NSW rookies

[caj23]

Anyone got any idea on who we might be able to nab as a NSW rookie this year?

Unfortunately Bird doesn't qualify and Lynch got picked up by the doggies. Are there any other chances or is the cupboard bare this year?

Pity we're not in the same boat as Lions who seem to have heaps of Qld talent available.

[SimonH]

Evan Duryea is probably one of the better players available, and as a north coast boy has had the advantage of playing in the (ahem) superior Queensland comp. Unfortunately he's a cookie-cutter size at 180cm and 73kg. Matt Suckling would be around the mark, too, but again: 183cm, 73kg. Jacob Wooden (apparently the younger brother of the Weagles' Josh Wooden): 180cm, 79kg. Gee, we don't have any players of that kind of size, do we?

The NSW/ACT Rams side in 2006 was, unfortunately, simply not that great-- Craig Bird was the standout in it by a long way. Tim McIntyre and Todd D:ickinson also came under notice, but are too young to rookie this year. Unless there's some big bloke hidden in cotton wool under the Doug Walters Stand, you'd have to say that Earl Shaw would be nearly dead-set guaranteed to get a local rookie listing.

[Jeffers1984]

Originally posted by SimonH
you'd have to say that Earl Shaw would be nearly dead-set guaranteed to get a local rookie listing.

I'm certainly not complaining about that!

[bigswan]

Matt Suckling, McIntyre, Earl Shaw, Smokey Davis.

[Nico]

I wouldn't be looking at NSW. There is a heap left over in Melbourne Metro who are very talented who were overlooked in the draft because of the "depth".

I thought the standard in the TAC Cup GF was pretty good and not many were picked up from those sides.

[Northern_Swan]

Originally posted by SimonH
Evan Duryea is probably one of the better players available, and as a north coast boy has had the advantage of playing in the (ahem) superior Queensland comp. Unfortunately he's a cookie-cutter size at 180cm and 73kg. Matt Suckling would be around the mark, too, but again: 183cm, 73kg. Jacob Wooden (apparently the younger brother of the Weagles' Josh Wooden): 180cm, 79kg. Gee, we don't have any players of that kind of size, do we?

The NSW/ACT Rams side in 2006 was, unfortunately, simply not that great-- Craig Bird was the standout in it by a long way.

Is there not a certain irony that both of the NSW "Best" are in no way connected to Sydney football?

All I have to add is cheers to Darren Denneman for putting the policy in place. If it were not for the Northern Heat, it would be likely that niether of these players would have been spotted.

[caj23]

Originally posted by Nico
I wouldn't be looking at NSW. There is a heap left over in Melbourne Metro who are very talented who were overlooked in the draft because of the "depth".

The point of asking about the NSW rookies is that we get to list them before the rookie draft takes place and thus get first crack at them

[Boodnutz]

Originally posted by Will Sangster
The point of asking about the NSW rookies is that we get to list them before the rookie draft takes place and thus get first crack at them

The past problem with thin local representation in the draft is that we simply haven't had the best athletes playing aussie rules in Sydney.

There's a hundred LRT's running around sports fields in Sydney but until recently, they've all been playing League, Union or soccer/football. Some of you may be aware that the Sydney junior comps went to Sunday football in 06 in an attempt to get these athletes to play aussie rules on the Sunday after playing the other on the Saturday.

The move has been an outstanding success. Player regos have been up across the board largely due to these standout players trying their hand. The good news is that the majority of them love the change and don't want to go back to their old game next year. And there are some jaw-dropping athletes among them. If the Swans are smart they will push to have some local concessions kicking in in 3 to 4 years time to get the pick of these boys.

The face of the junior game in Sydney has quietly undergone enormous change in the last 12 months.

The days of second or third choice athletes making up our rep teams are over.

[SimonH]

Originally posted by Boodnutz
The past problem with thin local representation in the draft is that we simply haven't had the best athletes playing aussie rules in Sydney.

There's a hundred LRT's running around sports fields in Sydney but until recently, they've all been playing League, Union or soccer/football. Some of you may be aware that the Sydney junior comps went to Sunday football in 06 in an attempt to get these athletes to play aussie rules on the Sunday after playing the other on the Saturday.

The move has been an outstanding success. Player regos have been up across the board largely due to these standout players trying their hand. The good news is that the majority of them love the change and don't want to go back to their old game next year. And there are some jaw-dropping athletes among them. If the Swans are smart they will push to have some local concessions kicking in in 3 to 4 years time to get the pick of these boys.

The face of the junior game in Sydney has quietly undergone enormous change in the last 12 months.

The days of second or third choice athletes making up our rep teams are over.

This is really great to hear. There had been some complaints about the new policy, essentially on the basis that families wouldn't be bothered taking the littl'uns out to sport twice on a weekend.

My current estimate is that we're at least a decade behind Qld, i.e. NSW will be doing well if we would have 11 players drafted (the 2006 Queensland crop) by 2016. Maybe I'm being too pessimistic and we might catch up faster.

[coasttiger]

Obviously NSW is a fair way off Qld with the number of players being drafted. With the new Talented Player Program in place it is an exciting time for footy in the state as it provides an opportunity for not only all talented players in the state to show their wares, but also the tall skinny bloke from basketball who has a huge motor and is eventually capable around the ground. Obviously the program cannot be judged until the current group of under 13s reach draft age, but the professionalism and opportunity the program will provide kids in the state is fantastic and a real shot in the arm for footy in NSW.
A major issue for our state seems to be that as we no longer have a side in the TAC cup our players receive less exposure to the intensity of Victorian footy. Not since 98-99 when there were players like Hall, Hayes, McVeigh, Wooden, Davis, Solomon has the state had high numbers of kids drafted so that is saying something i think.
For everyone who reads this the 18s state championships are in Coffs from 22-25 January with the 15s and 16s at St Ignatius Riverview from 16-20 April. It is a great initiative from the NSW/ACT AFL and lets hope our state has large numbers of players drafted and exposed to an elite level in the coming years

[stellation]

A relevant SMH article on Sydney footy.

[wedge.maverick]

Suckling and Duryea are the standout NSW rookie chances this year with Aalbers,McIntyre,Bird and Dikcinson all being too young.As it's a fair chance all 3 NSW rookie spots will be filled it looks a good cahnce for some of last year's NSW group to get another chance.Guys like Trent Goodrem and James Bennett were pretty stiff not to get a gig last year so they could come back into the equation.Are there any other NSW,ACT or Riverina players out there that could be a genuine chance?

[liz]

Does anyone know how second year rookies affect the number of local rookies the club can take as priority picks? Can they pick up to three each year, or top-up to up to three each year?

Both Rowe and Barlow were picked as NSW rookies last year and have been retained for a second year. Does this mean that the club only gets one priority local pick this year, or can they still pick three?

[satchmopugdog]

Thanks Bloodnutz and Coast tiger for those positive reports .

[SimonH]

Originally posted by liz
Does anyone know how second year rookies affect the number of local rookies the club can take as priority picks? Can they pick up to three each year, or top-up to up to three each year?

Both Rowe and Barlow were picked as NSW rookies last year and have been retained for a second year. Does this mean that the club only gets one priority local pick this year, or can they still pick three?

A moot issue, because Sydney isn't limited to a maximum of 3 local rookie positions. We can fill up our rookie list with as many as we like (e.g. in 2006, up to 6). The situation is explained here.

For a state (i.e. Qld) where there are a substantial number of draft-quality players, the ability to take as many local rookies as they like (subject only to the number of rookie slots available-- in 2006, they have 6) is an enormous advantage for them. It even has the capacity to distort the draft from the back end by artificially inflating the value of Queenslanders-- because clubs know that they will have to take young Qlders in the draft or Brisbane will get first dibs on all of them.

As I've posted before, this is the issue that Victorians whinging about a 'level playing field' should be concerned about, not the salary cap. Less of an issue for Sydney at present, because we simply don't have anywhere near the depth and quality there is in Qld.

It's true, however, that the value of the advantage is somewhat tempered by the AFL's absolutely insane 'no more than 3 rookies retained on the rookie list for a 2nd year' rule. What the hell is the point of having the power to pick up so many raw young prospects, if you're not able to give most of them a decent chance to develop, and you have to either prematurely promote them (see, e.g., Earl Shaw) or dump 'em? How does it square with the whole point of the local rookie list, which is to give local players, who otherwise might not have shown enough to get drafted, a chance to develop within a professional environment and become AFL players?