QAFL 2025

[smy1305]

I reckon GC and GWS should keep their academies since they don’t get father–sons yet. Lions don’t need both an academy and father–sons, that's just unfair. The whole “go home” factor isn’t really a thing anymore, either — if anything, heaps of players actually wanna leave Vic and head up to QLD these days lol, better lifestyle, no crazy melbourne spotlight.

I agree re the F/S logic bopper and that suns and giants still don't benefit from this rule - re the "go home" factor. It's a moment in time and a direct result of the Suns and more particularly the Lions, getting their house in order off field. The work Fagan and Noble and Swann have done to make the Lions an attractive place to play and bring their families is remarkable. The lifestyle factor has always been there, now players want to take advantage of it. To think of all the names being bandied around right now and 3 of them have said they want to specifically play at the Lions. Ridley was making sounds before he signed his contract back in 2020 I'm reliably told. The counter to this is that the environment can change pretty quickly in footy clubs - just look at the WCE. I still think plenty of blokes enjoy the Melb bubble and all the commercial opportunities that go with that too.

 

[Kedron lions]

I agree re the F/S logic bopper and that suns and giants still don't benefit from this rule - don't re the "go home" factor. It's a moment in time and a direct result of the Suns and more particularly the Lions, getting their house in order off field. The work Fagan and Noble and Swann have done to make the Lions an attractive place to play and bring their families is remarkable. The lifestyle factor has always been there, now players want to take advantage of it. To think of all the names being bandied around right now and 3 of them have said they want to specifically play at the Lions. Ridley was making sounds before he signed his contract back in 2020 I'm reliably told. The counter to this is that the environment can change pretty quickly in footy clubs - just look at the WCE. I still think plenty of blokes enjoy the Melb bubble and all the commercial opportunities that go with that too.

the "go home factor" is a bit outdated I reckon for vic players the term came from the go home five when three out four northen teams where uncompetetive.

 

[M Malice]

They will definitely not abolish but they will definitely get the rules around ability to draft changed. I'm predicting picks 1-18 will be untouchable with academy or F/S noms.

Always read the Qld Footy board with great interest but very rarely post.

You can hear the drums beating from Victoria re the bolded... I can see it happening so that begs the question what incentive will there be for the clubs to run academies at all if they do not have access to the best talent going through/they developed in those academies?

Yer you can do all this work and devote time but you only get access to the players the other clubs don't rate as first round talents.

I'd be open to a numbers restriction eg. finish Prelim or above you can only match say 1 player in the top 10 and 1 more after that in the first round, finish 5th-8th 2 anywhere in the first round, finish outside the 8 open slather, these restrictions must also apply to NGAs.

I like the tradition and romance of Father/Sons.

 

[LaggingBehind]

Always read the Qld Footy board with great interest but very rarely post.

You can hear the drums beating from Victoria re the bolded... I can see it happening so that begs the question what incentive will there be for the clubs to run academies at all if they do not have access to the best talent going through/they developed in those academies?

Yer you can do all this work and devote time but you only get access to the players the other clubs don't rate as first round talents.

I'd be open to a numbers restriction eg. finish Prelim or above you can only match say 1 player in the top 10 and 1 more after that in the first round, finish 5th-8th 2 anywhere in the first round, finish outside the 8 open slather, these restrictions must also apply to NGAs.

I like the tradition and romance of Father/Sons.

Whatever national talent identification programs are endorsed the reality is that some clubs will do it better than others, eg. The old Vic zones that exists a few decades back. In fairness Victoria has 12 TAC Cup squads. Maybe drop that to 11 and align each to a Vic AFL club?

Everyone in Australia loves the father/son except for St Kilda. Well…….until a couple of Riewoldt lads come of age.

 

[Miller1971]

Always read the Qld Footy board with great interest but very rarely post.

You can hear the drums beating from Victoria re the bolded... I can see it happening so that begs the question what incentive will there be for the clubs to run academies at all if they do not have access to the best talent going through/they developed in those academies?

Yer you can do all this work and devote time but you only get access to the players the other clubs don't rate as first round talents.

I'd be open to a numbers restriction eg. finish Prelim or above you can only match say 1 player in the top 10 and 1 more after that in the first round, finish 5th-8th 2 anywhere in the first round, finish outside the 8 open slather, these restrictions must also apply to NGAs.

I like the tradition and romance of Father/Sons.

if anything, it encourages them to hide the good ones.

 

[Kedron lions]

if anything, it encourages them to hide the good ones.

that process already happens

 

[smy1305]

Always read the Qld Footy board with great interest but very rarely post.

You can hear the drums beating from Victoria re the bolded... I can see it happening so that begs the question what incentive will there be for the clubs to run academies at all if they do not have access to the best talent going through/they developed in those academies?

Yer you can do all this work and devote time but you only get access to the players the other clubs don't rate as first round talents.

I'd be open to a numbers restriction eg. finish Prelim or above you can only match say 1 player in the top 10 and 1 more after that in the first round, finish 5th-8th 2 anywhere in the first round, finish outside the 8 open slather, these restrictions must also apply to NGAs.

I like the tradition and romance of Father/Sons.

Good point MM - you would think there could be some "hiding" of players a bit more lol. Alternatively the loading for academy players would be changed?

 

[smy1305]

that process already happens

Who has been hidden that you can name? I can't think of anyone.

 

[smy1305]

the "go home factor" is a bit outdated I reckon for vic players the term came from the go home five when three out four northen teams where uncompetetive.

Nah - it's been around since the AFL evolved from the VFL. A guy like Judd for example. Among many others! It's a very real thing imo.

 

[Kedron lions]

Nah - it's been around since the AFL evolved from the VFL. A guy like Judd for example. Among many others! It's a very real thing imo.

what I was saying was now it is not an issue. for Victorian players western Australians are very different

 

[Miller1971]

that process already happens

Can't think of a single kid in QLD picked up unexpectedly late in the draft who was 'hidden' somehow.

 

[Kedron lions]

Can't think of a single kid in QLD picked up unexpectedly late in the draft who was 'hidden' somehow.

more WAFL

 

[smy1305]

Yea not sure KL. Certainly there are some gems that come through in the 40/50s but not sure they’ve been hidden just overlooked

The only one in qld that I can remember it def did happen with was Lachy Keefe. And that’s bc Marty king was a pies man good story actually.

 

[Longy_Zillmere]

Academies should be allowed to draft 1 academy player, maybe taking a first rounder means giving up your first round pick, then the rest just go into the pool. If you don’t have a first rounder, or you choose to use your first on someone not from academy, you don’t get them (and don’t value them at your pick):

Suns have the potential top 3 in the AFLW draft this year, 4 in top 10. A club shouldn’t have access to that many because 4 players all live near your club..

 

[Switchtheplay10]

Academies should be allowed to draft 1 academy player, maybe taking a first rounder means giving up your first round pick, then the rest just go into the pool. If you don’t have a first rounder, or you choose to use your first on someone not from academy, you don’t get them (and don’t value them at your pick):

Suns have the potential top 3 in the AFLW draft this year, 4 in top 10. A club shouldn’t have access to that many because 4 players all live near your club..

They could probably do with the help given their current results!

 

[smy1305]

Academies should be allowed to draft 1 academy player, maybe taking a first rounder means giving up your first round pick, then the rest just go into the pool. If you don’t have a first rounder, or you choose to use your first on someone not from academy, you don’t get them (and don’t value them at your pick):

Suns have the potential top 3 in the AFLW draft this year, 4 in top 10. A club shouldn’t have access to that many because 4 players all live near you

Girls academies muddy the waters I reckon bc they don’t have the same philosophical purpose that the boys academies do. Which is to attract boys to the code who might not normally play. Girls space very different. But I can understand why they have female ones when there are Coates league girls teams.

I agree though that one is “enough” and now the girls can be drafted anywhere think it’s great if some do get taken elsewhere.

Like it’s been said earlier though what incentive is there for the northern academies to invest in the programs if they can only take the best one?

Will be interesting to see what happens

 

[Miller1971]

Issue with girls though, is they don't get paid sufficiently for an 18 year old to up and jsut move to another state for footy.

Hence girls are able to enter the draft and nominate that they are only interested in being drafted to their home state.

 

[Lensen]

that isn't the case anymore

 

[The Flying Belgian]

One of the goals of the Academy from AFL clubs POV is to get get more local talent on their list to overcome the intrinsic advantage that clubs in traditional footy states have which is having a greater choice in which local talent they can recruit.

While the AFL has mostly embraced the American style of player recruitment (draft, trading and free agency) the big difference is that the US has a more homogenous spread of population (more people in smaller major centres) and the whole collegiate environment which means young adults already have the minsdet of moving & living away from home.

In Australia, our kids come straight out of school into professional sporting environments and having only 5 major urban areas that they will be playing, find it much easier if they desire to return to be closer to friends and family if that's what they desire. Unless you can "fix" the issues of population densitiy and culture, there's always going to be an imbalance in fairness in that regard. That is until until the talent levels in Qld and NSW are coming on par with SA & WA.

 

[smy1305]

Issue with girls though, is they don't get paid sufficiently for an 18 year old to up and jsut move to another state for footy.

Hence girls are able to enter the draft and nominate that they are only interested in being drafted to their home state.

Not anymore Miller. $65k for half a year of footy, $15k transportable costs. It's not bad.

 

[Miller1971]

oh right, wasn't aware that had changed. So now if you go in the draft, thats it? you go where you are told?

 

[smy1305]

oh right, wasn't aware that had changed. So now if you go in the draft, thats it? you go where you are told?

Yep - the academy and Father/daughter arrangements are similar too. Don't think there's a hope that Suns will be able to take the 4 girls who they have probably prioritised this year but will be able to get the one who is best suited to their needs and maybe another if not bidded on too early. The rest will be up for grabs.

 

[Miller1971]

Picking between Davies, Usher and Lappin would be tough!

 

[LaggingBehind]

Meanwhile back at footy finals.

A unique playoff alignment with the remaining finals sides split into an all Brisbane cluster with Aspley & Morningside playing to meet Redlands next week and the other 3 into an all Gold Coast cluster with Surfers & Labrador facing off with the winner to meet Palmy next week.

Any news on GF venue yet?

 

[smy1305]

Picking between Davies, Usher and Lappin would be tough!

Could be wrong but Lappin may nominate Carlton.
Davies and Usher will be who they aim up at and then u have a couple more who will slip into top 15