Originally Posted by
Mug Punter
Well he isn't in the NSW-ACT Under 16 Squad so not sure what to read into that.
Both Shaydon Close and Chris Holten, two indigenous kids from the Macleay Valley now at Endeavour Sports High, are in there and Holten seems to have player quite well. Also see young Nick Blakey, John Blakey's lad, is there.
A look at the list makes for interesting reading.
GWS have 14 players, we have 11 (Two from Macleay Valley and nine from Sydney)
We have 9 from Sydney across a nice spread of our zone. GWS have a Big Fat Zero. Yes, some of it is because the Swans heartland has some traditionally strong clubs but GWS has Baulkham Hills and the fastest growing areas of Sydney. Penrith had their own junior comp at one stage, not sure they still do. And Parramatta and the Campbelltown areas used to be strong. But 9-0 is an indictment on GWS.
After being in existence for five years and with a mandate to win the hearts and minds of Western Sydney this is a disgraceful number from GWS and quite frankly it's inexcusable. It shows both what we are doing right for the game in Sydney (heaps) at the grassroots level and precisely what they are doing (NOTHING!!!)
Whilst we have been developing the junior clubs in our zone they have neglected theirs because they just know they can mine the NSW-Victorian Border Towns and Riverina.
Now lets have a look at GWS. Three Canberra boys and one South Coast which is fair enough. One kid who plays for the Northern Jets (WTF, how is he academy?) and six from Albury and other border towns who clearly are not development areas and who I bet will line up for TAC Cup teams next year if they are not already. Then you get to the more contentious areas of Griffith (no dramas from me) and Wagga as the balance.
How a kid from a Victorian border town can be an academy kid is absolutely beyond me.
But let's focus on the main stat hear. ZERO kids from their Western Sydney zone. I know from playing footy in Sydney that those areas do produce decent footballers, Baulko used to be a production line of talent. Even now they have the following clubs under in their zone
* Baulkham Hills
* St Clair
* Hawkesbury
* Kellyville-Rouse Hill
* Emu Plain-Glenmore Park
* Quakers Hills
* Holroyd-Parramatta
* Rooty Hill RSL
* Blue Mountains
* Katoomba
* Wollondilly
* Camden
* Ingleburn
* Campbelltown
* South Campbelltown
* South West Tigers
* Bankstown (And ask anyone involved with that club what they think of GWS and Sydney Development)
* Penrith Giants
* Liverpool
GWS has had these clubs in its bossom for five years and they can't deliver ONE kid of decent standard when we get NINE. I challenge anyone to say this is not a disgrace.
It can't just be that the kids are inherently better from the North Shore and Eastern Suburbs can it? The Swans invest and believe in development, GWS just cherry pick a recruitment zone. The sooner GWS are forced to do their job properly, and the only way they'll do it is if they get the Border towns and then Riverina taken away, the better for the game's sake.
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