They are at it again. GWS under the pump

[Dosser]

Every year it is the same. As soon as Collingwood starts to come under media scrutiny for poor performance Eddie deflects it. He really is the consummate professional. Every year. The easiest target for him is the marauding hordes from the north who will storm the G and carry our cup off to captivity. By over simplifying the issues and appealing to the great unwashed he is the Donald Trump of AFL.
I honestly think he would be a wonderful study on media manipulation as his crusades occur at the same stage every year. You can pick his timing with a fair degree of accuracy.

[YvonneH]

If you read the whole article; at the end McGuire is backing off big time. Regardless of whether Pridham got it wrong, McGuire is now copping it from all angles and as good as said he is going to pull his head in. After all he did play the GWS/Riverina card. I think people saying he should look after his own back yard has hit a nerve, and he doesn't like the criticism. I don't trust him one bit.

I think Neale Balm is his mouthpiece now.

[Mug Punter]

Mug, you would be able to help with this question.

Does the Swans Academy have the Northern Beaches as a recruitment zone?

The Giants have a foothold on the former Manly Wolves. If the Manly Junior club are producing the next 15 year old Tyrone Armatages or Connor Petterson's do they go to the GWS Acedemy or the Swans Acedemy?

No they don't have that area, it is red and white.

You may well ask then why GWS are throwing a while lot of cash at an area that is not in their catchment zone when the game is dying in dire straits in their actual catchment area (look at Campbelltown's demise and the almost complete lack of an Under 19s presence) and it just demonstrates how little real commitment to Sydney this club has. They cherrypick stars from a junior stronghold but when it comes to their academy actually doing what they were set up for, DEVELOPING talent, then they just couldn't be bothered.

It's actually a disgrace given the vast amounts of money the AFL have spent on setting up GWS

[CureTheSane]

Didn't Collingwood use a future pick at last years' draft?

[Mug Punter]

If the academies are purely to get AFL playerss out of non AFL areas then the line should be along the murrimbidgee river not the Murray. If However the goal is to get NSW kids playing for NSW clubs then it's fine how it is. GWS Is a cambera team too.

I agree with this.

IMO the primary goal is to increase the talent pool. A secondary reason is the increase in home grown players to allay the homegrown factor.

Neither support the Riverina as a recruitment zone.

Canberra should certainly be in the GWS zone as Canberra, whilst a bit stronger than Sydney at a grass roots level, is very much a development area. But it's an area that could produce some real talent if developed properly. AFL in Canberra has actual declined a lot in recent years but I'm really not sure GWS are the right people to help them given the blatant lack in interest in actually developing players

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Didn't Collingwood use a future pick at last years' draft?

Yep they gave GWS Their first rounder

[CureTheSane]

Yep they gave GWS Their first rounder

Could be you're classic case of 'thinking for the now' rather than longer term.
They better hope they come good lol

[Mug Punter]

Could be you're classic case of 'thinking for the now' rather than longer term.
They better hope they come good lol

It's hilarious, three chins clearly thought they'd be top eight so giving up pick 12-13, now they could be sacrificing pick 2-4. Quite a difference.

And GWS based on the likely ladder GWS will have approx. picks 4, 15 and 16 if you assume they and Geelong finish top 4 and the scum finish 15th. Plus they will have two second round picks given they have the Crows' second rounder for Curtly.

Even if there was some skulduggery with phantom bidding GWS will be able to recruit three absolute guns from their academy this year which by my reckoning means they will literally have about 30 first round picks in their squad. And even if they didn't have the academy they'd get nice value straight from the draft at those picks.

30 FIRST ROUND DRAFT PICKS IN THEIR FREAKING SQUAD.

And this will continue because all GWS will do is trade out the odd gun for a couple of first rounders secure in the knowledge that there is a ready made replacement in the wings.

I don't blame GWS for their situation, all the other clubs signed off on it and they have done nothing wrong. But it could well create a team that is so strong that it throws the comp out of kilter for a good decade. The only real issue for them is their players that are coming off contract as free agents in a few years but there has been little go home factor shown to date and I can hardly see it when they are winning flags.

Once the brown stuff hits the fan, and it will make COLA seem like a picnic, then expect a renewed assault on the academy system, even though it was the draft concessions and not the academy system that caused this Super List at GWS. Sheeds did warn us about this list didn't he?

[dimelb]

It's hilarious, three chins clearly thought they'd be top eight so giving up pick 12-13, now they could be sacrificing pick 2-4. Quite a difference.

And GWS based on the likely ladder GWS will have approx. picks 4, 15 and 16 if you assume they and Geelong finish top 4 and the scum finish 15th. Plus they will have two second round picks given they have the Crows' second rounder for Curtly.

Even if there was some skulduggery with phantom bidding GWS will be able to recruit three absolute guns from their academy this year which by my reckoning means they will literally have about 30 first round picks in their squad. And even if they didn't have the academy they'd get nice value straight from the draft at those picks.

30 FIRST ROUND DRAFT PICKS IN THEIR FREAKING SQUAD.

And this will continue because all GWS will do is trade out the odd gun for a couple of first rounders secure in the knowledge that there is a ready made replacement in the wings.

I don't blame GWS for their situation, all the other clubs signed off on it and they have done nothing wrong. But it could well create a team that is so strong that it throws the comp out of kilter for a good decade. The only real issue for them is their players that are coming off contract as free agents in a few years but there has been little go home factor shown to date and I can hardly see it when they are winning flags.

Once the brown stuff hits the fan, and it will make COLA seem like a picnic, then expect a renewed assault on the academy system, even though it was the draft concessions and not the academy system that caused this Super List at GWS. Sheeds did warn us about this list didn't he?

Mug, do you, or does anyone else, know when the concessions to GWS run out? I had the impression that they would soon be back in our situation (next draft? the one after that?) and would have to pay the going rate, less 10% or whatever applies to academy kids. They surely can't go on picking whoever they damn well please indefinitely!

[Luke Shannon]

No they don't have that area, it is red and white.

You may well ask then why GWS are throwing a while lot of cash at an area that is not in their catchment zone when the game is dying in dire straits in their actual catchment area (look at Campbelltown's demise and the almost complete lack of an Under 19s presence) and it just demonstrates how little real commitment to Sydney this club has. They cherrypick stars from a junior stronghold but when it comes to their academy actually doing what they were set up for, DEVELOPING talent, then they just couldn't be bothered.

It's actually a disgrace given the vast amounts of money the AFL have spent on setting up GWS

Manly and GWS are the most odd brand alignment. It's like Prada opening a flagship store in Blacktown.

People who live on the Northern Beaches care less for the Western Suburbs than Tom Boyd did.

The preferred newspaper of choice in that area is the Manly Daily.

What exactly are GWS hoping to achieve from being involved in the Manly Wolves? Is it to have recovery sessions at Queenscliffe so Jeremy Cameron can do some rock fishing afterwards?

I was talking to a long term Manly Wolves person about it and they said the support for and against the GWS proposal was 50 / 50.

[Mug Punter]

Manly and GWS are the most odd brand alignment. It's like Prada opening a flagship store in Blacktown.

People who live on the Northern Beaches care less for the Western Suburbs than Tom Boyd did.

The preferred newspaper of choice in that area is the Manly Daily.

What exactly are GWS hoping to achieve from being involved in the Manly Wolves? Is it to have recovery sessions at Queenscliffe so Jeremy Cameron can do some rock fishing afterwards?

I was talking to a long term Manly Wolves person about it and they said the support for and against the GWS proposal was 50 / 50.

If you can find out let is all know what they are trying to achieve. But remember this is AFL money they are squandering

I know a fairly prominent member of the Manly playing group and whilst they understand the financial reasons why the club had to accept this most ridiculous branding they absolutely hate the GWS tie up, absolutely hate it. With the possible exception of Baulko's adoption of the Eagles, and Baulko had precious little history as the Falcons in respect of being a senior club at that stage, these re-branding tie ups usually end on tears.

Two of themost ridiculous were where icons Sydney sporting emblems re representing districts were abandoned with St George abandoning the Dragon for the Adelaide Crows and the most ridiculous of all whereby the Balmain Tigers became the Balmain Dockers, a decision that almost sent that club into recess.

[Mug Punter]

Mug, do you, or does anyone else, know when the concessions to GWS run out? I had the impression that they would soon be back in our situation (next draft? the one after that?) and would have to pay the going rate, less 10% or whatever applies to academy kids. They surely can't go on picking whoever they damn well please indefinitely!

It's pretty soon that they have the same list and same salary cap as everyone else. I do think they'll start to cop it a bit when free agency comes online but there will be a very very painful 5-7 year period of success for that mob.

To be fair GWS doesn't have F/S for a while but I think the headstart they have gotten in life can sustain them until the kids come online don't you agree?

This whole academy furore can be nipped in the bud very very quickly by accepting that the Riverina is just not acceptable. Put a timeline on it if they need to but within five years tops that area needs to be under AFL control not GWS.

And I see how the AFL clubs in Melbourne are shirty. GWS have a gun they are recruiting this year who has been on a senior football scholarship at Melbourne Grammar and hasn't even played TAC Cup. Apparently he meets the requirements to be picked as an academy player/ Why? How can that happen? Imagine if we tried that stunt. Imagine if Callum Mills had gone to Geelong Grammar, been trained by their football staff and played in their schools comp? Would we have been allowed to draft him?

Any club with a grub like Shepherd as its chairman makes me nervous and the swans need to be very careful how they play this one. Because they want all the rewards with little effort. My fear is we have our zone reduced when what should be happening is that GWS should be doing their job in western Sydney and Canberra. I hope the Swans are doing some background research on the ground that illustrates how negligent GWS are in their development responsibilities.

[barry]

GWS ate stretched pretty thin in all areas. I'd cut them some slack on development especially as they have so much going talent they don't need much development.

Leave academies along. Every player put off the riverina can be bid for including by us.

[Mug Punter]

GWS ate stretched pretty thin in all areas. I'd cut them some slack on development especially as they have so much going talent they don't need much development.

Leave academies along. Every player put off the riverina can be bid for including by us.

The Academies were brought in largely by the necessity to create a larger player pool to ensure that the quality of football did not drop long term with the introduction of new teams.

And it was also brought in to provide the opportunity for the NSW and Qld teams to generate home grown lists, something that the Vic, WA and SA clubs are able to do implicitly due to their large player pool. Of course COLA was an effective tool but we made the mistake of actually having players who wanted to stay, unlike Brisbane who nobody in Melbourne has an issue with now they don't win anymore.

So, if GWS aren't pulling their weight here after five years, a soon to be delivered premiership flag, along with hundreds of millions of AFL funding when are they going to start pulling their weight and honour their side of the bargain? 10 years time? 20? After they win their 15th flag in a row? They're either committed to developing the game or they are not and the overwhelming evidence is that club is run from the top down by a bunch of clowns that, apart from their coaches and recruiters, know precious little about football and care even less. Have you ever talked footy to a GWS consumer? It's a surreal experience, it really is. They are purely and simply consumers of TV content and their general level of understanding and passion is just appalling. They are a disgrace the way they have neglected the teams in Sydney yet try and paint themselves as the Westie's Best Friend in order to get the happy clappers out there to part with their cash.

And if you think the squealing is bad now, wait until they start winning flags in front of Grand Final crowds where they take 500 people. All the while whilst the AFKL is writing cheques of $20M a year to cover their costs because the fools at AFL HQ didn't do their homework in the first place and because this club will not be supported at a profitable level for close to 20 years.

It's going to be funny but it's going to have some serious consequences for us in terms of collateral damage. And it's just like that grub Shepherd to leave the sinking ship as soon as the going gets a little bit heated. We've been dealing with this rubbish for decades now mate, yet the first time Eddie takes aim at you you threaten to take your footy and go home. Grow a pair you liberal numbers man

[Mug Punter]

GWS must really be wishing they'd traded Cam Mccarthy for Freo's first rounder now, that's be four first rounders with possibly two and four thrown in.

Still think they did the right thing by not being held to ransom by the kid but suspect that his situation is indeed genuine and they'll trade him at season end

[barry]

Same could be said about the swans. What development did they do in their first 5 years.

The only benchmark to compare the giants against is the suns, and they are miles ahead. So rather than bring them down eddie-style, why not applaud what they have done. The good they do runs off on the swans .

Eg. If the giants have 20 first round picks with 2 years experience and living in sydney surely that makes them easier to poach than the same kid in Melbourne.