NSW's best draft ever...in thanks to the academies?

[harmesy 37]

On the http://www.aflnswact.com.au
website it is arguing that this is the best draft ever for NSW players.

8 players were selected. One of them is according to Emma Quayle about the best player in the draft.
Perhaps this is a sign that the Academies are starting to bear fruit and are therefore worth continuing...

Abe Davis (recruited from East Syd/Uni NSW)

Heeney (from a club near Newcastle in nth nsw)

etc...

Some would disagree that it is bearing fruit?






The great eight: NSW/ACT draft glory
Eight current NSW/ACT players had their names called out as new primary list draftees to AFL clubs at last night's NAB AFL National Draft in Queensland.

Five of those picked knew their fate, as Academy prospects committed to by the Sydney Swans and GWS GIANTS last month, two had their names called as live picks, and one, Dan Robinson, was upgraded from the Swans' rookie to primary list following a stellar season in the NEAFL.

Isaac Heeney, Jack Hiscox, and Abe Davis were confirmed as Academy picks, at numbers 18, 38, and 70 respectively, while Jack Steele (pick 24) and Jeremy Finlayson (pick 85) officially joined the GIANTS as Academy products.

While those five youngsters knew what to expect on Thursday night, Dougal Howard (pictured) and Logan Austin could never have anticipated how their evening would unfold.

The duo, good friends having played NSW/ACT RAMS representative matches together, are headed to South Australia, plucked with consecutive picks by Port Adelaide.

Howard, an Albury product, had his name called at the end of the third round at number 56, before Belconnen boy Austin (pick 69) followed minutes later in the closing stages of fourth round selections.

 

[RUNVS]

Slowly beginning to tap the previously untapped potential in New South Wales.

 

[harmesy 37]

Slowly beginning to tap the previously untapped potential in New South Wales.

Well I think the Academy is needed as a form of elite training that players wouldn't get if they stayed in the local comp.

This way they can differentiate themselves and play with/against the best under the tutelage of the best.

For other clubs to tap into that player pool later on down the track - that would be great...just as Carlton largely recruits Western Australian players and has since the 1970s...soon other clubs will feel comfortable recruit players from NSW, as Port Adelaide has in this draft.

Southern NSW is a region that just keeps on giving to the Australian football community. Great to see...but in this draft you also are seeing players recruited from Syd Uni, Uni of NSW (Sydney club) and Cardiff (near Newcastle)....Just a greatly positive result for the Australian game.

It is not realised by many that more people play footy in NSW than SA...

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ne...bine-performance/story-fngr8ie3-1227077352398

 

[12Chill]

Yep, and Callum Mills for next year looks to definitely be better then Isaac Heeney.

 

[harmesy 37]

Yep, and Callum Mills for next year looks to definitely be better then Isaac Heeney.

Yes, good point. There is a good article on him here.
He had a go at rugby then went to footy where there is more kicking, passing, running that rugby. He thought rugby is more one dimensional in terms of it largely being about two lines of players tackling. I am sure some will go from footy to rugby, but at least kids are getting an option now in Sydney.

Perhaps the AFL will need a new bidding system down the track for clubs to compete for these type of players. Will be interesting, but it is a good problem to have.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2014-07-07/codehopper-drafttopper

 

[Obeanie1]

What I don't understand is why do NSW have two academies, the Swans and now the Giants? Same with QLD.

Why isn't there one NSW AFL academy and the two NSW sides bid for the players? Again same with QLD.

The two clubs and the AFL each put in 33% funding for youth development but no single club is given automatic access.

As an Eagles supporter I will admit I'm a bit more than annoyed that the expansion clubs have pretty much gutted the elite talent out of WA since the Suns started whilst the Swans / Lions are allowed access to a state full of kids and first dibs on any gem they uncover.

 

[I Lost My Keays]

I don't get the point of academies it gives an unfair advantage to the rest of the comp.

 

[harmesy 37]

What I don't understand is why do NSW have two academies, the Swans and now the Giants? Same with QLD.

Why isn't there one NSW AFL academy and the two NSW sides bid for the players? Again same with QLD.

The two clubs and the AFL each put in 33% funding for youth development but no single club is given automatic access.

As an Eagles supporter I will admit I'm a bit more than annoyed that the expansion clubs have pretty much gutted the elite talent out of WA since the Suns started whilst the Swans / Lions are allowed access to a state full of kids and first dibs on any gem they uncover.

Obeanie1...fair point.

I see the common sense in this proposal. That way the development is done for the good of Australian football, not for a particular club. However, linking it to a club also helps to grow the relevance of the Swans and Giants brands in the local communities. It is more of a club based development and more organic that way.

There is some merit in this idea, however, I think if all clubs are given automatic access to the players perhaps the AFL should put in 100% towards the funding some time down the track? and then it is open slather to player recruitment. Either way, it is just in its infancy at this stage, so you want to see a few more years of development before you start fiddling with the formula.

The amount of Queensland players being recruited has dropped off in recent years, hasn't it?

 

[Prince Imperial]

In this article they missed that Daniel Howe from the Murray Bushrangers is from the small southern NSW Riverina town of Rennie.

They also missed Anthony Miles who was born in Albury and played for Howlong

Dougal Howard is actually from Wagga and was in Albury for university.

16 of the 97 players added to senior lists were from NSW/ACT and Queensland which is quite promising.

 

[grundog49]

In 5 years when the talent really becomes more common they'll either a) create TAC cup teams in NSW to measure them against the elite talent e.g the Western Sydney Colts, the Sydney thunder and the Canberra capital's. Or b) make it afl run so that there isn't any priority with players.

 

[harmesy 37]

Here is a good article on the NSW player development from Emma Quayle.

Clearly grassroots footy is getting better in NSW.

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-ne...sting-the-afl-draft-pool-20141201-11xxmr.html

 

[telsor]

They also missed Anthony Miles who was born in Albury and played for Howlong

Nah, he was recruited by GWS then delisted.

 

[telsor]

How many players does NSW/QLD need to produce before this rort is removed and a more traditional 'elite junior' comp is established (NEAFL U-18s?)?

 

[carnthemlions]

How many players does NSW/QLD need to produce before this rort is removed and a more traditional 'elite junior' comp is established (NEAFL U-18s?)?

I agree. NSW/QLD are producing too many players!!
lol

 

[telsor]

I agree. NSW/QLD are producing too many players!!
lol

At what point will they be?

Sydney used 3/4 picks on academy players this year...Surely that says something?

Lets say in 10 years time, Brisbane uses all it's picks on academy players, all of which were bid for in the first round by other clubs. Wouldn't you agree that was distorting the draft?

My point is, at what point do we agree that the benefits (development) are no longer worth the cost (draft distortion)?

 

[The Falcon Strike]

Academies are a great idea. Should be funded by the AFL though. "If" it is best done through the clubs - then great. Ultimately we want more and more talent available to concentrate the quality in the 18 clubs.

However priority access to talent is a bit rich. I could swallow it for FC and GWS who don't have access to F/S yet - but Sydney and Brisbane... no

 

[master bate]

How many players does NSW/QLD need to produce before this rort is removed and a more traditional 'elite junior' comp is established (NEAFL U-18s?)?

When Gold Coast and GWS win premierships and when Brisbane become financially stable again would be my guess.

The academies look a great way to get draftees from a cost-benefit analysis. A NEAFL under 18's/colts would likely cost several million dollars more.

But compromising the draft and competition is a heavy price to pay as well.

 

[telsor]

When Gold Coast and GWS win premierships and when Brisbane become financially stable again would be my guess.

The academies look a great way to get draftees from a cost-benefit analysis. A NEAFL under 18's/colts would likely cost several million dollars more.

But compromising the draft and competition is a heavy price to pay as well.

True, but NEAFL under 18's would cover 4 academies + NT and allow them to operate in a similar environment to WAFL colts, TAC cup, etc.

 

[The_Reaper]

I agree. NSW/QLD are producing too many players!!
lol

One less player than WA this draft

 

[liz]

Sydney used 3/4 picks on academy players this year...Surely that says something?

What it says is that Sydney recruited only 1 out of 4 ND players from the pool produced by the traditional AFL states, thereby increasing the player pool open to every other club. Given how many players have been taken in the ND from NSW over the past decade, then either

a) 2014 is just a freak year and shouldn't be used to assess the future; or
b) the academies are doing their job by developing players who wouldn't otherwise be draftable, thereby increasing the talent pool for all to enjoy.

 

[telsor]

What it says is that Sydney recruited only 1 out of 4 ND players from the pool produced by the traditional AFL states, thereby increasing the player pool open to every other club. Given how many players have been taken in the ND from NSW over the past decade, then either

a) 2014 is just a freak year and shouldn't be used to assess the future; or
b) the academies are doing their job by developing players who wouldn't otherwise be draftable, thereby increasing the talent pool for all to enjoy.

It means 4 club recruited 7 players by this scheme, thus compromising the draft.

There has been talk about removing father/son picks because they compromise the draft, but they only had 5 picks across 18 clubs.

 

[master bate]

True, but NEAFL under 18's would cover 4 academies + NT and allow them to operate in a similar environment to WAFL colts, TAC cup, etc.

True. But how would the NT team/s work. You can't really be flying 18 year olds to NSW and QLD every second week for a game of footy and vice versa.

Plus you'd likely have 10 teams at least across NSW, ACT and QLD, would there be enough talent to make that standard of footy good enough? Because you might slightly increase the standard of games but it's the rest of the development that has been so crucial to academy success so far IMO - ie. talent identification, quality coaching structures, off field support, training camps etc. Heeney didn't need a higher standard of opposition per say, just a higher standard of pathway. The state champs games will still be the best standard and most important games for testing and developing these northern state guys.

You could expand to an NEAFL under 18's and still end up with the same talented guys and then you've wasted millions on a junior footy comp for kids who might not be that important. If each academy can produce 4 draftable kids a year with a number in the top rounds then they are more than doing their share for NSW and Queensland.

 

[carnthemlions]

At what point will they be?

Sydney used 3/4 picks on academy players this year...Surely that says something?

Lets say in 10 years time, Brisbane uses all it's picks on academy players, all of which were bid for in the first round by other clubs. Wouldn't you agree that was distorting the draft?

My point is, at what point do we agree that the benefits (development) are no longer worth the cost (draft distortion)?

I don't think the academy bidding system will exist in its current form for much longer.
I also doubt that anyone would be worrying about who Sydney drafted if it wasn't for Heeney.

True, but NEAFL under 18's would cover 4 academies + NT and allow them to operate in a similar environment to WAFL colts, TAC cup, etc.

The standard of such a competition would be far too low to produce elite talent.

One less player than WA this draft

To be fair, there is a significant population difference.

 

[liz]

It means 4 club recruited 7 players by this scheme, thus compromising the draft.

There has been talk about removing father/son picks because they compromise the draft, but they only had 5 picks across 18 clubs.

It means 4 clubs recruited 7 players, most of whom wouldn't be playing AFL at the level that makes them draftable if it were not for the academy system.

I do understand the objections to the draft concessions but they are just one part of the equation. A small part, in my view. Not everyone shares that view, but after the first handful of players each year (and I do mean a very small handful) there's not a huge correlation between those who succeed and those who don't. The draft distortion issue is far smaller than some would have you believe. The other side is increasing the total talent pool to the benefit of every side in the competition.

 

[The_Reaper]

I don't think the academy bidding system will exist in its current form for much longer.
I also doubt that anyone would be worrying about who Sydney drafted if it wasn't for Heeney.

The standard of such a competition would be far too low to produce elite talent.

To be fair, there is a significant population difference.

Irrelevant.

It means that the players that clubs got priority access to = the number of players drafted from WA.

How would you feel if West Coast and Freo had priority access to WA players?