Opinion Sydney Swans Academy and Rebuild

[Borgan]

What a great club the swans are. Their excellent culture and values were seeping through last night, led by a very good coach.
They will be up for a long time.

Quality people all throughout the club is the biggest thing, you can be gifted anything but if you can’t get the right people, you’ll struggle. It’s more than just players. Harley fits in so well there.

So true re Tom Harley, I was abit sceptical at first but he’s done an awesome job continuing to bring in great people at the club.

Also being a physio myself, the current medical team at the swans has been amazing this year, done a great job keeping guys who have had ongoing injury issues the past couple years fit and injury free. I think our head physio may have come from Geelong actually

 

[SBD Gonzalez]

I don't think most understand the point of the academies. This is without talking about how it's integrated into the draft.

There is no TAC Cup for the players to get serious time in, they aren't coached by hall of famers with top tier S&C programs at private school - without the academies you slog it out in AFL Sydney (or Qld equivalent) which is a pretty s**t level and then essentially hope recruiters put a bit of stock into form in that comp. Meaningful opportunities for development like the Allies are few and far between.

This is not to say footballers of high quality can't come out of NSW/QLD w/o Academies as obviously they did beforehand. But certainly the scope and ceiling for this is a lot lower.

So with the establishment that the academies are a positive for player development in these regions, the next step is how to fund them. Which then leads to providing an incentive to do so; clearly the AFL (i.e. by proxy the other clubs) aren't particularly interested so here we are.

This is another aspect that opponents of the academies have chosen to completely ignore (or maybe they are just plain ignorant of life in NSW): we all know what a source of AFL talent the big Melbourne private schools are.

In Sydney (I assume the same in Bris? Don't know), we not only have the dominance of rugby league as a spectator sport, in the private boys' schools, the marquee sport has always been rugby union ("you mean NRL?" say clueless Vics.)

So we're battling on two fronts. NRL being the big senior professional TV sport, and rugby union being a huge drain on a major source of youth talent.

Many elite private schools now have an Aussie Rules team or two (Braeden Campbell went to Knox Grammar, renowned for its rugby prowess), but it's still just a minority thing, probably up there with archery and spelunking. Imagine the effect on AFL youth talent if the entire private school system in Vic had soccer as its marquee sport.

 

[SM]

This is another aspect that opponents of the academies have chosen to completely ignore (or maybe they are just plain ignorant of life in NSW): we all know what a source of AFL talent the big Melbourne private schools are.

In Sydney (I assume the same in Bris? Don't know), we not only have the dominance of rugby league as a spectator sport, in the private boys' schools, the marquee sport has always been rugby union ("you mean NRL?" say clueless Vics.)

So we're battling on two fronts. NRL being the big senior professional TV sport, and rugby union being a huge drain on a major source of youth talent.

Many elite private schools now have an Aussie Rules team or two (Braeden Campbell went to Knox Grammar, renowned for its rugby prowess), but it's still just a minority thing, probably up there with archery and spelunking. Imagine the effect on AFL youth talent if the entire private school system in Vic had soccer as its marquee sport.

When I was coming through, Sydney Grammar had an AFL team but it was a novelty sport outside of the normal school sport you did, and there was one side. Still salty that I kicked a goal and had a few decent touches and didn't make the cut..

But that was only 15 years ago, and things have come a long way since then.

 

[ChristianBoy]

Since the end of 2018 we have brought in (and who played yesterday)

Blakey
Rowbottom
McInerney
Clarke
Stephens
Warner
McDonald
Gulden
Hickey

Two of which were academy players the rest were all either draft selections anyone could have picked or trades.

One of the academy players (Blakely) was pick 10, which honestly was not that far off our first round pick for that year anyway, and the other was Gulden who went for a pick in the 30's so clearly other clubs didn't rate him that highly.

What’s that

Since the end of 2018 we have brought in (and who played yesterday)

Blakey
Rowbottom
McInerney
Clarke
Stephens
Warner
McDonald
Gulden
Hickey

Two of which were academy players the rest were all either draft selections anyone could have picked or trades.

One of the academy players (Blakely) was pick 10, which honestly was not that far off our first round pick for that year anyway, and the other was Gulden who went for a pick in the 30's so clearly other clubs didn't rate him that highly.

What’s that prove?

Heeney and Mills were gifts that were AA this year. All clubs have similar turn over as you posted they don’t get top end talent for basically zero outlay.

 

[SM]

What’s that


What’s that prove?

Heeney and Mills were gifts that were AA this year. All clubs have similar turn over as you posted they don’t get top end talent for basically zero outlay.

How's North's appeal for a priority pick going?

 

[RUNVS]

What’s that


What’s that prove?

Heeney and Mills were gifts that were AA this year. All clubs have similar turn over as you posted they don’t get top end talent for basically zero outlay.

I think you are just a troll at this point.

 

[Maddo11]

What’s that


What’s that prove?

Heeney and Mills were gifts that were AA this year. All clubs have similar turn over as you posted they don’t get top end talent for basically zero outlay.

 

[WillHayward]

Sydney have the advantage of the big city less spotlight apparently not to mention the extra $$$$$

Then academy father son and the draft.

Amazing leg up

What extra money?

 

[sherb]

What’s that


What’s that prove?

Heeney and Mills were gifts that were AA this year. All clubs have similar turn over as you posted they don’t get top end talent for basically zero outlay.

I'd love for you to rationalise that comment.

 

[Gasometer]

I know Phillips is a talent and will be a fantastic player. But I have no idea why they picked him over McDonald

Phillips has barely played so who knows

I suppose because they expected to visit the high end of the Draft once…not in 2021 and now again in 2022 with possible PP.

I am hoping by 2027 I am replying to how we won the GF

 

[kirbatron]

Post 2016 Sydney have drafted very well & have also benefited hugely from an academy - elite players now in their prime.

The competition is not a level playing field we know that not just Sydney etc

Not surprised at all they are where they are.

 

[Tedeski]

Sydney have the advantage of the big city less spotlight apparently not to mention the extra $$$$$

Then academy father son and the draft.

Amazing leg up

Relocation to Tassie is an option for the Dees. The AFL is only too willing to bear gifts if you do it.

In the meantime Melbourne was one of the 11 clubs to vote my club out of Victoria to NSW.
Now you can all go and s . . k. . . . . . . a . . . . . . . . . one!

Rude letter to follow!

 

[BloodySwan]

When I was coming through, Sydney Grammar had an AFL team but it was a novelty sport outside of the normal school sport you did, and there was one side. Still salty that I kicked a goal and had a few decent touches and didn't make the cut..

But that was only 15 years ago, and things have come a long way since then.

Your school had a team? I applied one year and there was literally 1 other boy interested

 

[SM]

Your school had a team? I applied one year and there was literally 1 other boy interested

Think my year was the first year they tried for a team, played against Knox and a few others.

 

[Elmer_Hauser]

The Swans best young player this season (Warner) was not an Academy pick.

They keep nailing their mid range (2nd and 3rd round) draft picks, and should be applauded for that, more than their admittedly fruitful academy system

Would still much rather watch guns like Mills and Heeney play footy for the Swans than boring NRL or Union.

 

[Scotland]

Waste of energy. He’s a known Sydney hater and never ever offers any logical reasoning or alternatives but just spews and rambles about how unfair it all is.

Ironic from a supporter of a club that won half their flags from taking advantage of having an entire state to themselves. It’s gotten a bit harder for them since then.

Troll.

You know you have a club board if you can't handle anything other than people gushing over you.

Read the ****ing thread title. If you can't handle people saying the academy is advantageous to your rebuild then you are either blind or thick. You literally have 2 players in the 2022 AA side drafted pick 2 and 3 that you picked up in years when you won 17 and 16 games. 'bUt wE aRe sO wElL rUn'.

I'd school you on the history of WC but it has nothing to do with the thread topic and it would go over your head anyway. Talking about start-up concessions is a diversionary tactic. Did people want GC and GWS to pick 1, 19, 37, 55 and then 40 players from 60 onward? FYI if you are desperate to talk about 30 years ago you had zone/pre draft selections in 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994 and 1995 despite having been in existence for 100 years and in NSW for nearly a decade. When we won our last flag there were 4 Western Australians in the AA side (5 if you count Tom Mitchell who was drafted from WA but really is from Vic). One of them played for WC, McGovern. None of them played for Freo.

The 'logical reasoning or alternatives' is blindingly obvious. Apply the same rules that the AFL changed for NGAs to Northern academies. You want a player at pick 2 or 3 or 10 then trade for those picks like everyone else has to. Picks in the second round onward who cares?

 

[smish]

Paul Roos wouldn’t stand for that disgrace. Shame.

 

[scaryness]

Imagine 109 pages of angst over Isaac Heeney

5

Isaac Heeney

Age

28

Ht

185cm

Wt

88kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

18.2

5star

K

10.4

4star

HB

7.7

5star

M

4.9

5star

T

4.1

5star

CL

2.2

4star

D

14.3

3star

K

8.8

4star

HB

5.5

3star

M

4.8

4star

T

2.5

3star

CL

0.8

3star

D

10.4

3star

K

7.2

3star

HB

3.2

3star

M

2.8

3star

T

2.4

4star

CL

0.8

3star

and what an unfair advantage having him is.

 

[WOFTAMWarrior]

Just goes to show that morons claiming the academy is a huge advantage are exactly that. Morons. Doesn’t help Sydney not actually turning up to play in anyway. Such an advantage

 

[ChristianBoy]

AFL will now bring in that anyone who’s been to NSW or flown over it is now eligible as an academy pick up.

 

[Mister B]

Many who are vocal about the unfair advantage of the academy have been seen around today spouting about how overated these so called superstars are. Strange.

We all know there is an easy solution to this issue. The AFL funds junior pathways in all states (in particular northern states) with the same funding as they do in Victoria. The reality is it will never happen. People forget that is why the academy exists in the first place. An inability of the league itself to develop these pathways. They gave up and when the clubs offered to do the AFL's job for them, they jumped at wiping their hands clean of it.

 

[Lemma]

Just because Sydney played one bad game, it doesn't mean the Academy isn't a complete rort.

 

[Saab NLAW]

The Swans best young player this season (Warner) was not an Academy pick.

They keep nailing their mid range (2nd and 3rd round) draft picks, and should be applauded for that, more than their admittedly fruitful academy system

Would still much rather watch guns like Mills and Heeney play footy for the Swans than boring NRL or Union.

Mills was never going to play Rugby, don't fall for that

 

[CharacterFirst]

What it shows is just how far ahead Geelong are of the pack.

What a mighty club.

To win the flag with no Academy.

With hardly any access to top talent.

What a supreme organisation.

 

[SM]

What it shows is just how far ahead Geelong are of the pack.

What a mighty club.

To win the flag with no Academy.

With hardly any access to top talent.

What a supreme organisation.