Strategy Fremantle Dockers Next Generation Academy

Mar 11, 2008
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img_6066-jpg.421715


It has begun.................

http://www.perthnow.com.au/sport/we...d/news-story/40c085b063d9ff389f70b985dd2f83e4

http://www.fremantlefc.com.au/news/2016-08-28/next-generation-on-show

This guys seems like a jet. Hopefully we end up getting some top end talent as soon as the draft concessions kick in.

Jason Carter

Fremantle have already earmarked a priority draftee for 2018, inviting Wyndham speedster Jason Carter to join the club for pre-season training next year. - The West


Anybody know of any other prospects that may be going to join our initial academy squad?
 
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Feb 11, 2011
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It has begun.................

http://www.perthnow.com.au/sport/we...d/news-story/40c085b063d9ff389f70b985dd2f83e4

http://www.fremantlefc.com.au/news/2016-08-28/next-generation-on-show

This guys seems like a jet. Hopefully we end up getting some top end talent as soon as the draft concessions kick in.

Jason Carter

Fremantle have already earmarked a priority draftee for 2018, inviting Wyndham speedster Jason Carter to join the club for pre-season training next year. - The West


Anybody know of any other prospects that may be going to join our initial academy squad?
We need to get Ross Kelly and Gerald Neesham from Clontarf on board. They have already done a lot of the leg work. Love to see a partnership between Clontarf and Freo.
 

M_rash

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From the AFL website today. Almost didn't read it because it has a picture of Simpkin from North Melbourne - but it's basically a bit of a pump up for our academy :D

Could be a nice little gold mine for us in the coming years!

Next-generation Boomerangs take great leap on Great Wall
Ben Guthrie
December 12, 2016 1:25 PM


479958-tlsnewsportrait.jpg

New Kangaroo Jy Simpkin

FREMANTLE Next Generation Academy prospect Liam Henry has been identified as a top draftee in the years to come after impressing while on tour in China with the Flying Boomerangs.

Fellow WA Boomerangs members Cox Khai-Arn and Tarkyn Brogan-Henry are other players who have turned heads on the trip.

The teenager will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of former Boomerangs captains Jy Simpkin and Sam Powell-Pepper, who were drafted inside the top 20 of the 2016 NAB AFL Draft.

Simpkin joined North Melbourne with pick No.12, while Port Adelaide pounced on Powell-Pepper with selection No.18 in the draft.

Henry was one of 25 participants from the Boomerangs program who toured China as part of a cultural awareness and leadership development camp.

The Boomerangs visited Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City, competed in a time trial along the Great Wall of China and trained with up to eight of Port Adelaide's highest-profile players in Shanghai.

The Flying Boomerangs program is a personal development and leadership program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young men aged 14-15 years old.

Dual premiership player Mathew Stokes said the benefits of the program were evident for the youngsters learning about the required professionalism.

"What's really important to us is to give them some exposure to what playing in the AFL is like," Stokes told AFL.com.au.

"Having them on this trip, we've treated them like an AFL club – we've trained and the boys have done recovery, they've got to really look after their diet.

"When or if they do get to an AFL club they know what to expect when they arrive."

Ali Fahour, the AFL's head of multicultural and indigenous partnerships and programs, said the Flying Boomerangs program was making the transition to the elite level far smoother.

"If it wasn't for this program these players wouldn't be able take the next step because they might not have been exposed and prepared for what is required at that elite level," Fahour said.

"We get them in a culturally safe environment and teach them the skills and provide the support that they need to feel apart of an elite talent program."

Henry even caught the eye of Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley during one of the sessions that was conducted in Shanghai, with the Boomerangs also playing games against the Port Adelaide Aboriginal Academy and the AFL China side.

"To have nine Boomerangs drafted from this group three years ago demonstrates how powerful this program is," Fahour said.

"We certainly believe we've got another 10 or 12 in this group now who have the capability of joining those nine guys on an AFL list.

"The difference in talent between Sam Powell-Pepper and Jy Simpkin and these boys isn't too great, but we've stressed to them that the hard work starts now.

"The individuals who are prepared to put in the hard work now are the ones that will make it through."
 

meima

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Not sure why the negative , until Afl really screw freo , why act like Kimmy hager ?
Hoping one of the bad news is real.
 

wayToGo_

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Liam Henry is an upcoming star. Have been following his progress this year and what I like the most is he seems to have his head screwed on right. I am pretty sure he has a brother (Mitch), also a WA Kickstart player who is a very good footballer. Hopefully both are academy prospects for us.

In Liam's age group 10 West Aussie kids made the Boomerangs squad and most of them were the best of the squad (including Liam at the top of the pile). If we have guys like Carter and Henry coming through, I can't wait to see what happens over the coming years. Kimberley = gold mine for indigenous talent imo.
 

Clems Knee

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Liam Henry is an upcoming star. Have been following his progress this year and what I like the most is he seems to have his head screwed on right. I am pretty sure he has a brother (Mitch), also a WA Kickstart player who is a very good footballer. Hopefully both are academy prospects for us.

In Liam's age group 10 West Aussie kids made the Boomerangs squad and most of them were the best of the squad (including Liam at the top of the pile). If we have guys like Carter and Henry coming through, I can't wait to see what happens over the coming years. Kimberley = gold mine for indigenous talent imo.

Hopefully this is not just great news for Freo, but means that more kids get their chance than would otherwise have happened. How many Kimberley footballers have ever been drafted?
 

wayToGo_

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Hopefully this is not just great news for Freo, but means that more kids get their chance than would otherwise have happened. How many Kimberley footballers have ever been drafted?
Yeah and the only thing I don't like is the WA academies being limited to indigenous talent up North (The Kimberley for us and Pilbara for WC). There are so many talented young kids in other disadvantaged areas of WA that deserve the same leg up imo. Surely if GWS and GCS can target rich white kids, they could consider extending the WA academies to include all indigenous kids (as per the zones)? And maybe any kids up North (it's not just the indigenous ones who need support).
 

wayToGo_

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I think if we can intergrate the Kimberly kids into city life we will have a pipeling from the north supplying endless silk.

The indigenous kids from the midwest will be a much greater challenge as there is a much bigger drug problem in the communities. I played for Mullewa Saints 13's and there was so much talent wasted by teenager's being lazy and content to be a local rockstar. The culture of being super cool as a young footballer, then being led astray and knocking up girls while in the young teens.

Probably just as much skill though just different challenges. Should be some gems there too if we dig deep enough.
 
Mar 11, 2008
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So do we get to see players filter through? in the 2018 draft or 2019 draft? Is it:
-3 calender years (Academys started in april 2016 i think) - so 2019 draft, or
-3 seasons including 2016 as a full season - so 2018 draft..........?
 

Clems Knee

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I hope Gerald Neesham is much better at that, than he was as a coach.

You must be a child.

Given the players that Neesham had available to him, Neesham outperformed as a coach. Second best coach we have had after Lyon. His biggest downfall was his ability as a recruiter.

As far as his work for Clontarf, he has done an amazing job, and has had a significant positive effect on many lives.
 

Clems Knee

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Didn't we offer him a year and he said he would quit unless he was given two. When the club refused he quit. ( maybe this is all in my mind.)

I think it is all in your mind.
The problem was, when Neesham almost got us into the finals (disastrous last game against Melbourne with walking wounded), he was given a one year contract. I think that affected his coaching.
The next year we went backwards and Neesham was out, and we got Damian Drum - who turned a soft, fast team into a soft, slow team. The only thing Drum did right was refuse to trade away our high draft picks; and we got Pavlich and Hasleby.

That's how I remember it.
 

theGav56

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Neesham was light years ahead of the AFL. Run and carry and switching the play is standard now. He just didn't have the players.
It really wasn't as simple as that. He seemed to have an attitude that who the players were didn't actually matter that much as he had a system that he was confident in. Role players were fine, and the draft not particularly respected. In addition our football and recruiting departments were badly under resourced. Neesham need to be partnered with the right support staff, but we simply weren't ready for that.
 
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