Is the standard of the ACTAFL good enough for the reserves?

[stellation]

The reserves don't seem to be winning every game by 50 points so I guess that the team competition is not that bad- but is the ACTAFL providing enough one on one competition for the reserves? I am mainly thinking about LRT's development here, but it goes equally for all of the boys... are we delaying their impact in the seniors by them not playing in a competition the standard of the VFL/SANFL/WAFL? If so do we have any other options?

[dendol]

thats what I first thought when we moved from the VFL. I think there are one or two very good teams, but it seems the rest arent that great. I think the reserves for other states get more consistently tougher competition.

[undy]

Aaron Rogers was very positive about the Swans reserves set-up when he was on Troy's radio show.

He contrasted playing for the Swans ressies to playing for Melbourne's reserves (who play for Sandringham). Because of the competition for spots in the Sandringham team (Sandringham players plus Melbourne players), it was very easy for the AFL reserves and rookies to miss out on getting a VFL game anyway.

Quantity game-time can be important as well as quality game-time.

[liz]

I was concerned about this after watching them thrash the WC Lions a few weeks ago without even playing very well; much less so after seeing them outplayed by the Queanbeyan Tigers the following week.

While the standard in the ACT league is clearly very uneven, there is another aspect in which it might provide an advantage. Half the players running around in the VFL teams are boys, so the developing players are largely playing against the same players they fronted up to at under-age level. The ACT is far more of a "mans' " league, at least based on the Tigers team, and therefore they will get a better approximation of the physical strength they will be up against when they graduate to the AFL team. For players like Willoughby and Erikson this may not be helpful but for the LRTs, Rogers, Buchanans, maybe even McGlones of this world, it is probably helpful.

[motorace_182]

It is a very physically tough competition for the boys as they are generally teenagers playing against monsters, so it allows for them to get used to the feeling befre reaching AFL level. The competition is rather high, considering our boys failed to make the GF last year....

[SWANSBEST]

stellation

Your query re Canberra competition. So far Swans had a big win over Weston Creek, a loss to Queanbeyan and a win over Ainslie. IMO I could not see Swans beating the top team Belconnen at this stage. The top teams are very good but there is a big gap to Weston Creek . Most clubs are made up from a few ex AFL players eg Knowles and Heaver at Ainslie and players who have played AFL reserves , country football , local football and have been recruited from Adelaide etc. Some of the more financial clubs do a lot of recruiting to supplement their local players.

Overall, I think the standard of football is good and only the top Swans players would be real stand outs . The competition did not have any adverse effects on players like Hird , Hamill , Blumfield and Craig Bolton and many others over the years

[stellation]

I was hopeful the standard would be decent... it just seems as if the boys coming in from the reserves are less prepared than their counterparts in the vic teams as if the comp just isn't challenging them with one-on-one contests... it is mainly LRT that I am concerned about development-wise, I don't know how much real value opponents being big blokes is for his learning curve compared to being young talents... if that makes sense.

I have seen a lot of VFL matches, just haven't seen the standard in the ACT is all

[sharpie]

FWIW, I think having the 2s play all together in Canberra is by far a better scenario than a few years back when some were playing for Port Melbourne, and some were playing in the SFL. This had negative effects for a few reasons. The travelling to and from Victoria each week for the guys playing there must have been difficult. No one really got to play together much as they were all split over the place. And the Sydney comp was well below the required standard that the boys needed.

[liz]

Originally posted by stellation
... it just seems as if the boys coming in from the reserves are less prepared than their counterparts in the vic teams

What do you base that assessment on?

Bear in mind that for every Walker, Davey and Tenace there are plenty of players debuting for Melbourne clubs that have had little impact. Any significant contribution you get from players in their first year or two playing senior footy is a bonus rather than an expectation. And for those who have made the switch immediately from U18 footy (eg Walker, Tenace for example) is it hard to attribute their development to the VFL.

Do Bevan and McVeigh seem any less prepared than their counterparts of similar age playing for Melbourne teams?

LRT is a particularly difficult case to compare because he has been playing AFL for such a short period of time, not to mention the cliche that "big men take longer to develop".

I reckon he's done exactly what you'd expect a talented but very raw player to do in his early AFL career - ie play a couple of really good games, a couple of useful cameos and several where he's struggled to make an impact.