2015 academy discussion thread (with some FS thrown in for good measure)

[Untamed Snark]

Nothing like a large number of talented teenagers hoping to play professionally to ruin the game.

Fathead is becoming less coherent with each denouncment

[The Big Cat]

Eddie's big beef is that the glitter to the Collingwood name is gone. The AFL would be very successful with or without them. When you see kids at school in footy jumpers you hardly see a magpie among them these days. And what really sticks in Eddie's craw is that players just don't want to go there. The biggest fish they've landed in the last few years is a competition between Ball, Lynch and dare I say it big Jesse.

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?They have got the equivalent, and this is understating it, of 600 father-sons ? but I?ll give you the kicker: 600 father-sons who can play.

What's the score so far Ed? Brandon Jack with about 9 games!

[CureTheSane]

When you see kids at school in footy jumpers you hardly see a magpie among them these days.

Don't think he has much to worry about.
As I've said over and over, the biggest discrepancy in the AFL is the amount of exposure Collingwood get.
The more kids who see them play, the more who will fall in love with them.
I'd love for someone to put a price on media exposure and then equate amounts to clubs.
Businesses pay good money for advertising for good reason.

For my business I sometimes pay for advertising (both TV and print) not caring if it brings in huge dollars, but just to keep my brand out there in the public eye.
Collingwood have the lion's share, and this will keep them safe in the most important area for any club - financially.

[Ludwig]

Eddie just talks total gibberish. I truly find his comments nonsensical and incoherent. I am almost at the point of feeling sorry for him, for he is clearly suffering from early onset dementia.

[Mel_C]

Eddie really is clutching at straws with his "600 father and sons" comment. He is like a baby crying in his cot trying to get attention. As someone posted previously he is jealous that no one wants to go to his club.

[The Big Cat]

At least in the Herald Sun today, there is some rebuttal from Andrew Ireland. The writer says that Kinnear Beatson has met Tom Harley in Coffs Harbour to discuss the implications of the AFL's proposed points system. The writer surmised that taking Mills and Dunkley could effectively wipe Sydney out of the next two drafts.

The Swans need to hire a mathematician or logician to pick holes in the application of the proposed new system.

[Untamed Snark]

At least in the Herald Sun today, there is some rebuttal from Andrew Ireland. The writer says that Kinnear Beatson has met Tom Harley in Coffs Harbour to discuss the implications of the AFL's proposed points system. The writer surmised that taking Mills and Dunkley could effectively wipe Sydney out of the next two drafts.

The Swans need to hire a mathematician or logician to pick holes in the application of the proposed new system.

Adam Spencer would be the logical person to ask

[jono2707]

Adam Spencer would be the logical person to ask

My thoughts exactly - can someone give him a shout on twitter?

[goswannies]

Have you read the update on this Blakey/Longmire article? The Fat Controller is at it again.

The academies afforded to the four northern clubs came under siege last year with Collingwood president Eddie McGuire saying they could ?go and get players and hide them away and train them from 12 years of age?.

If they make the grade, the Sydney trio could graduate from the Swans academy onto its senior list ? or choose to join North as father-son selections.

Nicholas Blakey (in the under-15s), Thomas Longmire (12) and Billy Longmire (10) flirted with North?s father-son academy in 2013, but haven?t been involved since.

McGuire renewed his attack after learning of the boys? academy enrolment.

?All I?ll say is, it?s going to destroy the game, it?s as simple as that,? Eddie McGuire said on Triple M.

?I don?t care if it?s Sydney or Brisbane or anyone else, tomorrow they?ll all kick into me as usual and I?ll have the silent colleagues in Melbourne who are about to cop it right in the ear.

?Forget that they?re going to get all the father-sons if they live in Sydney.

?They have got the equivalent, and this is understating it, of 600 father-sons ? but I?ll give you the kicker: 600 father-sons who can play.

?So it?s not like it?s just the luck of the biological lottery that you get a kid like Darcy Moore who can play.

?You can go through at age 12 and get the best 600 a year, not once, per year and you can train them and feed them and school them

Eddie, Eddie, Eddie. Even if we had 600 "father sons" - which we don't, as they are academy players you fat nuff nuff - and, as you predict, with your cerebrally fat emboli impaired wisdom ... we can still only draft 5 of them. If we're developing 600 champions, you've got 595 champions to choose from. If our academy coaches are so good that we can pick a bunch of kids at 12 years old & turn them all into AFL ready footballers, why the #### do you want our academy kids?? Why wouldn't you go after our coaches instead?!

[Pmcc2911]

They replayed the rant on TripleM sydney last night and even Eddies co commentators were laughing at him.
The unfortunate thing is the rest of the media pick it up and run with it.

[Doctor]

If anything, it highlights why we actually need academies - there is nowhere else for young footy players in northern states to go to receive the level of training and development that Victorian kids take for granted.

[liz]

If our academy coaches are so good that we can pick a bunch of kids at 12 years old & turn them all into AFL ready footballers, why the #### do you want our academy kids?? Why wouldn't you go after our coaches instead?!

Indeed!

This has to be comment of the year so far!!!

[The Big Cat]

The big weakness in basing the draft points system on the relative average level of salary is that the top picks are by design taken by the struggling clubs (except where a trade is done for these picks) who by definition have weaker lists and are therefore able to pay these early picks much more than if they were selected by teams needing to cater for all their stars within the TPP. Thus the salaries awarded to top picks is often inflated and is a reflection of the room these clubs have within the cap, and the salary these clubs need to pay to ward off approaches from the more wealthy clubs rather than there standing within the total competition. Thus they are being highly rewarded because of their ability relative to their teammates, rather than their abilities relative to all the players in the AFL.. For example I would presume that Jack Watts is on better money at Melbourne than if he was at Hawthorn. Matthew Kreuzer would be on big money at Carlton, but few people would place him in the top 100 players in the AFL. Similarly Tom Scully at GWS. These are just examples of No. 1 picks. The argument would become even more compelling for picks 2 -5 where there have been some abject failures.

[i'm-uninformed2]

Do you think it'd be illegal to set Eddie on fire?

[Untamed Snark]

Do you think it'd be illegal to set Eddie on fire?

The pollution would be awful