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Academy Watch

  • Thread starter Thread starter irel
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briztoon said:
Maybe Required or winged1 know where McMillan is playing this year?

I’m not sure if the academy added any of last year’s top age players to this year’s group as overage 19 year olds.
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(Google) Hes on the academy squad list. Playing for Grange. I have no idea if he has played an academy game yet.


2022 lions academy squad.jpeg
 

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Reef222 said:
Thoughts on Academy Coaches?
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1st 2 posts? You must really want my opinion? I'm flattered.

To answer your question, ive no idea mate. Guess we'll all have a better idea at the end of the academy series.
 
dlanod said:
Good to see Damian Martin making a comeback. He was always a bit underrated as a Test cricketer.
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Irony is he is coming off a broken little finger... a batsmans injury.

See he is listed in the Morningside colts this weekend.
 
Team to play in Melbourne this weekend.
 

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Okay this is getting odd.

Three guys who I had down as potentially draftable are not in this team despite them getting a hammering in every game so far. McMillan who I have previously mentioned, Silva who is a nice sized back flanker type and McNeil who I would have liked to see in key defense this year. McNeil is not even on the squad anymore.

Looking more and more like we are going from bad to worse with the academy if they cannot recognise the talent of those kids.
 
Quigley said:
Okay this is getting odd.

Three guys who I had down as potentially draftable are not in this team despite them getting a hammering in every game so far. McMillan who I have previously mentioned, Silva who is a nice sized back flanker type and McNeil who I would have liked to see in key defense this year. McNeil is not even on the squad anymore.

Looking more and more like we are going from bad to worse with the academy if they cannot recognise the talent of those kids.
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Wonder if the are playing QAFL footy (colts, reserves, seniors), injured, or given the game away.

Or the club is keeping them out of the spotlight.
 
briztoon said:
Wonder if the are playing QAFL footy (colts, reserves, seniors), injured, or given the game away.

Or the club is keeping them out of the spotlight.
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Players not required, to play for their club.
 
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Quigley said:
Okay this is getting odd.

Three guys who I had down as potentially draftable are not in this team despite them getting a hammering in every game so far. McMillan who I have previously mentioned, Silva who is a nice sized back flanker type and McNeil who I would have liked to see in key defense this year. McNeil is not even on the squad anymore.

Looking more and more like we are going from bad to worse with the academy if they cannot recognise the talent of those kids.
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Required said:
1st 2 posts? You must really want my opinion? I'm flattered.

To answer your question, ive no idea mate. Guess we'll all have a better idea at the end of the academy series.
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Sorry mate for the double q
Just curious if anyone here had any opinions on the current coaching
It seems there is a lot of shuffling and omissions of a lot of players on the original lists
Some kids not even getting field time, yet are not injured
 

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Reef222 said:
Sorry mate for the double q
Just curious if anyone here had any opinions on the current coaching
It seems there is a lot of shuffling and omissions of a lot of players on the original lists
Some kids not even getting field time, yet are not injured
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Do you have a connection to the academy at all?

It’s rare that we have a new member specifically asking about the academy with their first and only posts.

As for the coaching, concerns have been raised in the past about game day tactics and coaching.

But without having a kid in the academy, or any knowledge of what the preseason and week to week sessions are like, it’s hard to comment on the coaches and methods.

So we can really only comment on the academy results, which have been pretty ****house lately.
 
briztoon said:
Do you have a connection to the academy at all?

It’s rare that we have a new member specifically asking about the academy with their first and only posts.

As for the coaching, concerns have been raised in the past about game day tactics and coaching.

But without having a kid in the academy, or any knowledge of what the preseason and week to week sessions are like, it’s hard to comment on the coaches and methods.

So we can really only comment on the academy results, which have been pretty ****house lately.
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Hey no connection just curious as to why the Lions Academy have a poor record
Have had connection to a few Vic Academics over last few years though
 
Reef222 said:
Sorry mate for the double q
Just curious if anyone here had any opinions on the current coaching
It seems there is a lot of shuffling and omissions of a lot of players on the original lists
Some kids not even getting field time, yet are not injured
Click to expand...
How do YOU know who has been injured, in or out of team? This weeks team is the 1st one posted.. and injuries never are. Even Maxwell Smart couldnt work that out..
 
Reef222 said:
Hey no connection just curious as to why the Lions Academy have a poor record
Have had connection to a few Vic Academics over last few years though
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Are you talking the academy as a whole or specifically boys or girls. The boys program has struggled for a number of years. The girls program is getting players drafted, with 5 or 6 genuine prospects this year. You could mark this down to greater opportunity in the womens game or to fundamental differences in the programs.
 
Reef222 said:
Hey no connection just curious as to why the Lions Academy have a poor record
Have had connection to a few Vic Academics over last few years though
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Uh huh. Like, by twitter and FB?
 
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How much football is too much football when you're 15-17? Club training, academy training, club football, academy football. Physical overload and more importantly cognitive overload is a concern. We are not talking about over a 6 month period, these lads are almost on the for 12 months of the year.
 

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acuguy said:
How much football is too much football when you're 15-17? Club training, academy training, club football, academy football. Physical overload and more importantly cognitive overload is a concern. We are not talking about over a 6 month period, these lads are almost on the for 12 months of the year.
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I assumed academy involvement took precedence over club involvement, not on top of?
 
winged1 said:
Are you talking the academy as a whole or specifically boys or girls. The boys program has struggled for a number of years. The girls program is getting players drafted, with 5 or 6 genuine prospects this year. You could mark this down to greater opportunity in the womens game or to fundamental differences in the programs.
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Can you explain the differences in the programs?

Also, if I recall, when covid hit and the AFL reduced the soft (off field) cap, a couple of academy staff were let go, and a couple of the senior teams development coaches took over the academy. I wonder how much juggling academy responsibilities and working with the senior team is impacting the coaches duties/roles.
 
briztoon said:
Can you explain the differences in the programs?

Also, if I recall, when covid hit and the AFL reduced the soft (off field) cap, a couple of academy staff were let go, and a couple of the senior teams development coaches took over the academy. I wonder how much juggling academy responsibilities and working with the senior team is impacting the coaches duties/roles.
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It comes back to the fundamental question of what is the role of the academy?

Is it to give an overall raising of the standard or local footy and an imparting of knowledge that can be taken back to clubs, or is it to prepare kids to get drafted. Or a little column a and a lot of column b.

If the quantitative measure is on kids drafted (i believe academies are remunerated on this metric, could be wrong, but i have been told from other academies this is the case) then it has not been a success. Having said that the last couple of years have been tough, because clubs have defaulted to under 16 form.

Paul Hendrikson and Zane Littlejohn came with very good reputations and in the covid crap fight got put in charge of the academy in 2021. I think these guys do know what they are doing, but may have been starting from a long way back. There have been improvements, but we are still way behind the suns.

So if you are looking to get players drafted, sometimes you are playing them out of position to see how they cope. Sometimes you might be looking at their athletic profile and it might be "nope not going to be a mid at this point". So they are tried elsewhere.

In the girls you have an ex aflw captain and teacher running level 3. Looking at some of the early structures and interchange debacles she is still learning too. But there was a marked and rapid improvement. But limited coaching experience. Henrikson stepped in to help out. I think it is important for the players to look to someone who has achieved at a high playing level. But Grant Birchall is also attached to the academy, so that box is ticked.

Are they choosing the right kids to stay in? Has the concentration in level 3 been too broad? Are they trying to hone in on kids with draftable attributes?

There are some good footy brains in charge and they arent stupid, they know there are issues. Give them some time.

Aflw draft is 1st June lets see how that goes.
 

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