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Thread: Victoria clubs get AFL funding for Vic and NT Academies

  1. #13
    Veterans List dejavoodoo44's Avatar
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    Yes, I agree with pretty well all that's been said above. That is, while there may be the occasional success story, with a kid who wasn't originally all that keen on AFL eventually being drafted, the real winners here will be the Victorian clubs. Especially the folks who by their incessant whining about the success of the northern academies, motivated the AFL administration to fix a problem that didn't actually exist.
    To examine this, it's probably best to look at why the academies were set up in the first place. My understanding of this, is that there were two main reasons for their establishment. Firstly, it was to encourage kids to play Aussie Rules, in areas where other football codes have been traditionally dominant: mainly rugby league in NSW and Qld. And secondly, by boosting the number of kids being drafted from NSW and Qld, it was hoped that it would the four clubs from these areas would be less vulnerable to the return home problem; where a proportion of draftees only spend a couple of homesick years in Brisbane or Sydney, and then decide that they want to go back to where they were brought up.
    So to me, both these issues are irrelevant when it comes to setting up academies in Victoria and the NT. That is, kids brought up in these places, already have every incentive to play AFL, as it is the dominant code. In Victoria, for instance: the media coverage is massive compared to other sports; the majority of people follow an AFL side; more juniors play the code than any other sport, and the attendance at matches is far greater for Aussie Rules. So if you're a kid with a bit of sporting skills, who has recently migrated to Melbourne, then Aussie Rules is the obvious sport for you to play if you want to fit into your new environment.
    And with our code enjoying all these advantages, I don't think it's necessary for the administration to hand over a large wad of cash to the likes of Hawthorn and Collingwood, so they can do missionary work in areas such as Gippsland and Fitzroy.
    I also think that the situation is just as silly in the NT. Perhaps the best way to comment on this, is to look at the Tiwi Islands being handed to Essendon. While some will say that this will encourage indigenous kids to take up AFL, I don't really see how. That is, Aussie Rules already does seem to be the dominant code. There is a very healthy and passionately supported local competition. The Tiwi Bombers play in the NT competition. And with Maurice Rioli, Michael Long and Cyril Rioli, it's possible that the Tiwi local competition has supplied more Norm Smith medallists than any other local competition. So once again, I don't think it's a situation where a Victorian club has to come in and convert the locals. What it will do however, is tie the Tiwi's best future prospects to Essendon. And with the carve up of the NT between five Victorian clubs, it now does seem to mean, that these clubs have been arbitrarily handed almost exclusive rights to many future indigenous draftees. Whereas NSW and Qld clubs will now have limited access.
    And I don't think that this will do anything to fix the return home problem: in the case of NT players, there is no NT AFL club to return home to; while with Victorian players, Victoria already supplies the most number of draftees, so the Victorian clubs are already the ones who benefit most from homesick players returning home.
    So anyway, I think the whole exercise is a reward to whining Victorian clubs, who will be granted cut price access to many highly promising juniors, in order to fix a problem that didn't actually exist.

  2. #14
    pr. dim-melb; m not f
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    Quote Originally Posted by Doctor View Post
    This all seems rather piecemeal to me. A hastily cobbled together attempt to appease voices that should have been silenced long ago rather than indulged.
    "All have won and all shall have academies."
    He reminds him of the guys, close-set, slow, and never rattled, who were play-makers on the team. (John Updike, seeing Josh Kennedy in a crystal ball)

  3. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by dejavoodoo44 View Post
    Yes, I agree with pretty well all that's been said above. That is, while there may be the occasional success story, with a kid who wasn't originally all that keen on AFL eventually being drafted, the real winners here will be the Victorian clubs. Especially the folks who by their incessant whining about the success of the northern academies, motivated the AFL administration to fix a problem that didn't actually exist.
    To examine this, it's probably best to look at why the academies were set up in the first place. My understanding of this, is that there were two main reasons for their establishment. Firstly, it was to encourage kids to play Aussie Rules, in areas where other football codes have been traditionally dominant: mainly rugby league in NSW and Qld. And secondly, by boosting the number of kids being drafted from NSW and Qld, it was hoped that it would the four clubs from these areas would be less vulnerable to the return home problem; where a proportion of draftees only spend a couple of homesick years in Brisbane or Sydney, and then decide that they want to go back to where they were brought up.
    So to me, both these issues are irrelevant when it comes to setting up academies in Victoria and the NT. That is, kids brought up in these places, already have every incentive to play AFL, as it is the dominant code. In Victoria, for instance: the media coverage is massive compared to other sports; the majority of people follow an AFL side; more juniors play the code than any other sport, and the attendance at matches is far greater for Aussie Rules. So if you're a kid with a bit of sporting skills, who has recently migrated to Melbourne, then Aussie Rules is the obvious sport for you to play if you want to fit into your new environment.
    And with our code enjoying all these advantages, I don't think it's necessary for the administration to hand over a large wad of cash to the likes of Hawthorn and Collingwood, so they can do missionary work in areas such as Gippsland and Fitzroy.
    I also think that the situation is just as silly in the NT. Perhaps the best way to comment on this, is to look at the Tiwi Islands being handed to Essendon. While some will say that this will encourage indigenous kids to take up AFL, I don't really see how. That is, Aussie Rules already does seem to be the dominant code. There is a very healthy and passionately supported local competition. The Tiwi Bombers play in the NT competition. And with Maurice Rioli, Michael Long and Cyril Rioli, it's possible that the Tiwi local competition has supplied more Norm Smith medallists than any other local competition. So once again, I don't think it's a situation where a Victorian club has to come in and convert the locals. What it will do however, is tie the Tiwi's best future prospects to Essendon. And with the carve up of the NT between five Victorian clubs, it now does seem to mean, that these clubs have been arbitrarily handed almost exclusive rights to many future indigenous draftees. Whereas NSW and Qld clubs will now have limited access.
    And I don't think that this will do anything to fix the return home problem: in the case of NT players, there is no NT AFL club to return home to; while with Victorian players, Victoria already supplies the most number of draftees, so the Victorian clubs are already the ones who benefit most from homesick players returning home.
    So anyway, I think the whole exercise is a reward to whining Victorian clubs, who will be granted cut price access to many highly promising juniors, in order to fix a problem that didn't actually exist.
    Fo me the is the most egregious part of the announcement. Not only is this the NT decision ridiculous from an 'academy' point of view, but also it takes kids away from the NT league and NEAFL. So if anything it creates a "go home factor" that would not have otherwise exist potentially reducing the number of NT kids in the AFL system over time rather than increasing it - all for the sake of preferencing VIC clubs. Simply stupid. Surely if the AFL was serious about proving a pathway for NT kids to the AFL - the NEAFL and by extension the existing academies are best suited to this. Second in line would be WAFL and SANFL, given strong existing geographic and community ties to NT, plus excellent state based competitions. The worst pathway, by a long shot, is VFL and Vic clubs.

    I guess you call this Vic politics in action.

  4. #16
    Veterans List dejavoodoo44's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by iigrover View Post
    Fo me the is the most egregious part of the announcement. Not only is this the NT decision ridiculous from an 'academy' point of view, but also it takes kids away from the NT league and NEAFL. So if anything it creates a "go home factor" that would not have otherwise exist potentially reducing the number of NT kids in the AFL system over time rather than increasing it - all for the sake of preferencing VIC clubs. Simply stupid. Surely if the AFL was serious about proving a pathway for NT kids to the AFL - the NEAFL and by extension the existing academies are best suited to this. Second in line would be WAFL and SANFL, given strong existing geographic and community ties to NT, plus excellent state based competitions. The worst pathway, by a long shot, is VFL and Vic clubs.

    I guess you call this Vic politics in action.
    Yes, and I'm now wondering what sort of consultation went on with the NT clubs: if any?

  5. #17
    The reality is that whilst this is dressed up to "grow the game" what it really does is quarantine a sector is the AFL draft pool.

    I guarantee that most AFL clubs will not use this for unearthing new talent to the game. For starters the indigenous kids are all AFL crazy anyway so there'll be no additions to the talent pool there just a recruitment zone. And as for the ethnic kids, all AFL clubs will look for is decent players with the required ethnicity % rather than developing programmes to introduce new kids to the game.

    Maybe I'm being a bit harsh, for example I could see how the Sudanese community could be an area to tap, but for all intents this is creating a recruitment zone for non-Caucasians.

    And to be fair it's all GWS is using the Academy system as either as their complete disinterest of the Western Sydney market shows.

    All this shows is the continued ignorance is Victoria about what three of the four academies are about

  6. #18
    Travelling Swannie!! mcs's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mug Punter View Post
    The reality is that whilst this is dressed up to "grow the game" what it really does is quarantine a sector is the AFL draft pool.

    I guarantee that most AFL clubs will not use this for unearthing new talent to the game. For starters the indigenous kids are all AFL crazy anyway so there'll be no additions to the talent pool there just a recruitment zone. And as for the ethnic kids, all AFL clubs will look for is decent players with the required ethnicity % rather than developing programmes to introduce new kids to the game.

    Maybe I'm being a bit harsh, for example I could see how the Sudanese community could be an area to tap, but for all intents this is creating a recruitment zone for non-Caucasians.

    And to be fair it's all GWS is using the Academy system as either as their complete disinterest of the Western Sydney market shows.

    All this shows is the continued ignorance is Victoria about what three of the four academies are about
    Hard to disagree with any of this Mug!
    "You get the feeling that like Monty Python's Black Knight, the Swans would regard amputation as merely a flesh wound."

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