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- Oct 8, 2004
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It won't be long until the participation rate of kids aged 12-17 playing AFL in NSW and QLD exceeds that of League according to AusPlay (government information and knowledge sharing platform for Australian sport).
Once that happens, there will be real debate about the concessions the Academies are afforded.
I'd go out on a limb and say that in SE QLD, the Sunshine Coast through to the Gold Coast, the number of 12-17 year old kids playing AFL already exceeds those playing League. There is a population of +3.5million of which all kids are eligible for the 2 QLD club academies. It is a big leg up already with many of the more recent family arrivals coming from southern states who've historically followed AFL (me included).
It is still needed, more-so I believe in NSW, but if the AFL wanted to tweak a few things related to eligibility, they'd have a lot less casual supporter backlash to the perceived unfairness.
AFL is growing so fast in Queensland, COVID helped this with all the Victorians moving north, as if the family is playing AFL in Vic they arn’t going to start playing League just because they moved states.