But are you willing to be knocked unconscious for the Bloods?
Your list is very interesting (and I'm sure it could be expanded - Nahas for example). All clearly worthy of a place on the list, and some very good players there. But very few taken with early picks. Clearly the Swans are not the only ones with trouble identifying a particular sort of talent.
I agree with you Ernie - and made the same point last year at the time of the Marn Grook Trophy - if we have no indigenous players do we still get to contest it?
I'm not suggesting a quota system is implimented for aboriginals, it's just that in many cases it is difficult to adjust to the AFL "system" as many come from lower/completely different socio-economic backgrounds than 95% of footy players. There are a stack of young players coming to the club every year, surely it would be worth a punt on one of these guys - it is often noted that they contain an x-factor. I wonder if the club just puts this in the too hard basket...?
Having these two champions of the game at our club to mentor young aboriginal boys is a great resource that should be tapped.
The eternal connundrum "what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object" was finally solved when David Hasselhoff punched himself in the face.
I think Nathan Krakouer at 39# is an absolute steal, I think he will be a very, very good player.
I think you could build a pretty substantial list of non-Aboriginal players we have missed as well.
I think racial background should be irrelevant when it comes to selection - it should be about the needs of the list, playing ability and character, whether the player is black, white, or purple with green polka dots.
In an ideal world perhaps - we don't live in an ideal world.
The point I was trying to make in my previous post, was I think alot of clubs see aboriginal players as too hard to develop and stay away from them, since they can pick known quantities that grew up in the suburbs.
The Swans have a good record of selecting good players at the bottom end of the draft. When was the last pick used for an aboriginal player?
The eternal connundrum "what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object" was finally solved when David Hasselhoff punched himself in the face.
The reasoning being that Mick and Adam wish to play a mentoring role to a young Aboriginal player. That would come at least fourth in the priorities I listed.
I understand the reasoning just fine, I'm just not sure it is worth spending a valuable pick simply to fulfil that wish. Maybe a rookie pick, but certainly not a national draft pick.
Gwilt is not Aboriginal. I don't think Nahas is either.
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