Drafts 2015

[DLR]

Yes if Melbourne had bid on the 4 in a row they may have got "stuck" with one and missed out on the player they genuinely wanted.

Understand that, but really there was little if any chance of the first three and probably four (as named) not being bid, and bloody good gets in their own right. Sydney didn't hesitate on Mills and it was widely known as such. Hopper and Kennedy were going nowhere else but GWS - again widely known. The only iffy one was Hipwood, but again in closed circles here in Brisbane, was always going to be bid on as well. My only point was if these bids cost more for Academy Clubs more it might have opened up options later.

As these Academy kids increase in number and quality, it's a risk strategy that could have a benefit - albeit not affected by much this year. But it will make these Clubs think about more valuable down trades in future drafts.

 

[Gazmatron]

Having lived in the Riverina for over 50 years. I can not agree with this. Parts of the Riverina are strong Aussie Rules towns but others (like Leeton where Townsend and Hopper are from) Aussie Rules is the third code behind both rugby codes (lived there for 5 years so pretty sure of this).

Kennedy comes from Collingullie. Would not have been on any ones radar if not for GWS academy. Before the academy I have seen kids dominate the Riverina Football League and not even get interviewed by AFL teams.

I know of kids in the GWS academy from the Griffith area that are in the academy that come from families that have been rugby players for generations.

There is no doubt in my mind that the GWS academy is a major reason that these kids are coming through

Your argument about the Riverina being a strong AFL area is only true if you limit the Riverina to the southern portion and those towns along the old South West Railway line. The rest of the Riverina has traditionally been rugby dominated.

Agree with everything said here as an ACT person lived here over 40 years, AFL also runs third among the footy codes here. To give some idea when the NEAFL started we had 3 teams this year it is down to one, apparently Ainslie a strong financial club has pulled out. Without the GWS putting time in here and in the Riverina AFL would really struggle. This is a long term process and making it too onerous on GWS would only weaken the code. My son now retired from footy like a lot of Riverina kids (Paul Kelly for ex) played AFL on Saturday, Rugby on Sunday. At 16 his mates all decided to play Rugby Union so did he. Throughout the Southern NSW and ACT making AFL number 1 is a hard task. Progress is being made even in Sydney with the Jack's, Heeney and Mills but they are very isolated cases. The good news looking forward to the Tiges here mid year.

 

[Gazmatron]

Understand that, but really there was little if any chance of the first three and probably four (as named) not being bid, and bloody good gets in their own right. Sydney didn't hesitate on Mills and it was widely known as such. Hopper and Kennedy were going nowhere else but GWS - again widely known. The only iffy one was Hipwood, but again in closed circles here in Brisbane, was always going to be bid on as well. My only point was if these bids cost more for Academy Clubs more it might have opened up options later.

As these Academy kids increase in number and quality, it's a risk strategy that could have a benefit - albeit not affected by much this year. But it will make these Clubs think about more valuable down trades in future drafts.

Your point is valid however only if this trend continues. Take the draft and look at WA. I think there were only 4 maybe 5 selected The first at 34 & 35 then a couple in the 60s (mature age). For a strong AFL state this is very ordinary as they don't have the competition competing for talent from other rugby codes as occurs in NSW and Qld, Tasmania had more selected from memory. I guess you have to see what happens over time before making hard decisions.

 

[Panthera Tigris]

Agree with everything said here as an ACT person lived here over 40 years, AFL also runs third among the footy codes here. To give some idea when the NEAFL started we had 3 teams this year it is down to one, apparently Ainslie a strong financial club has pulled out. Without the GWS putting time in here and in the Riverina AFL would really struggle. This is a long term process and making it too onerous on GWS would only weaken the code. My son now retired from footy like a lot of Riverina kids (Paul Kelly for ex) played AFL on Saturday, Rugby on Sunday. At 16 his mates all decided to play Rugby Union so did he. Throughout the Southern NSW and ACT making AFL number 1 is a hard task. Progress is being made even in Sydney with the Jack's, Heeney and Mills but they are very isolated cases. The good news looking forward to the Tiges here mid year.

Agree with everything said here as an ACT person lived here over 40 years, AFL also runs third among the footy codes here. To give some idea when the NEAFL started we had 3 teams this year it is down to one, apparently Ainslie a strong financial club has pulled out. Without the GWS putting time in here and in the Riverina AFL would really struggle. This is a long term process and making it too onerous on GWS would only weaken the code. My son now retired from footy like a lot of Riverina kids (Paul Kelly for ex) played AFL on Saturday, Rugby on Sunday. At 16 his mates all decided to play Rugby Union so did he. Throughout the Southern NSW and ACT making AFL number 1 is a hard task. Progress is being made even in Sydney with the Jack's, Heeney and Mills but they are very isolated cases. The good news looking forward to the Tiges here mid year.

Although AFL is the third code in this region, travelling through the area I've always found it a little unique compared to most of Australia. Across the rest of the country media coverage is distinctly biased to one or the other. Where as what I noticed when doing University in Wagga is that all codes get reasonable coverage. As in, the only place where all codes had a relatively equal following. Canberra more weighted in favour of rugby codes, no doubt. However this is perhaps a function of the Raiders (founded in 1982) and The Brumbies (founded mid 1990s), entrenching the two Rugby codes' dominance. Canberra is one of those places that could have gone either way, dependant on which code/s put the work in. 1) Because it is near the border of the so called 'Barrassi Line' and 2) Because it has a large transient population, with families originating from all states.

Hence, I always felt it a blunder that the VFL/AFL didn't place a team in Canberra to represent ACT-southern NSW (capitalise on the fact there is at least some traditional following for the sport in this region) 30 to 40 years ago - at the same time as they placed South Melbourne in Sydney. Perhaps Fitzroy should have been offered a carrot to move to Canberra. Would have been a far more dignified move than the forced take over by Brisbane that eventuated.

 

[Gazmatron]

Although AFL is the third code in this region, travelling through the area I've always found it a little unique compared to most of Australia. Across the rest of the country media coverage is distinctly biased to one or the other. Where as what I noticed when doing University in Wagga is that all codes get reasonable coverage. As in, the only place where all codes had a relatively equal following. Canberra more weighted in favour of rugby codes, no doubt. However this is perhaps a function of the Raiders (founded in 1982) and The Brumbies (founded mid 1990s), entrenching the two Rugby codes' dominance. Canberra is one of those places that could have gone either way, dependant on which code/s put the work in. 1) Because it is near the border of the so called 'Barrassi Line' and 2) Because it has a large transient population, with families originating from all states.

Hence, I always felt it a blunder that the VFL/AFL didn't place a team in Canberra to represent ACT-southern NSW (capitalise on the fact there is at least some traditional following for the sport in this region) 30 to 40 years ago - at the same time as they placed South Melbourne in Sydney. Perhaps Fitzroy should have been offered a carrot to move to Canberra. Would have been a far more dignified move than the forced take over by Brisbane that eventuated.

Around 10 years ago North Melbourne played 4 home games in Canberra with good financial support from the Government and Aionslie membership never took off sadly even tho one of the games was against the Swans there were always more Swans supporters at the games. These included bus loads u from the Riverina. Works a bit better with GWS because they have some attachment to the district. I suspect North will run into the same problem eventually in Hobart as they did in Canberra. Both Tasmania and Canberra have the same size problem that the market is too small particularly here where there is serious competition for the sponsorship dollar.

 

[Panthera Tigris]

Around 10 years ago North Melbourne played 4 home games in Canberra with good financial support from the Government and Aionslie membership never took off sadly even tho one of the games was against the Swans there were always more Swans supporters at the games. These included bus loads u from the Riverina. Works a bit better with GWS because they have some attachment to the district. I suspect North will run into the same problem eventually in Hobart as they did in Canberra. Both Tasmania and Canberra have the same size problem that the market is too small particularly here where there is serious competition for the sponsorship dollar.

Hence why I reckon it should have been done around the early 1980s when there were a few Melbourne clubs struggling (in addition to South Melb), where there was an opportunity to relocate a club in addition to the Swans move to Sydney. The problem with the North Melb experiment 10 years ago was that Rugby League & Union were already entrenched with the Raiders and Brumbies. ie the boat had already sailed decades earlier in a relatively small market, therefore no room for another entrant. Had the VFL/AFL moved 30-40 years ago, and made a genuine effort to make it the ACT & southern NSW's only professional sports team, I think it would have worked. The population of ACT and Southern NSW combined is around 1 million if you made this entire area their exclusive district as the Brumbies do in Rugby Union. In Tasmania, North Melbourne are pretty much just targeting the south of the state (with Hawthorn in the north), meaning a catchment of only around 250-300k, hence ACT/southern NSW would have been a far more viable proposition if done with some forward vision (ie done 30-40 years ago).