGAs - even if the latter may only involve meeting with a prospect a few times every 12 months, and giving them a gentle push through their teenage years.

In the AFL’s view, the system has to be unfair to make the sport a better place. Whether this is a fair sacrifice in a sporting context will remain up for debate.

At least the AFL are now admitiing it...

 

[RHLK]

'As Brownlow medallist Gerard Healy put it to Laura Kane on SEN last Friday night, this is exactly the sort of “rort” footy officials have been frustrated with - a player who already would’ve been drafted by normal methods being handed to one specific club.'

Gerard must have flipped his wig when Blakey was handed to Sydney.

 

[Horace]

French Island

Did I hear that we are going to be given the Northern Territory as our Academy zone, or is that just something I dreamt up?