The NFL draft ---> see the future of the AFL draft in this program

[RussellEbertHandball]

Some of you may have taken note in the Stadium Deals thread that I have become a fan of Bloomberg TV's weekly sports program Sportfolio that looks at the business of sports.

This week the sports professor Rick Horrow looks at the NFL draft and the NFL combine and how it has become a business within a business.

This year 250 fans got access to the NFL combine. Its a test as they will probably start selling tickets to the combine like this year like they sold tickets to the fans for the Super Bowl media day for the first time.

They show how now there are businesses that have been set up to prepare the gridiron players for the combine so they get the best possible result. The agents send NFL hopefuls to these businesses who drill the players for up to 8 weeks. The example they showed was a sprinting academy. The agent might pay between $1,000 and $1,500 per week. But shaving 1/10th or 2/10ths off a players 40 yard dash time might see them jump from a 3rd round pick to a 1st round and thats worth $3mil-$4mil extra over 3 years.

He repeats the line from his first show from Jeff Lurie who is the owner of the Philladelpia Eagles who coined the phrase "the NFL is great at monetising hope" ie anybody around the NFL has the chance to be great at any given time, but the scout has to use the draft to gain an edge especially at the combine.


http://www.bloomberg.com/video/87981856/

 

[Portia]

I think the issue of draftees having uneven preparation is going to be more specific to the NFL than it could be in the AFL for a couple of reasons.

First of all, the degree of specialisation of roles in the NFL means that when you do have marginal difference in key areas, the impact of them can be bigger. But getting a `best possible' sprinting time won't turn a AFL non-draftee into a real one by itself (regardless of position played).

Secondly, the low draft age that we have is actually a good thing in some ways. I know its a popular thought to raise the draft age to 19 or 20, but once they leave school, potential draftees will suddenly have a greatly increased variance in the support they received/the opportunities they have to work on their key metrics.

There's certainly a bit of that now (private school kids vs kids from the middle of nowhere going to more camps and such), but that would only get worse when some kids will have parents happy for them to just go to uni and train, where others have to go headlong into a low-paid apprenticeship for real hours to fill time until their AFL ticket.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

The private school vs public school has made me recall what Walls said on 5AA at the start of the week.

He reckons that he has spoken to a recruiter who told him that recruiters are looking more at private school kids over public school kids. Why? Two main reasons it appears.

1. With footballers expected to take more in and have more lectures etc at the clubs, Eddie on his new Eddie McGuire Tonight on his first program on Sunday said footballers now have 15 hours/week in the classroom on game tactics etc, which is more contact hours than a Melb Uni commerce degree, recruiters reckon private school kids are more likely to be able to handle all the footy education and personal development programs the clubs now have.

2. Most of the big private Melbourne schools have at least one ex AFL footballer working full time on the schools football program. The private schools tend to offer scholarships but you could see a parent who reckons his kid has talent and can afford it, send his kid to a school that has a big football program and improve his chance of being drafted.

I don't know if this is a Vic centric attitude among recruiters. Cornes challenged Walls about it and he said its not his opinion, its that of the recruiter.

I noticed 6 or 7 years ago that they are running camps for footballers to improve footballers but they aren't huge. With so little money in athletics I can see a smart sprint coach setting up a well run program for u/18 kids especially for those that play in the TAC comp.

I wonder if we will get to the stage where a Ricky Nixon type, Craig Kelly, Paul O'Connor etc goes and pays for one of his kids sprinting or weights lessons.

 

[Portia]

The private vs public school thing isn't exactly new though, is it? It certainly isn't just a Victoria thing....schools like Sacred Heart, St. Michaels have great track records of footballer development for decades. And I can't remember which school/s (PAC?), but Choco and Bucky both spent time in private education.

It would be interesting to see which club that recruiter works for, because what he's saying would seem to reflect the easiest route to talent available. You could argue that to an extent this trend is already visible - of the TAC Cup clubs, the Western Jets is usually one of the worst player producers. And I guess you could say that this explains how we got Robbie Gray so cheaply, given he was a laborer right before we picked him up.

Still, if a degree of educated intelligence is desirable in the AFL, you still can't afford to focus on college kids to any great extent. If there genuinely is a rush on college kids in the early rounds, then by the time you get to the fifth round, is a kid from Pulteney reliably going to be better than a kid who went to Adelaide High? I doubt it.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

I know of blokes who got sports scholarships at PAC when I was teenager so I'm well aware of how it works in SA. We have done well out of St Michs Tredrea, Wilson, the Eberts, Broadbent and one or two others.

I remember replying to a thread on the main board about how Sydney had 5 or 6 kids from one school or a few Sydney kids were from there as were several other kids on AFL list, so I gave them the Sacred Hart story. I think we had 5 at the time - the two Cornes', Hitchcock, Hartlett and Meyer when I posted. Might have been one more.

But it was more the recruiters blatant opinion, or maybe Walls just exaggerated his opinion, that got my attention. The Liam Jurrah incident has started the debate that Aboriginal boys are too much trouble to recruit. Fox Footy's AFL 360 had a story on it last night.

Interesting comment about the Western Jets. At a quick glance I can't see us ever recruiting anyone directly from there. I will take note of the guys who get drafted from there, from now on.

Once I found out Gray had worked for a couple years at Coles or Woolies lugging dead animal carcases from trucks to the cold room, I became a bit of a fan even before I saw what he could do on the field.

That's why I reckon we should seriously look at guys 21 or 22 in the state league comps who have had some real life experiences. Try for some 'moneyball" picks so to speak.

 

[Portia]

Do you think Wallsy's recruiter is the same one as in this article, saying that his club won't draft anyone without at least one white parent?

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

Don't know, because most clubs have blackfellas on their list. You'd reckon Walls still has contacts with Carlton and Fitzroy/Brisbane guys in the industry, so my money on his recruiter is either from these two clubs or ex player from these 2 clubs who now are recruiters for other clubs.

The aboriginal one, I reckon its a Vic club, so I'd knock out
Hawks, Essendon, Collingwood, Carlton, Melbourne, North Melbourne

so that leaves,
Bulldogs, Geelong, St Kilda and Richmond

 

[Portia]

I can't find fault with either of those lists. The casual callousness of the comment leads me to think it would be a headline-maker club like St Kilda or Richmond, but who knows, maybe we're getting the first real peek of Geelong's underbelly as they fall from grace.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

Geelong have come out and said that they want the recruiter named.

Apparentley the recruiter said he would not recruit an Indigenous player if he had two black parents.

So it's only part racist - if there is such a thing.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

Link to Herald Sun story re Geelong's call to name recruiter.

That 2 parents call means those lists I made probably need changing.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/afl/mor...one-white-parent/story-e6frf9jf-1226301482027

GEELONG has called on the AFL to name a recruiter who said his club would not recruit an Aboriginal player unless he had at least one white parent.

The AFL has spoken to a number of clubs about concerns over recruiting Indigenous players after charges were laid against Melbourne star Liam Jurrah following an alleged machete attack in central Australia.

One recruiter reportedly told the league that it would not recruit an Indigenous player if he had two black parents.....

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/afl/mor...one-white-parent/story-e6frf9jf-1226301482027

 

[Portia]

Well, its Matty Rendell, who has been resigned from the Crows.

You've got to wonder how someone like Jared Petrenko feels, knowing that he's considered `white enough' to be drafted to the Crows.

It'll be interesting to hear Rendell's side of the story, because listening to Triggy's press conference, his comments may even have been said in the context that this thread started with (eg. apparent economic advantages on player development impacting draftability), in a `no bullshit' sense for a league-wide internal review.

You'd also have to think that he would never have said these things if he didn't feel that the administration supported this view.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

Shit I just flicked on 5aa about 7 or 8 minutes ago and heard Trigg speaking and it took 30 seconds before it clicked what was going on.

Very surprised, but I did think a bit more about it once I found the HS story which said it was if both parents were Aboriginal not just one Aboriginal parent.

 

[Burningleviathan]

Geez, why would you say something like that in public?

 

[Portia]

I didn't think it was in public?

 

[70sDinosaur]

Adelaide Crows - the team for all racists.

 

[Portia]

I don't think we'll get value from bagging the Crows in this thread, but now would be a great time for the club to promote a PAFC indigenous initiative.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

..It'll be interesting to hear Rendell's side of the story, because listening to Triggy's press conference, his comments may even have been said in the context that this thread started with (eg. apparent economic advantages on player development impacting draftability), in a `no bullshit' sense for a league-wide internal review.

You'd also have to think that he would never have said these things if he didn't feel that the administration supported this view.

Cornes read out Rendell's statement which has now been inserted into the story on Adelaide now. Rendell said he will make a public comment on Sunday or later after the NAB Cup GF, which is fair enough.

Trigg was asked if Rendell didn't resign would he have been sacked, Trigg said yes.

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport...-over-racism-row/story-e6freck3-1226301482027

Rendell issued a statement apologising for his remarks.

"I believe the comments in a meeting with Jason (community engagement officer Jason Mifsud) were taken out of context. They were misunderstood. I have a strong track record of recruiting Aboriginal players. My comments were about where recruiting could finish up without proactive work. I was trying to help.

“However, knowing the implication of such reports, I’ve decided to stand down.

“To stay would attach those comments to the club, which is not the case either.”

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport...-over-racism-row/story-e6freck3-1226301482027

I can see Rendell being hard done by here. I have seen Jason Mifsud talk and read his stuff and he sprouts politically correct cliches. He would have run back to the AFL and jumped up and down.


I guess this thread has taken a turn from the original point of AFL draft following the NFL draft. But there have always been prejudices and biases in both sports.

 

[Burningleviathan]

I think there would be a perception that drafting an aboriginal from a remote community would come with a lot of difficulties. He, perhaps, should of phrased what he was saying better.

 

[Portia]

I can see Rendell being hard done by here. I have seen Jason Mifsud talk and read his stuff and he sprouts politically correct cliches. He would have run back to the AFL and jumped up and down.

Yeah, I think I would have as many doubts about Mifsud's future at this point as I do about Rendell's. How the **** does he maintain a working relationship with any club official after this point?