Originally Posted by
liz
I think it's fair enough that they have moved on. They are not considered (at the moment) to be AFL-level players, and the academy is intended to be about development of young players. The graduation of these players into the broader second tier (ie NEAFL) clubs (or other second tier competitions) is an important and inevitable part of what the academies are about.
Is there a similar group of last year's U18s who might stay on in an U19 development programme with the academy? There didn't seem to be much exposure of the U18 group at NEAFL level in 2016. Brown got a few opportunities (and I think he also had a few injuries to contend with) but the bulk of the NEAFL top-up spots seemed to go to that U19 group.
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