FFA's war on divers is spot on

hey guys, i think this initiative is a great one, and yes, i too share the concern that such events as cynical fouls by defenders that go unpunished will not get the same scrutiny as the divers. however, the argument voiced earlier on in this discussion about the dangers of the A-League going alone on diving is rather pointless, in my view. It has always taken a national league to change its rules for FIFA to sit up and take notice. For example, the Brazilian campeonato pioneered the move to having several match balls available to remove the 'dead time' associated with retrieving the ball from the crowd before it was adopted everywhere. Both Argentina and Brazil have the referee marking the spot where the free kick is to be taken with a temporary spray, and also marking the 10 yards for the wall. Watch this be taken up in the near future everywhere. (incidentally, contrary to other reports I have read on this site about the spray marker, Brazil pioneered it in the Copa Sao Paulo for U/19 teams way back in 1997. Argentina did NOT pioneer this idea, although i'm ready to have someone tell me that Argentina was the first to take up the idea with their top leagues, which they may have done. I don't like to give Argentina credit for much, especially over Brazil!) Surely being a pioneer can only make the world sit up and take notice? If it's successful in removing or at least greatly reducing the blight of diving, the rest of the world might just follow our lead...

Sure, Pip, but the last couple have already told me plenty. Kewell at Gala, Wilkshire in Russia, Kennedy in Japan, and Culina to Gold Coast...the world of club football is changing, and our lads are changing with it. It's now about depth AND lifestyle. No more Bosnich-styled highs and lows. It's about having our lads within Asia. Near home. And the trade offs that come with that. There will always be some questions remaining to be answered, but the Youth league will always find home grown talent. The HAL has a career path for whatever clubs player's. Overseas always beckons, as does the Socceroos. With David Williams, it's come full circle - already!!

Bear the next few years will tell all.

Pip, David Williams. Fury have already got a young Queenslander on board...an Olyroo/Socceroo no less.

Pip, merit is more than talent. It's hard work and endurance. Look at Nicky Carle. Talent yes. Success....??? Only after he picked himself up from injury in France came back to Oz did he really show his merit (after much prospect in the NSL)....AND now he has really pulled his finger out and made an effort to achieve his potential. Turkey, Bristol, almost EPL, now Palace with a view to transfer. He's 10 ten times the player he was.... but he's hard a pretty tough road. He could wlak into any Central midfield role in the HAL, because he's earnt it. Nathan Burns will, too. Given time, and to think SFC turned him away as a junior!!

It’s a great step and something that shows the benefit of having Australia in Asia. In China and Thailand there is a lot of handwringing over their players simulation and it causes there fans a lot of embarrassment. So who knows one day they may take up our (or Scotland’s) idea, which just shows we can have a positive impact.

Bear We will see in the future if a club like the Fury (or a future Tassie club) struggles to get its hands on quality young players - it might be a non-issue - but my guess is that clubs like the Roar, SFC and Melbourne, would have far easier access to quality youngsters than a club like the Fury. Having said that, the Jets have had no problem unearthing quality youngsters. You said: "The HAL and Football is merit based..." Are you sure about that??

I hate diving as much as the next person when it's done in a way that is meant to cheat the opposition out of a free kick. However it fails to address an equally important problem that is linked directly to diving. Players still get away with reckless and awful challenges or obstructions to stop the oncoming attacker. Some (not all) diving is a result of players going down because they will not receive a free kick otherwise. If they want to crack down on diving the FFA must be careful to distinguish between players blatantly cheating and players choosing to go down when hit rather than continuing their run. More importantly I would like to see the FFA crack down on bad challenges so that the players with skill are protected from the thugs of the game.

Well obviously players need to adapt, and the less they have to adapt the more comfortable they'll be.

Pip, my concern is not farming out Victorian schoolboys to the limits of our Country. Nor is it getting the next Nathan Burns out the door to achieve greater successes. The HAL and Football is merit based, and somewhat unstructured, and chaotic as far as career ladders are built. It's about putting in hard yards, putting your money where your Heart and following through. Tim Cahill case in point. It's great to have a local flavour to your club (HAL/AFL) but the badge is the badge...regardless where you were born. Most often the club is where you want to be... just ask Massimo Murdocca!

Well, Pip, the institutes are soon to be dissolved and each HAL club receiving funding for academies. I figure we are on the same page wrt senior players involved with the draft. The free market, though salary capped, is one of the best things going for the HAL, imo. It's not quite the "socialist" AFL model, but it is neither the "closed shop" of the EPL. Both extremes are too immoderate for my sensibilities ; )

Bear it's also worthwhile recalling that another benefit of the draft is getting Victorian kids out to places like Perth, Brisbane and Sydney. What if there came a time in the future where clubs like Townsville (or Hobart) couldn't get quality youngsters moving home to join their clubs? A draft can help resolve that sort of problem. Kids grow up knowing that a first step in starting an A-League career is nominating for the draft at the age of 17, or whatever it is. For the super talented, they bypass it and go overseas - no problem.

Bear it's a good point about the tanking. Many AFL people are truly worried about the perception of tanking. This arises because of draft concessions (i.e. poor performing teams getting additional selections) - the solution is simply to get rid of the concessions - no one is going to tank to deliberately finish last just to get the number one selection. Why? Because more often than not, there is very little seperating the top 3, 4 or 5 choices, so there's no point in tanking. Going back to your excellent examples of Zullo and Kruse - do all clubs have equal access to an Institute of Sport? Is it fair that individual clubs should have better access to the products of the Institutes of Sport? (being publicly funded bodies) This is the flip side of any discussion on a draft. But I repeat - I would only see merit in the A-League as a base-entry system, i.e. for kids starting out on a professional career - I would see no place for it beyond that.

Michael Zullo went from top performances in Qld State League to snaring a Roar contract. Kruse got to the Roar via Representative honours and Institutes. Perhaps it is my lack of understanding on AFL matters, but I do not want to see HAL suffer from Tanking practices, overt or covert forms.

Bear it is a bit of a sidetrack. Here's a question for you - could it ever be employed as a base-entry system for 17 year olds?? The benefit? This is the big benefit that I see in the AFL that could also apply in the A-League - you minimise your recruitment efforts because you know precisely who is out there (those that are about to nominate for the draft, having turned 17, etc) It focuses the attention of clubs and they minimise their costs by not going down blind alleys, etc. I see that as a real benefit of a draft system. The base contract for a 17 year old would probably be two years, and thereafter, they'd be free to do whatever they want to do (just like anyone else coming off a contract). If a kid didn't want to enter such a system - they could stick with the state leagues or try their luck overseas (where there are a zillion options) - so the restraint of trade argument doesn't seem to apply from what I can tell.

Tom, my thought on this are the same as yours as well ... FIFA should be involved in this in some way... ~~~~~~~ KB

There's a bit of a danger there (being at odds with the rest of the world) - but in truth, very few players will go directly from the A-League to wearing a gold shirt, so it's probably not that much of a concern. The truth is that experienced NT players need to adapt to refs on a continuous basis - all refs are different and have different thresholds - players need to have some awareness of this prior to a game (not develop it during a game). That's part and parcel of being an elite international player. If we're up against Brazil again in 2010 - we know we're going to get crucified again!!! I see this as being very much a domestic matter with very little spill over impact.

I have very mixed feelings about this. I would stand up and cheer if FIFA were to announce that this policy was to be introduced worldwide. I'm worried that Australia might be putting itself at a disadvantage by going it alone on this. Not that I want club teams or national teams to win by diving, but if they're playing international sides that have no qualms about it they might get unsettled by divers if they're not used to them. For example, if a defender concedes a free kick to a dive early on they might be reluctant about tackling the same player later.

Without sidetracking too much and for too long, but the draft system should NEVER be introduced to the HAL. Just for the record. PS. I hope the players have been informed about this new initiative eradicating simulation by FFA.

You forgot poofter bashing, raping and glassing of women.... hard to get use to, but I’m trying... ~~~~~~~~ KB