Rep Game..... what Rep Game

[Tom Wills]

I can't believe the silence from Sydney AFL on last weeks belting in the rep game.
Do they work from the basis that if you don't acknowledge it, it does not exsit?

Did anyone go who can give a run down on what happened?

[Footy Barista]

c grade team at best got smashed 120-32 and I think they even kicked the last 3 goals of the game

[justabaraker]

The better players didn't support it, the coaches didn't support it, the Sydney AFL hasn't mentioned it......you have to wonder why bother to put it on at all.
I looked at the Canberra team and recognised some seriously good footballers, many of whom played NEAFL within the past three years or so. And the coach is a top-liner too.

It seems a bit of a waste of effort and we can only hope that no-one was injured in pursuit of the folly.

[saviour01]

The women didn't kick a point in the first half and went down like 15-13 or something.

I watched the first 15 mins of the men on the stream, we kept getting it inside 50 but couldn't get it in clean and the forwards just throwing it on the boot. After 10 mins or so Canberra just started working it in easy and kicked like 3 before I had to go.

[unconfuseme]

Good article here probably sums the event up ... ACT fielded a NEAFL side, whilst the Sydney side was an understrength St George Premier Division side.

AFL Canberra thump AFL Sydney


"Canberra coach Peter McGrath said all but "one or two" of the best players in AFL Canberra had made themselves available for the rep game.

He said the big margin was an indication of the improvement in the standard of the Canberra competition.

The ACT comp has been in a state of constant upheaval since the introduction of the NEAFL five years ago, with teams gradually dropping out of the second-tier league until just the Canberra Demons remained.

McGrath said Ainslie dropping out of the NEAFL had definitely strengthened the local comp."


There should be nothing but admiration and praise for the Sydney players who accepted the privilege and sacrificed their time to represent their competition. However, when you consider that Sydney Eagles contributed about 9 players to the successful Sydney team last year, and only two of those players made themselves available this year, and other clubs chose to nominate younger players rather than their stars, the result was a forgone conclusion.

The AFL needs to have a good think about the format here, and take a strong stand on those who chose to disrespect the history and reputation of representative football, or it will remain a farce.

What happened to the u/23 Development Squad of only a couple of years ago??? ... most of the players who went to Canberra last week would have been selected in that squad, and clearly got much more from it.

[Coastal Boy]

Good article here probably sums the event up ... ACT fielded a NEAFL side, whilst the Sydney side was an understrength St George Premier Division side.

AFL Canberra thump AFL Sydney


"Canberra coach Peter McGrath said all but "one or two" of the best players in AFL Canberra had made themselves available for the rep game.

He said the big margin was an indication of the improvement in the standard of the Canberra competition.

The ACT comp has been in a state of constant upheaval since the introduction of the NEAFL five years ago, with teams gradually dropping out of the second-tier league until just the Canberra Demons remained.

McGrath said Ainslie dropping out of the NEAFL had definitely strengthened the local comp."


There should be nothing but admiration and praise for the Sydney players who accepted the privilege and sacrificed their time to represent their competition. However, when you consider that Sydney Eagles contributed about 9 players to the successful Sydney team last year, and only two of those players made themselves available this year, and other clubs chose to nominate younger players rather than their stars, the result was a forgone conclusion.

The AFL needs to have a good think about the format here, and take a strong stand on those who chose to disrespect the history and reputation of representative football, or it will remain a farce.

What happened to the u/23 Development Squad of only a couple of years ago??? ... most of the players who went to Canberra last week would have been selected in that squad, and clearly got much more from it.

Conveniently left out of the above is the next paragraph of the newspaper article:

"We made a decision early on in the selection process to just select AFL Canberra players ? we didn't want to have players that were falling back from the NEAFL," he said.

The SydneyAFL is a mere shadow of the standard of yesteryear. Go back 20 years ago and the comp boasted many ex-AFL reserves grade players. Even former AFL players.

Go back 40 years ago pre-swans and it was even better.

AFL in Canberra has obviously struggled in recent years. Yet they still pump us.

Well done to the boys that went down but that's where the applause ends for me.

[unconfuseme]

Conveniently left out of the above is the next paragraph of the newspaper article:

"We made a decision early on in the selection process to just select AFL Canberra players ? we didn't want to have players that were falling back from the NEAFL," he said.

The SydneyAFL is a mere shadow of the standard of yesteryear. Go back 20 years ago and the comp boasted many ex-AFL reserves grade players. Even former AFL players.

Go back 40 years ago pre-swans and it was even better.

AFL in Canberra has obviously struggled in recent years. Yet they still pump us.

Well done to the boys that went down but that's where the applause ends for me.

Nothing "convenient" CB, the link to the whole article is there for anyone to read.

Not sure what you are trying to imply, but I don't think you quite get what the article says.

The article says that ACT Canberra is STRONGER than it has been for the past 5 years that they were involved in NEAFL, as there is only ONE Canberra team competing in NEAFL now. The Canberra players who represent the Canberra Demons were not considered for selection. ... accordingly, all those other players who WERE previously playing NEAFL are back with Ainslie, Belconnen, Queanbeyan, etc. - their team was chosen from those club players, they ALL wanted to represent their area, and the ACT team was made up of NEAFL players - simple as that.

So far as the "strength" of the Sydney comp is concerned, I doubt that a full strength Sydney side would have got within 5 goals of them, but the point was, THEY took it seriously, fielded their BEST AVAILABLE side, whilst AFL Sydney took whoever turned up at training ...

We can thank the NEAFL, and the expansion of the AFL franchises and their Academies and general growth and professionalism of the code for the place SAFL holds in the pecking order - SAFL is now clearly below NEAFL and has ALWAYS been below ACT level.

With the second tier comp, and the extra AFL franchises, there are many more opportunities for the elite, and the ex-AFL player to test themselves either as a player, or as coaching staff, or in admin, and cement a career in AFL.

A perfect example is Dylan Addison. In the old days, after 100 AFL game career, he would have likely returned to his St George roots, or some other SAFL club, on some kind of $'s as a player/coach or employed by a major sponsor - he is instead on a career path with full time employment at GWS as their "Player Welfare Officer" ... lets face it those opportunities have only evolved in recent times - in the old days, that wasn't even a real job!!! ... that was the team managers job on the end of season Bali trip, making sure they didn't miss their flights, drown in their own vomit, or get caught with a transgender prostitute - and he didn't get paid for it!!!

This is the evolution and growth of the code, and I doubt we'll ever return to the "good old days", when the mercenaries (and there are still a couple!) would grab the few hundred a game that was thrown about (that they may never see anyway!) by the likes of Balmain or Campbelltown - gee that worked well for those clubs too!!!

Sydney football has gravitated to club based amateur community football, with more divisions, more inclusion and engagement with their junior clubs, and the clubs with strong futures are the ones who embrace that ... more players will cycle through to the other opportunities mentioned, but eventually, we will see some more of them return to their roots, and that would be a good thing.

So, AFL in consultation with ALL stakeholders, needs to work out what they want from a representative event/carnival, and make some decisions. If the best players are to be allowed to snub the event with immunity (which I think is totally wrong!), then we probably can't field a side against the ACT - I don't think the Canberrans got much satisfaction out of what happened last week either.

[Pekay]

Might as well throw Sydney and ACT rep teams, along with Riverina, Farrer, Hume leagues into an expanded Vic championships.

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[The Student]

So, AFL in consultation with ALL stakeholders, needs to work out what they want from a representative event/carnival, and make some decisions. If the best players are to be allowed to snub the event with immunity (which I think is totally wrong!), then we probably can't field a side against the ACT - I don't think the Canberrans got much satisfaction out of what happened last week either.

They're all fair points you raise - I guess it comes down to finding a way to make it appealing to the Sydney players. It is obviously an honour to everyone that played but I can also see why blokes wouldn't want to do the extra training etc to spend a long weekend catching a bus to Canberra. Perhaps if there was a more interesting trip (Melbourne/Brisbane?) involved it might attract a few more numbers, or if Canberra were to come here next year. They've obviously got some pretty strong sides going around down there - the Demons are basically still Eastlake so Ainslie, Belconnen and Queanbeyan are all still full of blokes on decent coin (comparative to here) who can play a bit.