Keiren Jack is the true hero of first Sydney derby

Fitzy.......it's the gr8 footy games we have seen tonight & the AFL crowds this week. It makes all those AFL-haters go crazy!

Get over it, it happened and now your one again, you have an independant commission to run the game, I'm sick of hearing the same stuff being posted on AFL threads! Whats ur point, do you think if you keep saying the same things long enough, were going to believe you. You are really mistaken, please just go to a RL thread and let us enjoy a game we love, were not trying to make you watch it!

What would have been the point? Then optus would have had RL and would now be the pay TV provider in Australia.

There were two conflicting aspects - kids can choose a code even without a professional team as long as there is a comp there whereas they can't just go and choose to play for a pro team :)

Yes, I know, culled in the Super League fiasco (I actually have done a lot of reading up on the ins and outs, effort largely inspired by reading the Roar interestingly enough), but if it's alright with Sydney we would dearly like the team back, please. You're right, there is a lot more to it than that and I'm being unfair. Sorry about that; grumpy about this and the recent PFA team of the year having no one from WA (like I said, its not a code thing, but more of an anti-Sydney thing)! They were casualties from the Super War even amongst the Sydney foundation clubs, particularly with the mergers that would have caused massive heartache. But I don't think its fair to have a go at WA for not providing professional sporting options when we have had a bid team working for years now, crying out to restore our team.

True but when i meant no RU/RL team in SA & no RL in WA in my original post on this thread i was referring to professional teams eg (Reds/Rams) I just thought it be common sense but it got misinterpreted into something else leading to thread we have now lol. oops. My mistake.

It would have cost them double to try and do the same thing to the AFL back in 1995.

NF - you did NOT state "professional RL/RU team"!!!

Nathan, there was something known as the Super League war that was responsible for the demise of the Reds and the Rams among others. If the AFL had have been deemed significant enough to attract the attentions of one of the world's most despised predatory and amoral corporations then the AFL may not be quite be in the position to parade its code war scalps around in the decidedly puerile manner of this article. There was endless blood and heartache expended in the battle for the game, which is still not entirely played out, by some extremely honourable and worthy characters. To dismiss them as examples of incompetence and insular thinking is simply completely ill informed. But of course nothing new about that on any AFL thread.

"Here were are 15 years into Melb Storm and the big anticipation is for the first Victorian to debut." Ha, only took the Force a third of that to graduate a local lad to the team.

Which just goes to show the unhelpfulness and insular thinking of the Sydney-administered leagues (as distinct from codes)! The other leagues did their part providing options and pathways in NSW & QLD but NRL won't return the favour! Grr! Grr! Bring back the Reds already! We're even asking!

For player development, I think its actually the semi-professonal level thats most important - wonderkids will always be spotted, picked up and moved. On the other hand, lets assume you're a pretty good but not spectcular footy player in any code. Lets assume when the serious talent spotting happens you fall through the cracks. You probably arent going to up and move to be a fringe player at a semi-pro club (ie NPC, VFL, Metro Cup, Queensland Cup), and you may well end up giving the game away. But if there's a semi-pro club like, say, Belconnen, then you might well get a day job, go to training three times a week, stick at it ... and then get picked up as a mature-age player.

'The Giants and Swans and Keiren Jack should be examples of another option for PROFFESSIONAL sports. ' With that in mind and fact I mentioned at the start of this thread there is no professional RL/RU team in SA & no RL team in WA so the options are limited in SA while WA is almost there just missing RL. While here in QLD there is a variety of professional codes on offer same with NSW.

MFB 1991 A kid played Rugby that couldnt get out of second grade colts at Gordon so he went and Played League and became captain of Norths - John Adam - so what

Redb, Dear oh dear, its sad really ! No further comment required.

MFB1991, Stop trolling. Bringing TV ratings onto this thread is nothing but a troll. As has been pointed out many times on other threads the whole RL rates better is entirely debatable. You were asked about crowds.

Per head of population the AFL is easily the best followed football code (game attendance) in the world. I believe German soccer and American football get better average crowds but they dominate in their countries and have populations of 80 million and 300 million. In contrast the AFL dominates probably half of Australia with a population base of around 12 million. Interestingly though, Rugby League got more TV viewers than the AFL last year.

and Michael Byrne (also known as an All Blacks kicking coach), played for Hawthorn, Melbourne and Sydney. Famously had a shocker in front of goal one afternoon kicking 0.8 or something silly like that!! (thus the irony of being a kicking coach). re NSW/Sydney players - Collingwood more than any other club (outside the Swans) really went down the NSW Scholarship path. Year Player Date of Birth Recruited From Status in 2011 CFC games 2006 Scott Reed 3 October 1990 Pennant Hills Delisted from Rookie List 0 2007 Thomas Young 26 April 1992 Wollondilly (NSW)/Sydney University Senior List (Pick 104 in 2010 National Draft) 2 2007 Nick Perry 10 June 1992 Penrith Swans Delisted 0 2008 Michael Hartley 7 June 1993 Penrith Swans Rookie List 0 2008 Josh Parsons 11 June 1993 Newcastle Delisted 0 2008 Jarrod Witts 13 October 1992 Normanhurst/St Ives FC Senior List (Pick 67 in 2011 National Draft) 0 2008 Adrian Yakimov 20 August 1993 Glen Alpine (Campbelltown) Current Scholarship Holder 0 2009 Tyson Carracher 15 April 1993 Tathra Sea Eagles Current Scholarship Holder 0 2010 Elijah Edwards 31 August 1995 Batemans Bay Current Scholarship Holder 0 2010 John Haggerty 2 June 1995 Western Suburbs Current Scholarship Holder 0 2010 Jed Hillman 2 March 1994 Barellan Current Scholarship Holder 0 At this stage, Young is there, there abouts, is an emerg for tonight. And Witts is now on the senior list and played in the NAB Cup, is listed as 208 cms and 113 kgs. The next Sandilands?? (and, given Sandilands was rookie listed back in 2002, when he turned 20, and played the entire year at East Fremantle - - it's a reminder that these style players probably DO need to come up through the 'minors'. Similar path to Dean Cox the previous year (2001)).

anywhere there was a military base there would be a (QLD/NSW dominated) RAAF/Army/Navy Rugby team. However, over the last 30 years or so, there was a massive movement of military bases/personel to the North. That didn't help the Rugby stocks. re Kieran Jack - he's a standard bearer for sure. Alas - there's a whole lot of capacity to argue at every point rather than an ability to accept (up in Sydney). Here were are 15 years into Melb Storm and the big anticipation is for the first Victorian to debut. Look to the Sydney Swans and within a couple of years a NSW lad (Denis Carroll - granted from Albury) was captain, and a few years on Wagga boy Paul Kelly (and since Brett Kirk - Albury, and now Sydney boy Jarred McVeigh). That's 'captain', not just player, but captain. However, the naysayers will disown anything south of the Murrumbidgee (perhaps this really should be the border and make both Wagga and Canberra 'border' cities). btw - the lack of professional teams didn't stop the odd player from QLD/NSW finding their way to the old VFL. Jason Dunstall from suburban Brisbane being a clear example.