Two articles - Swans try to cement their future and their place in the Sydney market

[liz]

There are a couple of interesting articles on the Age site at the moment referring to efforts our club has been making to establish it's position in the local market and ensure long term survival. They cover very different aspects of the club, and one is about an idea that was presented a year ago to the AFL (but which I believe would be new news to most of us), but together they make for very interesting reading.

http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2006/02/22/1140563860661.html

http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2006/02/22/1140563860634.html

[hammo]

The draft idea was definitely from left field but I can't see how it would have benefited in the short or medium term.

We would be anchored to the bottom of the table.

How many of our current team would have been eligible to play for us under that system? Less than 5 I'd day.

[giant]

Originally posted by hammo
The draft idea was definitely from left field but I can't see how it would have benefited in the short or medium term.

We would be anchored to the bottom of the table.

How many of our current team would have been eligible to play for us under that system? Less than 5 I'd day.

The idea was that it would've been phased in over 5 years according to the article - I don't think they would've jumped in to NSW zone only selections from year one.

In reality, if you could put as much effort & $$$ as possible into training, grooming, selecting & recruiting the best possible AFL/athletic talen in NSW over a 5 year period, I would think you could have an outstanding pool of talent to choose from by year 5 especially taking into account the connection (both geographic & historic) the kids would have to the Swans.

Shame it didn't come off for mine coz the apprentice idea looks a tad half arsed to me. The Collingwood response to the zone request in particular just looks bloody typical.

[Ruck'n'Roll]

Interesting to see who wrote these 2 articles. While she's not popular on RWO, I have quite a high regard for her work.
She's not buiased in favour of us, but unlike most mexican she can see just how big the job of colonising NSW is and just how pathetic the AFL's efforts have been.

[floppinab]

Originally posted by giant

In reality, if you could put as much effort & $$$ as possible into training, grooming, selecting & recruiting the best possible AFL/athletic talen in NSW over a 5 year period, I would think you could have an outstanding pool of talent to choose from by year 5

I'm not too sure about that, it'd be a massive risk with really no guarantees. Under Roos I think the Swans have been looking for a good reason to spend more time and $$$ on game development in NSW, they already spend a lot compared to other clubs, no doubt this would've provided the incentive. It is a very heavy measure though and it's disappointing that some middle ground wasn't found and some sort zone pick situation like we had before reached.

Originally posted by giant

Shame it didn't come off for mine coz the apprentice idea looks a tad half arsed to me. The Collingwood response to the zone request in particular just looks bloody typical.

Agree with that, it really doesn't go far enough and will be paid lip service by the majority of clubs.

[Charlie]

The draft idea is disastrous. Thank God the AFL didn't agree to it.

There wouldn't even be 38 players in the AFL currently who come from NSW/ACT, would there? I wonder if we can build a list of those that would be playing for us if we had a monopoly on players from NSW. Off the top of my head:
Ben Fixter (Bris)
James Hird (Ess)
Mark McVeigh (Ess)
Dean Solomon (Ess)
Henry Playfair (Gee)
Ray Hall (Rich)
Greg Stafford (Rich)
Lenny Hayes (St K)
Brett Kirk (Syd)
Leo Barry (Syd)
Jarrad McVeigh (Syd)
Paul Bevan (Syd)
Earl Shaw (Syd)
Nick Davis (Syd)
Craig Bolton (Syd)
Adam Schneider (Syd)
Lewis Roberts-Thomson (Syd)
Brent Staker (WC)
Dylan Addison (Dogs)

[hammo]

That was exactly my point. NSW just doesn't produce enough players. There was not one draftee from Sydney this year.

It was a good thing the AFL knocked back this mad brained idea.

[giant]

And that was my point - one reason there is not enough decent players is because no one is putting the time, effort and $$$ into training & coaxing these players. As the most populous state in Australia, with time & the right level of commitment, there seems no reason to me that you couldn't be producing 4-6 decent players a year. How many LRTs & Bevans are out there waiting to be convinced that a career in AFL would be better than union, soccer or league? We'll probably never know because w/o that commitment we'll need to continue to rely on serendipidity and expat parents to produce the next generation.

An opportunity missed methinks....

[goswannie14]

Originally posted by Ruckman
Interesting to see who wrote these 2 articles. While she's not popular on RWO, I have quite a high regard for her work.
She's not buiased in favour of us, but unlike most mexican she can see just how big the job of colonising NSW is and just how pathetic the AFL's efforts have been.

First bit of common sense I can remember her having written. I wonder if she still has the hots for Eddie? All she used to ever do when she worked for 7 was talk about him.

[liz]

Originally posted by hammo
That was exactly my point. NSW just doesn't produce enough players. There was not one draftee from Sydney this year.

It was a good thing the AFL knocked back this mad brained idea.

My guess is that the club knew full well that the suggestion would be knocked back when they made it. And realistically, it would be untenable to allow one club to work outside the system imposed on everyone else, even if the motivations were genuine. Once you've made one exception, it would be much harder to prevent the Collingwoods and Essendons of this world wanting to spend their money on developing kids that they have exclusive rights to.

However, the suggestion was a least a radical plan to try and kick start the development of kids in NSW, and really encourage more of them to stay in the AFL system for longer. It is possible that the submission was the seed of the apprenticeship scheme that the AFL is pushing.