You guys have a luxury of an academy, want top end players to stay start developing them from in house and they will stay. Its a mute point anyway
as its something you guys are starting to do well and from what I understand you have a couple more coming in next seasons draft.
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Yeah, how lucky are we?
Academies fix everything, and in fact it's almost unfair, how good we've got it.
FYI the academies give us a chance to better develop some home grown talent. That is all. Yes, we get first dibs on the best, but the discount we get on those is constantly being watered down, so we will end up paying the same as other clubs pay for their best talent (draft picks wise).
A lot of talent from the academies also go to interstate clubs, either at draft time, or down the track if lured by 'the big time'.
Perhaps it is best to stop calling it a "go home" factor and consider the lure of playing in footy heartland more about just that. Sure, Vic players want to go back to play in Melbourne (or Adelaide, or Perth) but is it just a home factor? I think it has far more to do with being in a traditional footy state. Qlders drafted to Melbourne clubs are less likely to return to Qld, due to home sickness. Equally, the lure of playing at a big Vic club can be just as enticing to a Brisbane boy as it is for someone from Victoria.
So the strength or luxury of the academies is a bit of a furphy in terms of being a fix. It gives us a better chance of instilling some hometown loyalty and reducing homesickness, but too many overestimate that strength.
It isn't a ******* luxury FFS, it is a small compensatory offset.