Remove this Banner Ad

Academy Watch

  • Thread starter Thread starter irel
  • Start date Start date
  • Tagged users Tagged users None

🥰 Love BigFooty? Join now for free.

dlanod said:
Yeah, GWS has been signing up kids to their academy but letting them run through the Bushrangers' system. I get why they do it - it's less impactive for the kids to be run semi-locally instead of moving or travelling to Sydney repeatedly, but it is a bad look. This should get some of the complainers off the academies' backs.

The other "bad look" IMO are the guys that get signed up as 17 year olds as they're about to enter their draft year, as happened with Hopper (if memory serves). I wouldn't be opposed to a change that says a player has to be in an academy for a minimum of three years or so for the club to nominate them.
Click to expand...
Isn't that already a rule? I thought that was why we wouldn't have dibs on the upcoming Lambert kid (also because he'd be F/S tied to Richmond)
 
Cockliff38 said:
Isn't that already a rule? I thought that was why we wouldn't have dibs on the upcoming Lambert kid (also because he'd be F/S tied to Richmond)
Click to expand...

No, the current rule is that the player has to have lived (had their primary contact address) in the area for five or more years. That's what rules out the likes of Lambert and Weller. There's no minimum membership in the academy.
 
dlanod said:
No, the current rule is that the player has to have lived (had their primary contact address) in the area for five or more years. That's what rules out the likes of Lambert and Weller. There's no minimum membership in the academy.
Click to expand...

only concern there is it stops the alternative talent pathway kids from being put in academies as late bloomers. Maybe some sort of exemption if they haven't played AFL competitively in the last few years prior. Apart from that i've got no real issue.
 
Yeah GWS having the Riverina is a political keg of gunpowder waiting to go off.

I have no issue with the AFL ensuring that academies are developing talent in frontier areas and not just being used as fronts to skim the cream off the top.

Our academy is doing very well with development and growing the talent pool. Smith and Chol are good examples.

Wagner, Chol and Uebergang also show that other clubs are benefitting from our work too.

The Riverina is much closer to an AFL heartland than a footy frontier and GWS having exclusive rights to it just gives fuel to the Eddies of the world who want to perpetuate the myth of academies as an unfair leg up.
 

Log in to remove this Banner Ad

Northern academies under the microscope

THE FOUR northern clubs' access to academy talent will be again under the microscope this year after the AFL moved to reassure rivals it will closely monitor the eligibility of every prospect.

The AFL wrote to clubs on Monday alerting them to the processes regarding qualification for academy players, saying it will need to tick off many club requirements before an academy player is able to join their respective club.

In the memo, clubs were reminded they needed their academies to present annual development plans for each player by January 31.

They are also required to submit individual development plans at the start of the season for approval, as well as up-to-date match schedules for players.

At the conclusion of the season all clubs' access to talent will need to be "validated" by the AFL based on the passing of key eligibility.

There continues to be angst among some clubs about Greater Western Sydney's access to the Riverina academy region, where all four of the Giants' selections at last year's NAB AFL Draft hailed from.

Another strong talent pool has emerged again for the Giants, with the Brisbane Lions and Gold Coast also tipped to have some early academy picks at November's draft under the bidding system.

The AFL's head of talent Tristan Salter said the League will be asking for as many details as possible from clubs.

"At this stage…what our message has been publicly has been about making sure we have the right checks and balances around our current rules and the right protocols that sit below what's specified as a very broad role," Salter told AFL.com.au's Road to the Draft podcast.

"We're able to say at an individual player level, we want to be able to see what you're doing with kids, whether it be from the Riverina, or Albury or Deniliquin or wherever. What are you actually going to do with that kid to be able to develop him?

"If they can show they are developing that kid and they warrant access to that kid and the discount on him, then that's something we really want to support.

"If the club can't demonstrate they are going to be able in some way develop that kid...it's something we'll explore for the best option for that kid."

The League's email to clubs this week said that if a club academy was unable to fulfill the requirements or did not follow the rules, it faced a $20,000 fine and could lose access to an academy player at the draft.

It also said a number of clubs had raised concerns with the AFL in regards to academy eligibility in Queensland and the Northern Territory.

Salter said the development plans for players and progress of prospects would be shared with all clubs for greater information around the academy system.

"If we identify anything along the way that can strengthen the transparency and integrity around these programs, then we'll do that and we'll communicate that with all stakeholders," Salter said.

Harrison Macreadie, Will Setterfield and Max Lynch are seen as three of the standout GWS academy prospects this season, while Jack Bowes (Gold Coast) and Jacob Allison (Brisbane Lions) are attached to their respective academies.
Click to expand...
 
It's dangerous for us because the anti-academy lobby have been very effective so far in using the excesses of the system to justify more far-reaching changes; Heeney became the poster-child for completely revamping the system.

If they carve away chunks of NSW, they might try to do the same with Queensland.
 
TheBrownDog said:
Yeah GWS having the Riverina is a political keg of gunpowder waiting to go off.

I have no issue with the AFL ensuring that academies are developing talent in frontier areas and not just being used as fronts to skim the cream off the top.

Our academy is doing very well with development and growing the talent pool. Smith and Chol are good examples.

Wagner, Chol and Uebergang also show that other clubs are benefitting from our work too.

The Riverina is much closer to an AFL heartland than a footy frontier and GWS having exclusive rights to it just gives fuel to the Eddies of the world who want to perpetuate the myth of academies as an unfair leg up.
Click to expand...

Also the fact that a lot of those kids go to boarding school in Melb and play TAC for the bushies. Completely different to most academy situations.
 
Kiwi forward looms as top draft prospect for 2017

AS MOST of Connor Ballenden's teammates in the NAB AFL Academy take in New Zealand for the first time this week, the Queensland teenager won't need to ask for many directions while overseas.

The tall forward, who has already been tipped as one of the brightest prospects in the 2017 draft pool, lived in New Zealand until he was four. He grew up just outside Auckland, travels with his parents to Christchurch most years to see his extended family and played rugby union in his youth.

Explaining to those family members that he is going to be in New Zealand to further his AFL ambitions has been an interesting exercise.

"They don't know a lot about the game at all, but they love the idea that I'm trying to make it in the AFL and they support me with that, which is great," Ballenden said.

"My dad is South African and mum is from New Zealand and we now live in Brisbane, so it's a bit of a multicultural family but I've fallen in love with the game."

His family will be there on Sunday, when the level one academy squad (comprising players eligible for next year's draft) take on the New Zealand Hawks in Auckland. It is the centre-point of the five-day international camp for the team under coach Brenton Sanderson, and 16 AFL clubs are sending recruiters on the trip to track the next generation.

Next year's draft is already considered a strong one and Ballenden will have many eyes on him after a number of impressive performances at last year's NAB AFL Under-16 Championships.

The 198cm prospect was in that group, showing his talents near goal, in the air and on the ground. He has already performed well in the early stages of this season, too, pulling in nine marks and kicking 2.2 for Queensland in a trial game.

"As a tall player everyone wants someone who's hard at the footy and takes some good marks and I want that to be a big part of my game," the 17-year-old said.

"I'd like to think my skills as a tall player are pretty good, and I try to lead on the field as well.

"The first time I ever watched an AFL game was one of the Sydney and West Coast Grand Finals when I was in Melbourne on holiday as a little kid, and ever since then I went back to Brisbane and said 'I want to play that game'."

However, that single-mindedness did wane a little. Before he joined the Brisbane Lions academy as a 12-year-old, he was considering focusing purely on playing rugby union.

It wasn't until he started training more with the Lions that he realised getting to the top level of Australian Rules was his priority, and the Lions will get first access to him next year under the academy bidding rules for their work.

"There was a stage where I was tossing up between rugby and AFL, and I didn't know whether I really wanted to pursue the AFL when I was a younger teenager. I went to Lions academy trainings and started loving it and made new friends there," Ballenden said.

"As a young kid I wasn't as fit and didn't have the skills to get where I am now, and the Lions academy has done a lot for me. I don't think I can thank them enough."
Click to expand...
Connor-Ballenden-200.jpg
 
However, that single-mindedness did wane a little. Before he joined the Brisbane Lions academy as a 12-year-old, he was considering focusing purely on playing rugby union.

It wasn't until he started training more with the Lions that he realised getting to the top level of Australian Rules was his priority, and the Lions will get first access to him next year under the academy bidding rules for their work.

"There was a stage where I was tossing up between rugby and AFL, and I didn't know whether I really wanted to pursue the AFL when I was a younger teenager. I went to Lions academy trainings and started loving it and made new friends there," Ballenden said.

"As a young kid I wasn't as fit and didn't have the skills to get where I am now, and the Lions academy has done a lot for me. I don't think I can thank them enough."
Click to expand...

:thumbsu::thumbsu::thumbsu:
 
His story could easily place him as a poster child for the academies.
Both parents born overseas, himself born overseas, from a non-afl region, a rugby player as a junior and not likely to be drafted in the first round (limited draft compromise) . He ticks all the boxes of why the academies exist

punching it out on my mobile
 

Remove this Banner Ad

Gibbo_88 said:
We can't get Himmelberg right? GWS player but recently moved to Bris?
Click to expand...

Sounds like not, which is disappointing (but probably fair)-

thoselionslads said:
Himmelberg named best for the Lions. He is the brother of GWS Himmelberg, the family moved up here last year from Wagga and has settled at Mt Gravatt. Looks to be similar type to his brother, who shot up the rankings last year. Will get exposure at NEAFL whether it be Lions or Redland.

Can't remember the exact rules but if he's only been up here 12 months do we get priority? I don't think so.
Click to expand...
 

🥰 Love BigFooty? Join now for free.

SizeMatters said:
Do GWS still get access to Himmelberg even though he has left their zone? or is he open draft?
Click to expand...

Open draft. If he gets through the ND, we can prelist him as a zone rookie.
 

Remove this Banner Ad

Remove this Banner Ad

🥰 Love BigFooty? Join now for free.

Back
Top Bottom