West Coast want a “discussion” on the AFL’s controversial next-generation academies, admitting to frustration at losing Lance Collard to St Kilda in the national draft.
But Brisbane have hit back at the “angst” and declared any changes to the system “would be a serious miscalculation” by the league.
The NGA system was a big talking point around the national draft on Monday and Tuesday nights.
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Gold Coast, as one of the four northern clubs, were able to recruit four of their academy players in the first round and it is tipped to be a bumper crop for the Suns.
But under AFL rules, the other 14 clubs could not stop rival clubs poaching their own NGA players if they were nominated inside the first 40 selections.
So Collard, a highly rated Eagles academy prospect, was snapped up by St Kilda at pick 28.
It happened several times in the first 40 picks.
Essendon notably swooped on Western Bulldogs academy player Luamon Lual at No.39, one selection before the Dogs could have put in a bid for him and potentially thwarted the Bombers’ interest.
The academies are designed to nurture junior talent from Indigenous or multicultural backgrounds – essentially, a non-traditional pathway for players.
But outside the four Queensland/NSW clubs, there’s growing frustration about the potential for losing academy talent inside the first 40 selections – and there’s nothing those 14 teams can do about it.
“It’s certainly worth (a) discussion. We see again (on Tuesday) night that players were taken inside 40,” said Eagles list boss Rohan O’Brien.
“It’s really frustrating when you’ve done a lot of work with those players.
“We understand the rules and the objective behind trying to keep things equal, but if you’re going to have the NGAs, and you’re going to do the work with the players, we feel it’s time for a real discussion around what that might look like.”
Brisbane chairman Andrew Wellington used his personal account on X (formerly Twitter) to address the criticism.
He said the data showed academies are helping the AFL more than hurting it.
“Bit of angst over the AFL draft and northern academies. Looking at 2023 AFL lists, northern state clubs had approximately 23 per cent of their lists drafted from the club’s home state.
“Average for other 14 clubs is approximately 60 per cent, over 65 per cent for Victorian clubs. That’s a significant gap.
“Academies grow the game in non-traditional AFL states, which makes the code stronger for everyone.
“They address a disadvantage which is real, and based on results there’s no evidence they have created four northern super clubs at the expense of other clubs.
“Other sports are envious of what AFL is doing to grow the game. To unwind a strategy each time you get evidence it might be working appropriately would be a serious miscalculation.”
It’s also a contentious topic, with veteran list bosses Derek Hine (Collingwood) and Stephen Wells (Geelong) preferring to focus on their draftees after Tuesday night, rather than debate the issue.
“What I do know is that with NGAs, because it’s a zone situation, different zones are stronger than others and right at the moment, if there was a way to even that up a bit, it would be good,” Wells said.
New Suns coach Damien Hardwick was unimpressed when Fox Footy posted that his club had recruited the four academy players for “very little”.
His blunt reply to the post was “be better”.
The week’s drafting ends on Wednesday afternoon with the pre-season and rookie selections.
– with 7NEWS
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