Queensland Boys On The Suns List

[Unfinished]

Just a question about how many Queensland boys you have on your list, I can think of 3 just quickly off the top of my head in a second (Smith, Dixon, Harbrow) I know for a fact there would be a few more as well. Seems like there is around 60\70 Queenslanders now on AFL lists.

 

[CQSUN]

Zac smith, Jarrod Harbrow, Alex sexton, Karmicheal Hunt (arguable), Rory Thompson, Charlie Dixon, Clay Cameron, Jackson Allen, Joel Wilkinson. Josh Hall (rookie) Andrew Boston (rookie)

 

[Herbs]

I remember back in 2007, watching Zac Smith play for Glenmore U17s up here in Rockhampton, towered over every other kid and looked the goods in the ruck, didn't think he'd come this far though.

 

[Matchu]

Thought it would be interesting to compare 2013 with 2014 in terms of Queenslanders on the Suns list. CQSUN has already pointed out that there were 11 Queenslanders on the Suns list in 2013 which was a percentage of 25% (11/44). Now we know Joel Wilkinson was delisted at the end of 2013 but the Suns did pick up Jarred Ellis through their academy so the amount of QLDers on the list remains at 11. You would think this would result in a higher percentage of Queenslanders on the list but the Suns recruited more rookies at the end of last season which kept the percentage to 25%.

I know the Brisbane Lions have set a goal of 30% of their list coming from their academy and they aren't too far away (21% QLDers at the moment) from achieving that. It's a bit of a different story with the Suns given their concessions and the amount of good players on their list that don't hail from Queensland. The Southport Sharks are on the top of the NEAFL ladder at the moment so I wouldn't be surprised if the Suns added a few more locals to their team in the 2014/15 off season.

 

[fabulousphil]

Thought it would be interesting to compare 2013 with 2014 in terms of Queenslanders on the Suns list. CQSUN has already pointed out that there were 11 Queenslanders on the Suns list in 2013 which was a percentage of 25% (11/44). Now we know Joel Wilkinson was delisted at the end of 2013 but the Suns did pick up Jarred Ellis through their academy so the amount of QLDers on the list remains at 11. You would think this would result in a higher percentage of Queenslanders on the list but the Suns recruited more rookies at the end of last season which kept the percentage to 25%.

I know the Brisbane Lions have set a goal of 30% of their list coming from their academy and they aren't too far away (21% QLDers at the moment) from achieving that. It's a bit of a different story with the Suns given their concessions and the amount of good players on their list that don't hail from Queensland. The Southport Sharks are on the top of the NEAFL ladder at the moment so I wouldn't be surprised if the Suns added a few more locals to their team in the 2014/15 off season.

Interesting question and statistic, should a club even strive to have local boys on their list ?, or should clubs just pick the best available player ?, your head would say pick the best available player, but your heart would say go local.

MO would be, if the players are at any way comparable you should go local, that nips in the bud, the go home factor straight away, and FWIW locla players from QLD and NSW sometimes suffer when being compared to southern staters, Tom Bell ( rookie) at Carlton, Thomas ( drafted 75) at Collingwood and plenty more etc are the sort of players that could and should have been drafted by Northern states clubs.

Just a sort of guesstimate but IMO local content should make up around 40/50% of club lists, with smart drafting that should not be to hard.

 

[Matchu]

Interesting question and statistic, should a club even strive to have local boys on their list ?, or should clubs just pick the best available player ?, your head would say pick the best available player, but your heart would say go local.

MO would be, if the players are at any way comparable you should go local, that nips in the bud, the go home factor straight away, and FWIW locla players from QLD and NSW sometimes suffer when being compared to southern staters, Tom Bell ( rookie) at Carlton, Thomas ( drafted 75) at Collingwood and plenty more etc are the sort of players that could and should have been drafted by Northern states clubs.

Just a sort of guesstimate but IMO local content should make up around 40/50% of club lists, with smart drafting that should not be to hard.

It's really different for each team, even Brisbane compared to Gold Coast. No doubt the Lions will be relying on their academy more than the Suns over the next 5 or so years but that's not to say the Suns won't get players coming out of their academy as well. Traditionally, the Suns' zone has been stronger than the Lions' zone, which has a lot to do with the Southport Sharks.

You compare this with the Giants'/Swans' zone and it's very different. New South Wales is by far the weakest state when it comes to producing talent so the recruiting approach for both Sydney clubs would heavily involve interstate players. Queensland is by no means close to Victoria/SA/WA but it does produce a decent amount of players. For that reason I think recruiting locals is a reasonably good idea for the QLD clubs but not for the NSW clubs. I reckon you're spot on with the 40% of locals on your list for the QLD clubs.