List Mgmt. GWS Giants Academy News & Discussion

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fridgeman

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Jan 26, 2014
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Next years potential academy draftees

GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY
James Peatling
Forward

An agile small-to-medium-sized forward from western Sydney who loves to fly for his marks and knows where the goals are. Defensive tackling pressure has also been impressive inside 50.

Kieren Briggs
Forward

Another western Sydney local who played as a key forward for GWS in the academy series, but is versatile enough to have played as a key defender in the NEAFL. Good speed and agility for his size and a powerful kick.

Jeromy Lucas
Forward/midfielder

A medium-sized forward/midfielder who has a great ability to find the footy, is a quality overhead mark, and finishes his work in front of goals. Kicked three goals in a game of NEAFL last season and will combine his school footy at Xavier College with academy games and the NEAFL again in 2018.

Shaun Driscoll
Small defender/midfielder

A lightly framed half-back/wingman with fantastic endurance and speed, Driscoll is a good overhead mark for his size that covers plenty of territory during a game. An outside midfielder but has the capacity to play inside if needed.

Mathew Walker
Forward

The medium forward kicked multiple bags of goals in the NEAFL last season and finished the year in the All Stars game in Grand Final week. Powerful athlete with quality skills on both sides of his body and a big vertical leap.
 
Nov 23, 2015
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From this year's championships and NEAFL topping-up, I don't see too high a ceiling for most of these guys - although obviously hope that they improve and show that I'm wrong. Matt Walker the most likely looking on 2017 form, but I certainly don't see him as first round - especially in the 'super draft'. But a second or third round selection similar to Shipley may beckon. The risk is that he might simply replace Tiziani, if Tiz can't crack a first grade spot.
 
Nov 23, 2015
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Where it says that Jeromy Lucas is playing footy for Xavier College, is that Xavier College in Melbourne?

I presume so. I extracted this article on AFL Draft Central https://www.afldraftcentral.com.au/tag/jeremy-lucas/ regarding Victorian School Football Update (dated June 2017). Gets a mention as the 8th player at one school, so better than the average kid but not a top-rated prospect.

Xavier’s Anthony Zimmerman is using his elite speed and goal smarts to good use, hitting the scoreboard. Bailey Smith was solid in the Vic Metro U17 Futures game and has been a strong performer in the midfield and rebounding across half back. Laitham Vandermeer is another who has been great for Xavier and would be a contender for their best player of the season. Changkuoth Jiath (CJ) has been exciting and his moments of flashes are simply eyecatching, often using his good athletic leap to clunk marks. Australia Under 19 cricket speed demon Zak “Cherry” Evans has been a standout for Xavier – and could easily follow the football pathway should he wish. Evans booted two goals in the opening quarter on Saturday and is playing well. Charlie Whitehead, Jack Hewitt and Jeremy Lucas have been other good contributors for the Xavs.
 
Apr 30, 2011
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Perhaps a couple of names to keep an eye out for in years to come
On Saturday, AFL NSW/ACT Flying Boomerangs team members, Wesley Clark and David Whyman took off for Fiji as a part of the 2017 Rio Tinto AFL Flying Boomerangs Leadership Program. Now in its twelfth year, the Rio Tinto AFL Flying Boomerangs program is the national Under 16 male Indigenous development program. Currently, twenty-six Indigenous players from across the country are taking part in the eight-day camp, focusing specifically on personal and career development, leadership and cultural identity. Clark and Whyman from New South Wales, who play for the East Lakes Mangoplah Football Club and the South West Tigers Football Club respectively, were selected for the Flying Boomerangs national team by AFL Club recruiters, following the 2017 AFL National Diversity Championships in April. Their selection was also based on school attendance, leadership skills, and football ability.
http://aflnswact.com.au/flying-boomerangs-2018/
 
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AFL clubs Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sydney and the GIANTS will be hoping to unearth the next Jake Brown after confirming their NEAFL Under-19 Academy lists for the 2018 season.This year will be the second season all four AFL clubs have Under-19 squads, which allows up to nine players the chance to spend an extra year within an AFL environment to further their development. All players will be available to play NEAFL games for their AFL club, as well as partaking in training sessions alongside the Under-18 and Under-16 academy squads.

Giants NEAFL Under-19 Academy lists for the 2018 season:
Jake Gaynor (Albury), Daniel Foley (Ganmain), Tyh Evans (Leeton), Canberra-based players Rhys Pollock (Queanbeyan), Riley Budd (Eastlake), William Clark (Eastlake), joining Sydney-based duo Kieren Briggs (Pennant Hills) and Nathan Coxall (East Coast Eagles) in their squad.
http://neafl.com.au/2018-under-19-afl-academy-squads-announced/
 
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fridgeman

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AFL clubs Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sydney and the GIANTS will be hoping to unearth the next Jake Brown after confirming their NEAFL Under-19 Academy lists for the 2018 season.This year will be the second season all four AFL clubs have Under-19 squads, which allows up to nine players the chance to spend an extra year within an AFL environment to further their development. All players will be available to play NEAFL games for their AFL club, as well as partaking in training sessions alongside the Under-18 and Under-16 academy squads.

Giants NEAFL Under-19 Academy lists for the 2018 season:
Jake Gaynor (Albury), Daniel Foley (Ganmain), Tyh Evans (Leeton), Canberra-based players Rhys Pollock (Queanbeyan), Riley Budd (Eastlake), William Clark (Eastlake), joining Sydney-based duo Kieren Briggs (Pennant Hills) and Nathan Coxall (East Coast Eagles) in their squad.
http://neafl.com.au/2018-under-19-afl-academy-squads-announced/

No Nathan Richards named? I may be wrong but he would have been in the same academy year as the others named?
A few tall players named so it would be interesting to see where he will be playing this year
 

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Nov 23, 2015
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Interesting. On the GWS website there are academy squads - U18, U17 & U16 - named, by region (e.g. Greater Western Sydney, ACT/South Coast etc. The U18s include both Jack Powell & Nathan Richards, who are asterisked as 19 year olds - but not named in cMC's article specifically on U19 squad. Odd.

http://www.gwsgiants.com.au/news/2017-12-18/giants-academy-phase-2-announcement

http://s.afl.com.au/staticfile/AFL Tenant/GWSGiants/Images/news images/ACT Phase 2 Squads 2018.pdf

In the article I quoted the squad was said to be the 'NEAFL Under-19 Academy lists for the 2018 season' so I suspect they are just top ups for the our NEAFL but unlike the top ups that might turn up just before game day, these 19 year olds get to spend regular time at the club. While the likes of Jack Powell & Nathan Richards are over ages for the u18 squad who are still eligible for the u18 champs.
 
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A WS kid on our books along with Shipley will shut up the southerners
You have more faith in this regard than I. The silence from the southerners (mainstream Victorian media & BF flogs) after Shipley's selection was deafening. As I see it, any kid taken late from western Sydney they won't care about ... but the moment a kid shows promise of being top 20, they'll start beating the drums about how unfair it is. I note that there's almost nothing being squawked about regarding Tarryn Thomas to North Melbourne under their 'Tasmanian AFL Academy' - a kid from a traditional AFL state. (Having said that, I'm somewhat sympathetic given the recent poor drafting out of Tasmania, so my point is more the double-standards & hypocrisy of commentators.) The old case of when it suits 'em it's good but when it doesn't it's the worst thing in the world.

Putting that aside, good to see COA looking to continue his development and push his case for an AFL career. It was one of the things said about the academy - that it would improve the overall standard at lower levels of competition. In this case, IMO it's fantastic that a Canberra club is benefitting & hopefully reinforce the value of the academy within NSW/ACT.
 

Matchu

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You have more faith in this regard than I. The silence from the southerners (mainstream Victorian media & BF flogs) after Shipley's selection was deafening. As I see it, any kid taken late from western Sydney they won't care about ... but the moment a kid shows promise of being top 20, they'll start beating the drums about how unfair it is. I note that there's almost nothing being squawked about regarding Tarryn Thomas to North Melbourne under their 'Tasmanian AFL Academy' - a kid from a traditional AFL state. (Having said that, I'm somewhat sympathetic given the recent poor drafting out of Tasmania, so my point is more the double-standards & hypocrisy of commentators.) The old case of when it suits 'em it's good but when it doesn't it's the worst thing in the world.

Putting that aside, good to see COA looking to continue his development and push his case for an AFL career. It was one of the things said about the academy - that it would improve the overall standard at lower levels of competition. In this case, IMO it's fantastic that a Canberra club is benefitting & hopefully reinforce the value of the academy within NSW/ACT.
Southerners are ok with a developmental system that could be perceived as unfair to a certain degree. It only started to become an issue in 2015 when GWS had three top 16 picks come through in the same season - Hopper, Kennedy and Himmelberg, despite only having one pick in the top 30 prior to draft night. Then we saw another three top 20 picks head to the Giants the following year - Setterfield, Perryman and Cumming.

I don't know how you guys feel about it, but that does seem excessive to me. No doubt GWS would have academy drafted Brander and Spargo at the end of last year if that was still possible, which would have equated to six top 20 academy picks in a matter of three years for a team that has finished 4th on the ladder in the last two seasons. That doesn't include the other top 20 picks they have drafted over the last three years either - Taranto and Bonar. The situation seemed excessive and unfair so something had to be done and we saw something closer to parity at the end of last year.

Hopefully we see more Sydneysiders like Shipley getting drafted as a result because that's how we're going to grow the game in NSW. Focusing on Sydney, not the Murray region of New South Wales.
 
only having one pick in the top 30 prior to draft night

That's misleading because GWS specifically traded out of top picks into more lower picks under the system at the time. A more accurate description would therefore be GWS taking a top 10 pick plus the equivalent of three other top 30 picks in draft value to the draft.
 

Matchu

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That's misleading because GWS specifically traded out of top picks into more lower picks under the system at the time. A more accurate description would therefore be GWS taking a top 10 pick plus the equivalent of three other top 30 picks in draft value to the draft.
That's fair but you have to admit six top 20 academy picks in two years is a bit excessive.
 

Ichabod Noodle

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That's fair but you have to admit six top 20 academy picks in two years is a bit excessive.

Cumming was only top 20 because he was in the academy. If he had have grown up in Vic or SA he would have been mid 2nd to late 3rd round at best.

You saw how far Brander and Spargo fell in draft consideration after they were taken out of the Academy (and Marshall last year)

We have to pay a premium to keep players from the academy.
 

HighReeve

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That's fair but you have to admit six top 20 academy picks in two years is a bit excessive.

How so? If it wasn't academy members they still would have drafted highly rated talent due to draft picks from players leaving.

Surely more players coming through NSW/ACT is better regardless of ladder position. Clubs won't always have the draft currency to match bids.

Would any of the academy players from 15 or 16 been ineligible after the zoning adjustment?

The situation seemed excessive and unfair so something had to be done and we saw something closer to parity at the end of last year.

Would you mind expanding this? Not sure I follow, do you mean parity is closer to one academy graduate?
 

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