Academy Watch

[dlanod]

Since the introduction of the northern academies, who was the last kid drafted out of QLD who wasn’t in an academy?

That's a bit irrelevant. There's no restriction on the number of years a kid needs to be in the academy for draft purposes so any potentially draftable kid that's eligible to be in an academy would be signed to the academy by the start of their draft year, regardless of how much effort had been put into the kid by the academy prior to that point.

 

[briztoon]

My point was, that regardless of the academy’s lack of success and apparent poor talent identification, we haven’t seen a draftable kid slip through the cracks and get drafted out of the QAFL. Even as a 19 or 20 year old.

I was probably the most vocal here about the academy failing to produce talent, poor game plan, etc, before the parents of kids here took up the baton, so I’m no academy apologist.

However something either Judge or The Flying Belgian (apologies I forgot who, and can’t find the post now) said struck a chord with me.

If the talent is not there in the first place, we can’t blame the academy for failing to produce draftable kids. And any such failings should also be at least half the junior/QAFL/QFA clubs “fault”, as they are responsible for developing the kids as well.

My uneducated, personal observation (without knowing any of the kids or their families) is that it appears to be the kids who have grown up in footy families, where dad probably does extras every week with their kid/s, are where the successful kids come from.

 

[Required]

That's a bit irrelevant. There's no restriction on the number of years a kid needs to be in the academy for draft purposes so any potentially draftable kid that's eligible to be in an academy would be signed to the academy by the start of their draft year, regardless of how much effort had been put into the kid by the academy prior to that point.

For example, Nathan Colenso, now on the Lions covid list, wasnt in an academy until his 18th year. He HAD to join an academy if he wanted to get exposure to be a potential draftee. He could have been in the academy from 13yo but apparently his dad didnt/doesnt rate academies and kept him out of it. Did no harm at all to his footy ability or skills. Wylie Buzza wasnt in the academy till his 18th (or 19th) year, but should have been. Outside forces demanded he was included. Harris Andrews the same.

Had there been a QAFL u19s vs Academy these boys would have played for the (strong) QAFL side.

A QAFL u19s side vs academy series would stop a lot of criticism of the academy as;

* there would be an outlet for QAFL clubs to have the boys they rate get a game vs the silvertails.
*Boys believed by AFLQ to have been overlooked, get exposure.
*Boys in the level 3 squad of 35 not getting a game, get a chance.
*Boys rejected of the 100 who are rated by clubs or AFLQ, get a chance.

I see no losers, except for perhaps some embarrassment on the part of the academy coaches. Which should not be of any consideration at all.



.

 

[briztoon]

For example, Nathan Colenso, now on the Lions covid list, wasnt in the academy until his 18th year. He HAD to join the academy if he wanted to get exposure to be a potential draftee. He could have been in the academy from 13yo but apparently his dad didnt/doesnt rate the academy and kept him out of it. Did no harm at all to his footy ability or skills. Wylie Buzza wasnt in the academy till his 18th (or 19th) year, but should have been. Outside forces demanded he was included. Harris Andrews the same.

Had there been a QAFL u19s vs Academy these boys would have played for the (strong) QAFL side.

A QAFL u19s side vs academy series would stop a lot of criticism of the academy as;

* there would be an outlet for QAFL clubs to have the boys they rate get a game vs the silvertails.
*Boys believed by AFLQ to have been overlooked, get exposure.
*Boys in the level 3 squad of 35 not getting a game, get a chance.
*Boys rejected of the 100 who are rated by clubs or AFLQ, get a chance.

I see no losers, except for perhaps some embarrassment on the part of the academy coaches. Which should not be of any consideration at all.



.

Colenso joined the Suns academy as a 19 year old, after missing out on being drafted in his draft year.

 

[Required]

My point was, that regardless of the academy’s lack of success and apparent poor talent identification, we haven’t seen a draftable kid slip through the cracks and get drafted out of the QAFL. Even as a 19 or 20 year old.

I was probably the most vocal here about the academy failing to produce talent, poor game plan, etc, before the parents of kids here took up the baton, so I’m no academy apologist.

However something either Judge or The Flying Belgian (apologies I forgot who, and can’t find the post now) said struck a chord with me.

If the talent is not there in the first place, we can’t blame the academy for failing to produce draftable kids. And any such failings should also be at least half the junior/QAFL/QFA clubs “fault”, as they are responsible for developing the kids as well.

My uneducated, personal observation (without knowing any of the kids or their families) is that it appears to be the kids who have grown up in footy families, where dad probably does extras every week with their kid/s, are where the successful kids come from.

How bizzare is it the academy missed 2 boys who are 6'6? Like..... wow. (Andrews and Buzza)

A QAFL u19s vs Academy series every year needs to happen. AFLQ and QAFL Clubs get to have kids they believe should be looked at a chance. Regardless of if the academy remains reactionary and suddenly has intra academy games next offseason.

 

[winged1]

How bizzare is it the academy missed 2 boys who are 6'6? Have to be flogged round the head and be made to take notice.. Like..... wow. (Andrews and Buzza)

I mean, how much more obvious can it f*n be to see a 6'6 kid running round with talent and not having him in the academy? I mean, FFS!

And you want to tell me 'trust the academy? 'The talent must not be there or they would identify it'? Uh huh... yeah, nah, rubbish.

Mate, if they dont notice two SIX FOOT SIX boys with talent running round, how the hell are they going to catch all the smaller talent? At some point one has to question whats going on. Thats the point.

A QAFL u19s vs Academy series every year needs to happen. AFLQ and QAFL Clubs get to have kids they believe should be looked at a chance. Regardless of if the academy remains reactionary and suddenly has intra academy games next offseason.

To be fair i dont think Andrews grew untol his draft year. But they still didnt see the potential.

 

[briztoon]

How bizzare is it the academy missed 2 boys who are 6'6? Have to be flogged round the head and be made to take notice.. Like..... wow. (Andrews and Buzza)

I mean, how much more obvious can it f*n be to see a 6'6 kid running round with talent and not having him in the academy? I mean, FFS!

And you want to tell me 'trust the academy? 'The talent must not be there or they would identify it'? Uh huh... yeah, nah, rubbish.

Mate, if they dont notice two SIX FOOT SIX boys with talent running round, how the hell are they going to catch all the smaller talent? At some point one has to question whats going on. Thats the point.

A QAFL u19s vs Academy series every year needs to happen. AFLQ and QAFL Clubs get to have kids they believe should be looked at a chance. Regardless of if the academy remains reactionary and suddenly has intra academy games next offseason.

You really must have comprehension issues, and like putting words in to peoples mouths (or posts) that aren’t there.

I’ll give you a pass for being “new” and not knowing other posters, posting history here.

 

[briztoon]

To be fair i dont think Andrews grew untol his draft year. But they still didnt see the potential.

Happens with lots of kids.

Finn Callaghan never made any rep sides as a junior, and was sub 180cm as a 16 year old. Grew 14cm between 16 and the draft, and went pick 3.

Wasn’t spoken about much until his draft year preseason by draft watchers. And these are guys who go and watch the preseason games, along with recruiters.

 

[scoman]

I'm concerned at the lack of talls coming through. the production line seems to have dried up? For a little while there Queensland was producing a few each year. Has there been a change in focus in recent times, as in actively targeting tall lads from other sports or at school carnivals, or are they just not there.

 

[BRAB]

I really like the QAFL vs Academy game idea.

The problem is though that some kids will miss out on the QAFL side, and then we'll have parents on this board complaining about how their child missed out on the QAFL side and we'll be back to square one.

 

[Required]

I really like the QAFL vs Academy game idea.

The problem is though that some kids will miss out on the QAFL side, and then we'll have parents on this board complaining about how their child missed out on the QAFL side and we'll be back to square one.

If there was a QAFL side, it would placate 24 sets of parents of kids not getting a fair go. As against the current '24 plus' disgruntled ones now. Perhaps you cant please everyone..

Also the QAFL u19s v Academy game could be a prelim for a QLD (seniors) side v Lions or Suns reserves. The QLD side picked from all over the state, preferably choosing a younger side not a side stacked with ex-VFL players.

This would give those boys in the 20-24 year age group some exposure, and headline what would be an interesting day.

.

 

[Dalions]

Academy finally react (panic) Name a heap of ins, and they get a win by 1 point..

FFS..

Good changes then hey?

 

[Nunez]

The Academy does nothing right even when they do something right

 

[mpal6]

Getting shouted down !!!!!!
ah, I miss those good ol' days !!

 

[Nunez]

Getting shouted down !!!!!!
ah, I miss those good ol' days !!

 

[The Flying Belgian]

All would've been OK had the Academy listed Buzza

 

[Nunez]

All would've been OK had the Academy listed Buzza

Buzza or Buzt

Edit: Yes, I'm aware that is a terrible pun

 

[Fatcat08]

I've got a few thoughts and questions on the academy. To position this i have not history in playing or coaching footy, i'm a late convert to AFL but i have been involved in junior rep teams as a player in other sports and i do agree that certainly politics play into it. I do have a young son who is starting his footy journey at coorparoo JAFC auskick and superstars program at the moment.

I know that a lot of changes were made at the end of 2020 to the academy structure. Luke Curren was out after 10 years and Henriksen was appointed head of academy with litteljohn head of academy skills. Also 3 regional area managers were appointed. My question is if who do we hold accountable for the current state of the academy? Is 1 season and 1 pre season enough time to get a detailed overview and nuance of the AFL scene in qld? is it enough to get contacts and develop trust with different clubs and recognise who to listen to and who to know is just pushing agendas? I don't know. If we're lamenting the talent pathways and set up of the academy, has it changed recently to this or is it a continuiation of a long amount of time where these issues have been present and if so how long does this take to change?

Paul Henriksen will be the new Head of Academy

o Zane Littlejohn, the new Development Manager

o Bill Renner, the new Administration Officer

o Josh Hunt

Josh Hunt

Age

44

Ht

185cm

Wt

101kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

15.7

4star

K

9.2

4star

HB

6.5

4star

M

4.7

4star

T

2.0

4star

No current season stats available

D

20.8

5star

K

11.4

4star

HB

9.4

5star

M

4.6

5star

T

1.4

4star

will remain as Head Coach and

o Chris Brennan will remain as Strength & Conditioning Coach.

Three Regional Manager roles have been created and appointments made,

o Dayne Frew – Sunshine Coast-Wide Bay (SC-WB)

o Steve Wearne – Brisbane South-Darling Downs (BS-DD)

o Scott Pyle – Brisbane North (BN)


Are the people in place in the regional roles the right ones? and why isn't there a brisbane south one there? seems weird.

There certainly should be concerns with the current output of the academy but I find the willingness to listen and change as indicated here definitely a positive. Hopefully it results in a lesson that can be carried into next years academy decision making and an evolution of that process. I would hope that after listening to certain people and making changes that those trust levels have started to build and they now have a clearer picture of who to actually listen to. All these sorts of things take time.

And lets not underestimate the impact of covid in the last few years on this. Previously there were full time academy only staff and now we have a two current Lions seniors coaches who are still heavily involved in the mens seniors program trying to run an academy as well. Its only natural that this is going to result in less time on the academy and a reduced focus. The main driver of this is dollars. unfortunately due to a legacy of losses the club is still significantly in debt, especially when you compare this to the swans for instance who's academy continues to chug along pretty well. But they get a lot of extra resources into it last time I looked

I would put the current talent level and development more at the feet of the system that has been in place the last at least 4-5 years. Really last year and current year draftees are a product of several years of the system. Still things like selection and current methods are under the remit of the current staff and that remains a concern, clearly.

Just on the whole changes were made and a game was won thing, is the purpose of the academy to win nab league games? i would have thought not. its a really interesting look when you go back and line up old TAC cup seasons and look at performance v draft outcomes. Its a real hodge podge. Still i completely agree you'd rather be winning then not and having good players helps that, but its certainly not even a loose association to nab league success. I mean in 2019 Eastern Ranges finished on top (regular season) and didn't have a single player drafted! Sure its a bit of an outlier but still theres a tonne of cases like that. Winning junior footy games doesn't correlate in any real meaningful statistical way to draft outcomes, something to keep in mind

I'd be really interested to hear thoughts on the above. in summary i certainly think that improvements can be made to the academy program and hopefully as the club starts to produce more profitible years and repays debt that there will be more funds to direct into full time coaches and coordinators for the football program.

Mistakes have been made but I think to lay that at the feet of the current staff solely is a little harsh and ignores the nuance involved in how we've come to get here and the factors in play over the last few years.

 

[Required]

I've got a few thoughts and questions on the academy. To position this i have not history in playing or coaching footy, i'm a late convert to AFL but i have been involved in junior rep teams as a player in other sports and i do agree that certainly politics play into it. I do have a young son who is starting his footy journey at coorparoo JAFC auskick and superstars program at the moment.

I know that a lot of changes were made at the end of 2020 to the academy structure. Luke Curren was out after 10 years and Henriksen was appointed head of academy with litteljohn head of academy skills. Also 3 regional area managers were appointed. My question is if who do we hold accountable for the current state of the academy? Is 1 season and 1 pre season enough time to get a detailed overview and nuance of the AFL scene in qld? is it enough to get contacts and develop trust with different clubs and recognise who to listen to and who to know is just pushing agendas? I don't know. If we're lamenting the talent pathways and set up of the academy, has it changed recently to this or is it a continuiation of a long amount of time where these issues have been present and if so how long does this take to change?

Paul Henriksen will be the new Head of Academy

o Zane Littlejohn, the new Development Manager

o Bill Renner, the new Administration Officer

o Josh Hunt will remain as Head Coach and

o Chris Brennan will remain as Strength & Conditioning Coach.

Three Regional Manager roles have been created and appointments made,

o Dayne Frew – Sunshine Coast-Wide Bay (SC-WB)

o Steve Wearne – Brisbane South-Darling Downs (BS-DD)

o Scott Pyle – Brisbane North (BN)


Are the people in place in the regional roles the right ones? and why isn't there a brisbane south one there? seems weird.

There certainly should be concerns with the current output of the academy but I find the willingness to listen and change as indicated here definitely a positive. Hopefully it results in a lesson that can be carried into next years academy decision making and an evolution of that process. I would hope that after listening to certain people and making changes that those trust levels have started to build and they now have a clearer picture of who to actually listen to. All these sorts of things take time.

And lets not underestimate the impact of covid in the last few years on this. Previously there were full time academy only staff and now we have a two current Lions seniors coaches who are still heavily involved in the mens seniors program trying to run an academy as well. Its only natural that this is going to result in less time on the academy and a reduced focus. The main driver of this is dollars. unfortunately due to a legacy of losses the club is still significantly in debt, especially when you compare this to the swans for instance who's academy continues to chug along pretty well. But they get a lot of extra resources into it last time I looked

I would put the current talent level and development more at the feet of the system that has been in place the last at least 4-5 years. Really last year and current year draftees are a product of several years of the system. Still things like selection and current methods are under the remit of the current staff and that remains a concern, clearly.

Just on the whole changes were made and a game was won thing, is the purpose of the academy to win nab league games? i would have thought not. its a really interesting look when you go back and line up old TAC cup seasons and look at performance v draft outcomes. Its a real hodge podge. Still i completely agree you'd rather be winning then not and having good players helps that, but its certainly not even a loose association to nab league success. I mean in 2019 Eastern Ranges finished on top (regular season) and didn't have a single player drafted! Sure its a bit of an outlier but still theres a tonne of cases like that. Winning junior footy games doesn't correlate in any real meaningful statistical way to draft outcomes, something to keep in mind

I'd be really interested to hear thoughts on the above. in summary i certainly think that improvements can be made to the academy program and hopefully as the club starts to produce more profitible years and repays debt that there will be more funds to direct into full time coaches and coordinators for the football program.

Mistakes have been made but I think to lay that at the feet of the current staff solely is a little harsh and ignores the nuance involved in how we've come to get here and the factors in play over the last few years.

You are right when you say these kids are the product of a previous admin. But they are as much a product of their club as well. The clubs develop players more than the academy. The academy probably only attempts to polish them, and identify those who they regard as the elite of the group. But after all the boys go through, the years of development etc, the academy has the final say in the dreams of a kid, so for sure they should be REALLY doing their job.. and held accountable.

In choosing the 35 boys for the final squad (out of 100) was done without playing any pre season intra-academy games to sort them through. The group was chosen by how they looked on the training paddock! Being lazy trainers, both Gary and Gary Sr Ablett would have missed the cut... So despite anything that has happened before, in the last instance, the ability to actually play the game was less of a concern to the Coaches, than was the ability to look good doing drills? That is bizarre. Unforgivable.

 

[The Flying Belgian]

You are right when you say these kids are the product of a previous admin. But they are as much a product of their club as well. The clubs develop players more than the academy. The academy probably only attempts to polish them, and identify those who they regard as the elite of the group. But after all the boys go through, the years of development etc, the academy has the final say in the dreams of a kid, so for sure they should be REALLY doing their job.. and held accountable.

.

I would say that their definition of elite is not necessarily what others might think.

Correct me if I’m wrong but you’ve been on this board under a different username in the past, complaining about treatment of a family member who you thought dudded by the academy. History is repeating.

 

[Fatcat08]

You are right when you say these kids are the product of a previous admin. But they are as much a product of their club as well. The clubs develop players more than the academy. The academy probably only attempts to polish them, and identify those who they regard as the elite of the group. But after all the boys go through, the years of development etc, the academy has the final say in the dreams of a kid, so for sure they should be REALLY doing their job.. and held accountable.

In choosing the 35 boys for the final squad (out of 100) was done without playing any pre season intra-academy games to sort them through. The group was chosen by how they looked on the training paddock! Being lazy trainers, both Gary and Gary Sr Ablett would have missed the cut... So despite anything that has happened before, in the last instance, the ability to actually play the game was less of a concern to the Coaches, than was the ability to look good doing drills? That is bizarre. Unforgivable.

I'd probably want to see a bit more info on how clubs like oakleigh, sandringham etc narrow down their playing lists in comparison before I had too many comments on this. I mean you can't really compare it to say a met east rep team where you're playing games at a carnival etc where the people selecting teams haven't seen half the players at all. Even then you get to a squad and in my experience from the final selection of the team is largely based on training observations.

Personally you can gleen a lot from how people train and talent still stands out. I could walk down to most types of sports trainings and you can tell pretty quick which players have that level of skill etc above. It does place an onus on the quality of your training and the type of training you do though.

I do wonder how the plans for the season prep were affected by the weather and ground availablity. I know seeing the academy facebook page over the last few months the amount of things that had to be cancelled due to the weather and ongoing affects were pretty significant. Even something like the affect this had on rescheduled lions training and moving of times was massive which may too have affected it.

Personally I think polishing kids should be the role of the academy and supporting the junior clubs in their development. But i don't have massive insight into the interaction between the aflq, lions and clubs at this stage so its hard to judge from afar.

On the training and ablett thing, for sure some talents may slip through due to being casual trainers but then again the truly talented will shine through that anyway. Plenty of very talented kids still make it to AFL despite being poor trainers, talent will win out in the end. For a large portion who are poor trainers and don't make it they're usually just not talented enough to overcome it.

As for the accountability ultimitely it will be up to the lions heirarchy and the aflq to hold them accountable. they're the ones setting the program targets. Clearly they havne't been hit for a while now givne the complete restructure. Time will tell whether this structure achieves the objectives the club has placed on percentage of local talent. For sure they need to turn it around quickly though.

 

[Miller1971]

I think when you state every parent and qafl club president is critical, i dont think that is the case. Actually i know it's not the case.

Some kids are going to get cut in squads, ive cut kids in squads. The parents of the kids cut are generally not happy, because little Johnny is the next reincarnation of Voss im just not seeing it. Mmm, no.

I don't think the Academy should be just criticized, i think some constructive discussion to try and pinpoint the issues is valid and healthy. Rants aren't.

Any parent, and even more specifically - any player is far too scared to criticise or give constructive feedback. They live in fear of being cut from a program that is giving them no benefit anyway, which is ironic.

There are a select few club presidents or administrators who criticise, but they will be careful with it - as unfortunately there are people involved in these academies who have far too much say in what clubs kids end up playing at, so club admins will at least try and be careful so kids aren't directed away from them. In reality, if a kid moves from out of town or needs to move to a QAFL club from a QFA club, the academy should just direct them to the one closest to where they live, but we know that doesn't happen...

Personally, and without a whole heap to base it on other than years of observation from the outside, I think kids in our state are better off (or at least no worse off) playing in the local system against men rather than splitting their time between club and academy.

Again, I'm not trying to willfully dismiss your opinions or observations, just trying to work out where you're coming from.

They are better off if the academy is an elite program that compliments their club football instead of replacing it.

As one of the bigger issues is (and I've heard a few club presidents push this, one in particular) is that kids that come out of the academies undrafted drop out of footy altogether at a rate of about 80% before they are 20. So the ebst young talent in QLD is giving the game away after their academy experience, which then directly weakens the local competition that should be a testing ground for young talent like the SANFL or the WAFL

Good post TFB, I have no skin in the academy game apart from being involved at club land. I think it is proven that the academy is not doing anything to improve the chance of qld kids getting drafted. The best kids to come out of our state were never involved in academies eg. Voss, Ackermanis, Reiwoldt, Mal Michael, Ashcroft, Beams and the list goes on. I think let's get these kids back to club land and for a short period of time have them involved in state squads like in the good old days. My personal opinion is that these kids don't need to be involved in footy analytics, over training etc etc so young. It doesn't produce better players. Less is more.

They are better off playing football and fighting for selection at a really high level, like their local QAFL senior side or a genuine state u18 side.

What is lost on those running the academy is that footy is a team game, getting a bunch of kids all playing for themselves who have no affinity for their teammates or the jumper they wear ruins footy for these kids and they fall out of love with the game.

As anyone will tell you, no matter what level they played at - the greatness of footy and any team sport is the time spent with your teammates training hard, preparing and the hitting the trenches together and forming bonds. These activities make better people and better footballers.

It’s well documented that Andrews club coaches had to plead the academy to have another look at him. He wasn’t originally in the academy, until he was 17 or 18. So we really can’t claim Andrews as an academy product.

Samson Ryan was another one they had no interest in, his club had to push his case to them. There are countless kids like this, usually the most talented ones.

You do realise that the QAFL programs are more responsible for the development of players than the academy? The failing of the academy is at least as much their failure as the Lions. I would not be pumping up their tyres.

I do agree though that it would be good for the Lions and the clubs to operate more collaboratively and if we could get some club guys to volunteer to help that would only be a benefit to the academy.

they should be, but in reality they are almost completely locked out of the process. Even last week, Wilston Grange played Noosa in a standalone Friday QAFL Fixture. Very very good standard of footy, no clash with academy games withing 7 days. All academy players were told not to play club football.

Some of the kids were desperate to play in that game, but for fear of being branded a trouble maker or not committed, they all have to sit out. The standard of that match would have been better than any NAB league or intraclub game they play all year, and if some young kid has a standout performance it would really enhance their prospects, but they are denied the chance.

Even now, they are extending the Level 2 stuff into the start of the youth footy season. So kids who play QAFL colts or u16 Div 1 footy are missing rounds of club footy for rubbish intraclub games that are a complete waste of time. Playinig a Brisbane South vs Sunny Coast Level 2 academy game is stupid, a decent QAFL Colts team will smash both of them, so if they are missing those games for these rubbish games, its ludicrous.

The clubs are sent a form asking for your 5 best, ranked in order, in certain age groups. The problem being if you have a kid who is 14 but playing 16s, he wont necessarily show up on the 14s list because he isnt in that team. They then extend an invitation to some of tge players depending on how your club is performing

This simply does not happen.

Some clubs offer a list, and get ignored. Then try again a few times and eventually they listen, but they certainly are not asked.

There is a 15 year old (soon to be 16) playing Level 3 academy for Lions now, he wasn't on academy radar until this year. His club pushed his case in 2020 and 2021 and were ignored, they finally listened and after one off-season he is playing Level 3 games despite being 2 years from draft year...

Does the academy offer anything different and/or more advanced than QAFL or QFA clubs at any level?

Absolutely not, certainly not from QAFL perspective. Some QFA clubs have pretty good setups as well - Moreton, UQ, Mayne, Springwood to name a few.

Since the introduction of the northern academies, who was the last kid drafted out of QLD who wasn’t in an academy?

Oxley, Smith, Preuss come to mind. Though plenty of players get on the draft radar, then suddenly the academy swoops in and they are all of a suddent an academy prospect.

Matt Uebergang quit the academy, then went back and played NEAFL then in his draft year the academy begged him to rejoin as Freo were into him and subsequently drafted him. He was lsited as a draftee from the academy, but Redlands developed him

I really like the QAFL vs Academy game idea.

The problem is though that some kids will miss out on the QAFL side, and then we'll have parents on this board complaining about how their child missed out on the QAFL side and we'll be back to square one.

The problem with that idea is that previously the QAFL u19 side would have smashed them. These days there are not so many guns running around not in the academy was there were before, so at least this has been rectified.

Gone are the days where there were kids like Colenso & Greene (among many others) who were playing Senior footy at QAFL level and doing it well (like Top 5 in B&F well) while kids their own age in the academy were plodding along playing QAFL colts and not fit to hold their bags.

Incredibly this was still happening only 18 months ago, but not as prevalent as it was. Mainly because clubs voices started to be heard.

 

[chopperduck]

Sounds like a pretty said state of affairs. Really need to get the entire system working together. Academy should give talented kids access to some higher level training to further develop them. This should help to produced better players, which help improve the quality of the local teams and competitions as a whole. Shouldnt be working against each other.

 

[NeverEddie]

I mean you can't really compare it to say a met east rep team where you're playing games at a carnival etc where the people selecting teams haven't seen half the players at all. Even then you get to a squad and in my experience from the final selection of the team is largely based on training observations.

Personally you can gleen a lot from how people train and talent still stands out. I could walk down to most types of sports trainings and you can tell pretty quick which players have that level of skill etc above. It does place an onus on the quality of your training and the type of training you do though.

I agree with the first part of this, but (personally) not the second part. In fact, in my opinion, this is where the talent ID issues lie. The selectors/coaches get all gooey over an athletic looking, physically advanced for his age bit of beef cake that can move well and heroically bust through a bunch of underdeveloped U12 pre-pubescent children . . .and, don't get me wrong, some of those players do end up being good. But they miss and dismiss smart footy players who can read, position and use well or that are clean hands under real actual pressure (not pretend "training" pressure).

This issue is not a new thing. How was a player like Dayne Zorko missed? Because U12/U14/U16 Christian Patracca would have eaten U12/U14/U16 Dayne Zorko for breakfast is why. You would think academy level spotters/selectors/coaches would be better than that and more professional in their outlook. That is all. Yet it is really little better than the school run QSS footy rep stuff (it gets a bit better at the higher level . . .but.

 

[NeverEddie]

I mean you can't really compare it to say a met east rep team where you're playing games at a carnival etc where the people selecting teams haven't seen half the players at all. Even then you get to a squad and in my experience from the final selection of the team is largely based on training observations.

Personally you can gleen a lot from how people train and talent still stands out. I could walk down to most types of sports trainings and you can tell pretty quick which players have that level of skill etc above. It does place an onus on the quality of your training and the type of training you do though.

I agree with the first part of this, but (personally) not the second part. In fact, in my opinion, this is where the talent ID issues lie. The selectors/coaches get all gooey over an athletic looking, physically advanced for his age bit of beef cake that can move well and heroically bust through a bunch of underdeveloped U12 pre-pubescent children . . .and, don't get me wrong, some of those players do end up being good. But they miss and dismiss smart footy players who can read, position and use well or that are clean hands under real actual pressure (not pretend "training" pressure).

This issue is not a new thing. How was a player like Dayne Zorko missed? Because U12/U14/U16 Christian Patracca would have eaten U12/U14/U16 Dayne Zorko for breakfast is why. You would think academy level spotters/selectors/coaches would be better than that and more professional in their outlook. That is all. Yet it is really little better than the school run QSS footy rep stuff (it gets a bit better at the higher level . . .but maybe it is starting to get too late by then?