There’s been enough talk of the two new clubs in the AFL spreading talent too thinly. Also, there’s been foretelling of draft doomsday with compromised drafts and shallower pools of talent available to the existing clubs.
On the first three rounds of this season, I’ve seen evidence to suggest that there’s alternatives that have been ignored for a little too long.
Australian Football is pretty broad and the AFL clubs need to look broadly.
Michael Barlow, along with Alex Silvagni and James Podsiadly, are proof of the quality sitting in the VFL that may not have been ready made at age 18 in the TAC talent pathway.
Allowing more mature age entry into the system is brilliant – and quite frankly is long overdue.
Interstate clubs have for sometime mined the slightly older SANFL and WAFL players – and often rookied them at age 20-21 – and it has been a gold mine.
Also, the ability for clubs to mature age rookie list – not just external players, but AFL experienced players – has seen footballing lifelines extended to the likes of Cameron Cloke and Wade Skipper.
In the past, such players may have been Reserves captain and Vice-captain and kept as insurance and perhaps play 8-10 games a year. But often come finals, would be that vital thing called ‘depth’.
More recently though, they’d be cut (like Jason Cloke and Troy Makepeace) and replaced with an 18 year old who might play 8-10 games but be deemed to have greater ‘up side’.
The other stand out so far this year is recycling of players.
Already, Brisbane seems to have achieved greater balance and depth with the addition of Maguire and Staker. Last year, they were severely exposed when Patfull and Merrett went down.
The Swans have lost Jolly but gained Seaby and Mumford.
Also, McGlynn and Kennedy both from Hawthorn have slotted in beautifully. Is it that easy to turn a shallow draft into trading gold?
The Doggies and Lions match up this week in what looks a super contest – including their older forward target recruits in Hall and Fevola respectively.
Will 2010 determine each to be a success?
Alternatively, will 2014 determine each to be a short sighted folly?
Redb
Roar Guru
Hmmm... but as Hirdy commented on "On the Couch' last night, iPod has the best midfield in the known universe feeding the ball to him. he's Ok, but let's not over do it. I'm getting sick of Geelong being this good. :-)
Michael C
Roar Guru
Good to see Podsiadly 2 games in doing quite nicely, and snagging 5 big ones on Sunday, and this off the Age today: Twitter of the day HATS off to the Geelong Advertiser, which tweeted its followers on Sunday afternoon, as new cult hero James Podsiadly bagged five goals against Port Adelaide with the news that, ''We've decided we are no longer to be referred to as the Ablettiser. We are now the Podsi-addy!''
Tom
Guest
This reminds me a little bit of the fantastic book, Moneyball. The book was written about the strategy adopted by the Oakland A's that kept them competitive with teams with much bigger budgets. One of the elements of that strategy was to ignore players out of high school, ignore potential 'up-side' and only draft those who had proven themselves at a reasonable level. Worked pretty well.
Michael C
Roar Guru
And the SA sides likewise, have mined the SANFL quite well......and in doing so, it attracts the talent to that 2nd tier competition - - so, that if you remove the listed AFL players - the standard of SANFL and WAFL matches will stack up pretty damn well compared to VFL matches. Certainly there have been periods where certain Vic based sides really struggled for the cash to run a full list of rookies. My North Melb suffered that for a time.
ren
Guest
i have to add that this is nothing new to the West Australian sides, if you look at our rookie history you will see a number of players on the eagles and fremantles lists who entered the AFL this way. ie Sandilands, cox, hayden, boughton, barlow, silvagni, deboer, priddis (even though he is a hack) amongst what is surely a long list. The difference this time is that the Victorian clubs now have the financial capability to match the WA sides. well some of them.
Redb
Roar Guru
Podsiadly's stats from the Freo v Cats game were amazing for an 'overlooked' player, 6 contested marks, the equal of any player in round 3!
drewster
Roar Pro
Yes Would have to agree on this one MC. While the Young Talent will be spread thinly over over the clubs, the older talent available in the second tier leagues has never really been explored to it's full potential. as you have stated , Barlow and Podsiadly are great examples.
mds1970
Roar Guru
It's an interesting development. For too long, players who haven't been drafted by the time they were 19-20 were effectively finished. If you're a late developer, or do a knee ligament when you're 17, or are a bit of a rebel who doesn't settle down till you're in your 20s; you had no hope of becoming an AFL footballer. Clubs had been obsessed with drafting kids, even though they were years away from being at their best - and all the time, there have been ready-made players in the state leagues who could slot in and make a contribution immediately. And if drafting a player in their mid-20s, who is at their peak, means the club only gets a few years out of them, then so what? There'll be plenty more players at their peak who can come in when that time comes. With Gold Coast FC and then GWS getting the bulk of top draft picks over the next couple of years, clubs will be forced to look further afield to find their players. Barlow, Silvagni and Podisadly have got a chance of AFL footy; but there is talent currently going to waste that clubs will be forced to have a look at - although it's interesting that Freo and Geelong have gone in now before the compromised drafts. There's a good chance more mature aged players will be selected; and that's a good thing. In the state leagues, there are diamonds in the rough - and the clubs that can identify them will be the powerhouse teams in the next few years.