Can anyone fill us in on how this will work ?
The SHEagles publicity is saying that AFL Sydney players will be able to play a capped number of games for the Eagles NEAFL team in 2014. No other info available at this stage.
The best and brightest from the Swans 'catchment' area have been used as top-ups for the Swans NEAFL team for a couple of years. But I don't think that the best and brightest from the Giants 'catchment' area have had much chance.
A few have jumped up into the UWS as top-ups, mostly via the Eagles.
But next year it seems that there will be a clearly defined 'pathway' (hey, don't ya luv THAT word !!) to the Giants via the Eagles....that's how it looks to me anyway.
Sounds like a good way for the Eagles to strengthen their NEAFL team, and to get the brightest and best from Sydney playing in their colours.
We've written in this forum about how it would make some sense for the Eagles PD team to drop down to Div 1 because of their lessened form. But that would make it too much of a step-up to go from Eagles Div 1 to Eagles NEAFL - this new Permit Trial will soften the step-up a bit.
The argument against, is the old one about how the talent would be taken out of the SAFL and cherry-picked into the Eagles. That's true but at least there will be a pathway.
It's a bit confronting to see how good ole' traditional rivalries in Sydney footy are slowly getting eroded by these pathways as players play for different clubs on a weekly basis - perhaps we just have to get used to this Brave New World as the price we pay for development.
Please, somebody who knows something about this fill in the blank spaces as I know nothing more than what I read.
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