'Sweeping changes' to Academy and Father/Son bidding system

[707]

I notice the AFL Head legal man is in charge of the F-S/Academy review.

Not sure if that would always be the case or whether there are legal ramifications/implications trying to change the established bidding system at the 11th hour so he is the one heading it up.

Be interesting to know whether the documents setting up the Academies allowed for a change to the bidding system.

[Mug Punter]

Anyone see that prized @@@@@ Alistair Clarkson bagging us and wanting a Hawks Academy is Sydney.

What a knob....

I really an starting to not listen to Fox Footy

Sounds like all the Melbourne coaches had a lovely fireside chat with Gillon

[Doctor]

Yes I saw Clarko. He didn't bag us directly, but his comments about everyone getting academies were ridiculous. It's a shame Longmire couldn't make the coaches meeting last week.

[swannymum]

Check out the latest article by Caroline Wilson. Swans are threatening to withdraw funding of the academy.

[Matt80]

Anyone see that prized @@@@@ Alistair Clarkson bagging us and wanting a Hawks Academy is Sydney.

What a knob....

I really an starting to not listen to Fox Footy

Sounds like all the Melbourne coaches had a lovely fireside chat with Gillon

Longmire was invited to that Gillon dinner and for whatever reason he could not attend. If he was there then he would have been able to offer his view on the Academy discussion. He was not there so the other coaches were able to talk unchallenged. That's life.

It's not unreasonable for Melbourne clubs to propose setting up there own Academies. The more Academies the better national pool of talent and the better game promotion.

If I was a Melbourne club with some money to spend, I would be proposing to set up an Academy in Darwin and developing the NT talent.

I think an Academy in the ACT along with a Melbourne club who commits to at least 4 home games at Manuka a year would be good. That would be a ideal for a Western Bulldogs. I will let MCS be the judge on that one.

[Ludwig]

This article by Caroline Wilson indicates that we will be scaling back our academy investment should there be any changes to the drafting rule:

swans-threaten-to-scale-down-their-nsw-development

I'm glad to see our management team are in tune with the RWO consensus. I'm surprised that the AFL would let Eddie's attack on the Swans bring down the push to expand AFL into NSW and Queensland, but it seems more and more that they will.

History will show Eddie McGuire to be the single most destructive force to every be associated with the game.

[giant]

I love how Newbold observed how the AFL is contributing something financially towards the academies and used this as justification as to why there should be no priority access. How much will the AFL (directly and indirectly) and numerous other organisations contribute towards the development of Darcy Moore? And how much money (or even time and effort) will Collingwood contribute?

The strongest argument against the academies is that the option to have one is only open to a handful of clubs. So rather than knock something down that shows very early signs of being a positive thing, why not come up with a parallel scheme whereby other clubs, if they wish, can adopt other parts of the country where the junior development needs a boost.

Or if clubs really object to the whole idea, why not voice that when the scheme is first set up, rather than four years down the track. It's this last point that I find the most intensely irritating.

Hmm, a lot of us I think Liz - the short answer was it was never meant to be this type of success.

The obvious response to tweaking with the bidding process is one or all of:
- putting less development into the promising players so, unlike Heeney, they don't dominate their age group
- hiding them with convenient injuries from national championships
- resorting to the Wingard solution and have the kids tell any suitors they'll head home as soon as they can.

How any of those "solutions" helps the development of the game, I have no idea.

[giant]

Yes I saw Clarko. He didn't bag us directly, but his comments about everyone getting academies were ridiculous. It's a shame Longmire couldn't make the coaches meeting last week.

It was seriously piss poor, suggesting that the competition has been unequal for years because of the academies. He also mentioned that Savage, Breust and Langford had all come from the NSW scholarship - I'm fairly certain that is not the case? His "dream" was that he could have his own NSW academy - I wonder if he's aware they cost $1M a year to run!!

[Auntie.Gerald]

sponsored by Lexus !!

$1mill is NOT the issue for Eddie re Academy

He is now trying to rip the hairs off the legs of the Swans Board........he has made threats and it appears he is trying to follow through

[Cardinal]

Clarko certainly knew how he and the Hawks benefitted from NSW scholarship players.

[Ludwig]

I can see it now. They will revise the bidding system so that there will be an extra cost for us getting Heeney but will not affect Collingwood getting Darcy Moore. Such as, if the bid for a player is 10 picks or more below the team nominating the player, an extra cost will apply. Darcy Moore may only go around 5 places below Collingwood's pick.

What is a stake here is changing the rules to placate Eddie and fulfill his need to stick it to the Swans. That's why we have to make a stand. It has to be clear that if they go along with Eddie everyone is going to get hurt by the loss of market share in the northern states. When you see the kind of attendance figures the other 3 northern clubs get, you can see how much work is left to do. Even the Swans don't get close to the numbers that a moderately successful Victorian club would get.

[mcs]

I think an Academy in the ACT along with a Melbourne club who commits to at least 4 home games at Manuka a year would be good. That would be a ideal for a Western Bulldogs. I will let MCS be the judge on that one.

I would of thought that an ACT academy would just take talent from the current nsw academies. Id like a better team than the giants to play here, but theyll be a better team soon enough. Certainly not worth the 2.6 million per year the act govt wastes on them however.

[ernie koala]

Longmire was invited to that Gillon dinner and for whatever reason he could not attend. If he was there then he would have been able to offer his view on the Academy discussion. He was not there so the other coaches were able to talk unchallenged. That's life.

It's not unreasonable for Melbourne clubs to propose setting up there own Academies. The more Academies the better national pool of talent and the better game promotion.

If I was a Melbourne club with some money to spend, I would be proposing to set up an Academy in Darwin and developing the NT talent.

I think an Academy in the ACT along with a Melbourne club who commits to at least 4 home games at Manuka a year would be good. That would be a ideal for a Western Bulldogs. I will let MCS be the judge on that one.

I agree with you on this one, good post.

What I do find disingenuous about Clarksons comments, is that he portrays a view that the academies have had a detrimental impact on the "equalisation" of the competition. That's bull and he knows it.

I would like these Melbourne football people to acknowledge a few facts...

1) The Swans didn't create the rules for the academies and their subsequent bidding system.

2) The Swans, and the other academy clubs I assume, have invested a lot of money and time into making them successful, under rules set out by the AFL.

3) To date there has been no real advantage gained by the Swans or the other academy clubs...1 player so far, B Jack who, to date, is a bit part player at best (no disrespect intended).

My main beef with this saga, other than Eddie and his cronies, is that these academies were set up, by the AFL, with a total lack of foresight about future outcomes. The Swans, because we happen

to be one of the best teams at present, are having to bare the responsibility for that, while the AFL, as they have with COLA, remain mute.

To me their handling of these issues, from a Swans perspective, has been disgraceful. They have just hung us out to dry.

[liz]

I would of thought that an ACT academy would just take talent from the current nsw academies. Id like a better team than the giants to play here, but theyll be a better team soon enough. Certainly not worth the 2.6 million per year the act govt wastes on them however.

If we all agree academies are a good idea for the states that need more of a leg up, development-wise, I have no issue creating more. That has got to be a better idea than ripping down the ones now in place because they seem to be doing too good a job (notwithstanding the fact it is really too early to tell). If that means taking the ACT away from the Giants, so be it. They've been given zones of NSW that probably don't really need an academy system, such as the Riverina, anyway. It would be nice to see them try to develop talent in western Sydney and other parts of the state that have traditionally not contributed many players.

Tasmania, Central and Northern Australia, maybe even NZ are all places where there might be some potential. Of course, clubs wanting to set up an academy will need to understand that they don't just come in and cherry pick 17 year olds. They need to cater for kids from age 11 or so upwards and understand that most will never get close to playing elite football.

[liz]

3) To date there has been no real advantage gained by the Swans or the other academy clubs...1 player so far, B Jack who, to date, is a bit part player at best (no disrespect intended).

You forgot to mention that Jack went all the way through the National Draft untouched. He wasn't even subject to the bidding system and could have been taken by any club before the Swans got a chance to put him on their rookie list.