The 'Go Home' factor

[DermiesLuvChild]

First we saw Cox go home to Perth, then Davis & now Dick.
I know we did get plenty of service from Davis, but the call home seems to be very strong for some of the Perth boys.
The club invests heavily in time, money & resources to recruit & develop young footballers, so it is quite disappointing when they decide to go home.
I wonder if this will influence our future recruiting strategy.
I know it is a national game & we recruit nationally (best talent available), however some players carry more risk than others.
This is a trend effecting all clubs.

 

[Shade]

i hope fasolo never wants to go back to WA

 

[Ed D]

It does seem to be evenly spread across clubs. The ones that lose more seem to gain them at the same rate (perhaps not Brisbane or Sydney). It would be a factor with recruiting already, but I think it'd be stupid to rule out players from other states. I think it's something like 50% of players are Victorian, so you need to take interstate players. Then you can even get guys like Tarrant who almost walked out on us and he is from Mildura.

Really looking at the big picture, in the last 10 years or so we haven't lost many players due to homesickness. Nick Davis, Leon Davis, Brad Dick, Jarrad Blight, Damien Adkins, Shannon Cox... I can't think of anyone else. In the same time we picked up Shane O'Bree and Darren Jolly to homesickness, got Tarrant back...

 

[Quicky]

We got over ten years of footy out of Davis.

Cox was uncommitted and because of this never going to make it.

I'd wager Dick would still be here if it weren't for his injuries.

Clement, Lockyer, Toovey, Harry, Wellingham are just some examples of the wins we have had out of the west in recent years. I don't think it will alter our strategies in the least. I'd argue if it did we would only be harming our recruiting by cutting off a pool of players to draft from.

 

[blaze036]

Some indigenous players have a massive go home factor where ever there from, and some others get really home sick (caddy) so its always a gamble, u still take best available though

 

[Beary17]

Dick was delisted, Cox struggled through the first training of pre season before realizing he was too fat for AFL, its a non issue for us really, And as has been said all clubs experience it in both ways.

 

[vjknight]

poor argument.

the 'go home' factor as you call it has been an issue forever (albeit small), and not just amongst the indigenous lads. various influences have seen players return to their home state over the years - family, illness, girlfriend(s), other opportunities etc. our club wouldnt have a better or worse record in this regard. and as for this so called trend influencing our future decisions - that would be the biggest error imaginable, as quicky pointed out.

as rodney eade pointed out in this weeks CTV interview, the facilities & other benefits the COLLINGWOOD FOOTBALL CLUB offer are an enormous incentive for any player to COME OUR WAY....not the opposite.

 

[legendstatus]

Yeah you can also put Krak down at the end of the year... can’t help feeling he is using us, especially if he has a big year and with a co#khead of a manager Jess, it’s on the cards... Freo & WCE will come a hunting!

Also, funny to read Ralph from HS saying Dick training with Freo is a minor blow for Buckley, perhaps the funniest thing I have ever heard... didn’t we delist him?

"RalphyHeraldSun Brad Dick will train at Freo and get rookied there. Was coming off a knee and injury prone but still another minor setback for Bucks"

 

[Thommo 42]

I imagine Dick was quite happy at Collingwood, but a combination of injury and his closest mentor at the club going home and the fact that he was delisted probably saw the pull of home win out.

IF you are a 50/50 prospect due to injury and you love your home town and have a rookie spot available at either club, you'd take the one close to home - which is understandable. Had we retained him on the senior list, he may have stayed

 

[MarkT2]

We should ask for a salary cap allowance to help keep our homsick boys.

 

[DermiesLuvChild]

I am sure that all clubs will always recruit the 'best avail' or 'needs based' irrespective of geography (especially with 1st/2nd round draft picks). I believe that the risk of players heading home is real & clubs would definitley factor that risk in when evaluating potential recruits (it doesn't mean they won't recruit that player though - just part of their due diligence).
The 'weighting' of the risk may be heavier with later picks in the draft, so when taking later picks (which are more speculative), the go home factor may come into play.
I am not critising Collingwoods recruiting strategy/record, on the contrary their recruiting has been fantastic over the past 5-6 years.
All I am doing is highlighting the existence of this factor & that some clubs may consider it when recruiting - e.g if Port have a choice of a local boy & a Melbourne boy & they rate them about the same, they may lean towards the local boy. If Wonaeamirri or Taylor were to enter the draft, clubs would have to be guided by their history & risk of returning home again.

 

[Vinnie Vegas]

If Wonaeamirri or Taylor were to enter the draft, clubs would have to be guided by their history & risk of returning home again.

In fairness, that has a lot more to do with cultural issues that stem from them coming from remote indigenous communities and their difficulties in adapting to life in a city.

Drafting a kid from the Tiwi Islands and drafting a kid from Perth or Adelaide are not really the same thing, and they don't really possess issues with go home factor on the same scale.

 

[DermiesLuvChild]

In fairness, that has a lot more to do with cultural issues that stem from them coming from remote indigenous communities and their difficulties in adapting to life in a city.

Drafting a kid from the Tiwi Islands and drafting a kid from Perth or Adelaide are not really the same thing, and they don't really possess issues with go home factor on the same scale.

Yes I agree. The original location/culture plays a huge role in the home sickness situation. I have been to the Tiwi Islands on numerous occasions & it is a different world when compared to Darwin (let alone Melbourne or Sydney). Having a system in place (at clubs) is crucial in assisting recruits to assimilate to big city life & a complete different culture.

 

[Markfs]

The area where it can have a significant impact is salary. Players recruited from Victoria are unlikely to go interstate unless there's a few 100K$ extra in the contract. On the other hand, a player originally drafted from WA might return to WA for the same money that Collingwood is offering him....It means that interstate recruits tend to get contracts with higher pay.

A good example is the Pav. Every time that his contract is up for negotiation there are rumours that he might want to go back to SA. It means that Freo has had to pay him more than if he was just a local recruit.

I dont think its a coincidence that Geelong drafted a lot of Vic boys and they managed to keep them under the salary cap. Local players are cheaper to keep....especially high draft picks