Great post. As I've said on RWO before, they are in the position of having the luxury of being able to give all of their high draft picks 2-3 years to see if they make it. If so, they sign them up, if not, they trade them to desperate Melbourne (so far) clubs for more draft picks. That reduces salary cap pressure in the short-medium term as the first contract is always at a lower salary. Eventually their Academy strategy will fill their team with players from their zone, thus reducing the so-called "go home factor". Leon Cameron made the point On The Couch on Monday that Port have this season played two Giants Academy players that GWS couldn't draft, thus justifying the value of academies.
Today's a draft of your epitaph
The problem with their situation re the Academy is one of overflow. Apart of course from the major issue that their mining of a recruitment zone in AFL heartland whilst they do bugger all in the city that bears their name.
Anyway, I think the whole academy issue would probably start to go away just a little bit if they didn't get every single kid from the Riverina that just tops up their 25 first rounders every year. If they just took one elite junior but the rest flowed into other clubs then the angst wouldn't be there but GWS have the powder to take every single kid they want. And as an aside I think we took a judicious and political decision not to draft young Dunks for that very reason.
I mean this year they have three first round picks and good on them for stuffing the likes of Collingwood in their trades. This year they will probably trade out two of Tomlinson, Patton and Marchbank and they'd all be worth at least one first rounder so the year after they get three first rounders. They then win a flag and each year they trade out two premiership players for first round picks secure in the knowledge they have kids just as good to take their place. These guys could have three first rounders a season for the next 6-8 years. Of course there's nothing to stop that happening but the concessions re the academy just will be the final straw whether it is fair or not.
It does irk me that those guys put so little into the developing zones when you look at the way we go about it. Heeney - from League. Mills - from Union. Mayfield a junior SOO NRL kid and then the two indigenous kids Close and Holten that we've put up at Endeavour High from Kempsey. There's no way that any of these kids would have made the AFL without the academy and they all have a compelling story to tell. It's still too early for us to start ramming it home but when these kids do make it we need to tell their stories really well because it's the reason the academy system is so important. TO DEVELOP NEW AFL TALENT.
The academy system is to fill the northen state teams with northern state players. No more , no less.
Leeton, temora are not AFL heartlands
As loathe as I am to reply to any of your posts, as they give you oxygen, I must say this tops the list of inane comments.
If you'd ever been to any of these smaller RIVERINA/WAGGA WAGGA towns then you'd know how much sport and Australian Rules Football, in particular, means to the communities.
It's true, in 2008 we spent a week in Leeton for the U13/U14 NSW/ACT State Zone Trials at Narrandera, and there were way more locals
there to watch than ever came to watch the older years Zone Trials being played in Sydney. You could tell it was a pretty big deal to
the towns and the local hotels & restaurants really appreciated the influx of money that came with it.
It means a lot to the communities but those communities don't, or haven't, had access to the same level of coaching and development that other parts of the country in the AFL states have had. Yes there have been some great players from the Riverina district but there has hardly been a flood of them. I agree that it makes it easier for GWS to do little in the genuine non-footy areas though, so it's important that they continue to do that and not pay lip service to those regions while mining gold from the Riverina.
Not sure why you needed to personalise your response to Barry either. He wasn't attacking anyone.
Today's a draft of your epitaph
Just because someone has a different opinion to you doesnt make them a troll. Its a lazy argument to do so.
I have spent 10 years in the riverina so probably know more than you. Some parts are AFL strongholds( eg. Finley) below the murrumbidgee, some are NRL strongholds (leeton who have 3 or 4 current NRL players) above the murrumbidgee. And some on the murrumbidgee are 50/50.
Even those below the murrumbidgee do not produce the number of AFL quality players compared to victorian equivalent towns. They may have the desire but not access to the resources to succeed
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Thank you doctor. I am getting sick of the personal abuse i am getting on this forum for simply expresing an opinion.
Is this the way you want to operate this forum ?
If you disagree, disagree, don't make it personal. You dont know me and i don't know you.
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