Did I miss this being discussed in here this year.
Bad timing for all concerned
I hope he has some success, but as has been seen, it’s more the basketball types rather than the NFL types that adapt to the game better. That ability to operate in a 360 degree sphere rather than the 180 degree environment of the rugby/league/NFL type codes gives them a better understanding of the game dynamics. From there it is about teaching the skills. They have the athletic talent in the States, no doubt, but its focus is so narrowly on the indigenous sports of NFL, Baseball, NBA etc during the formative years, that it will be very hard for them to adapt. I have seen this first hand in NSW with guys coming across from various different backgrounds. The guys from soccer backgrounds athletically were right up there and could kick fine and could handle the 360 awareness, but marking, tackling and hand passing took them years to get comfortable with. Those with a league background were fine with marking the ball and tackling, but hand-balling and kicking took 3 to 4 years to become proficient, never great, and around the corner kicks were pretty much the order of the day. They also struggled with the running demands, even at a lower standard. Those that adapted best were the ones that came out of a union background. While they struggled a bit with awareness at times, their skill sets were fairly compatible. They never became great handballers, but they learned to kick with a reasonably sound technique and marking and tackling were fine as well as being less athletically compromised than their league counterparts, due in part to the more continuous nature of union.
Yeah, I noticed that he talked about his NFL/NCAA guys blowing the roof off AFL players testing in vertical jump, 20m sprint and 30m repeat sprints, but not mentioning beep test or 3km time trial, where I’d expect an american football player to be weaker. Aussie rules is every bit as demanding a game athletically as anything in the world, just the emphasis varies a bit.
Rameses Barden, former NY Giants wide receiver, super bowl champion 2012 . He was the cool dude wearing the Bombers scarf.
Needs to work on his kicking technique though.
Not if it works he doesn’t …
(Did it work?)
Yeah, I noticed that he talked about his NFL/NCAA guys blowing the roof off AFL players testing in vertical jump, 20m sprint and 30m repeat sprints, but not mentioning beep test or 3km time trial, where I'd expect an american football player to be weaker. Aussie rules is every bit as demanding a game athletically as anything in the world, just the emphasis varies a bit.
That’s why of all the Americans that have tried it, it’s the basketballers who get the shot because it’s the only American sport that has an arobic base requirement.
Yeah, I noticed that he talked about his NFL/NCAA guys blowing the roof off AFL players testing in vertical jump, 20m sprint and 30m repeat sprints, but not mentioning beep test or 3km time trial, where I'd expect an american football player to be weaker. Aussie rules is every bit as demanding a game athletically as anything in the world, just the emphasis varies a bit.That’s why of all the Americans that have tried it, it’s the basketballers who get the shot because it’s the only American sport that has an arobic base requirement.
That and they’re typically taller
I hope he has some success, but as has been seen, it's more the basketball types rather than the NFL types that adapt to the game better. That ability to operate in a 360 degree sphere rather than the 180 degree environment of the rugby/league/NFL type codes gives them a better understanding of the game dynamics. From there it is about teaching the skills. They have the athletic talent in the States, no doubt, but its focus is so narrowly on the indigenous sports of NFL, Baseball, NBA etc during the formative years, that it will be very hard for them to adapt. I have seen this first hand in NSW with guys coming across from various different backgrounds. The guys from soccer backgrounds athletically were right up there and could kick fine and could handle the 360 awareness, but marking, tackling and hand passing took them years to get comfortable with. Those with a league background were fine with marking the ball and tackling, but hand-balling and kicking took 3 to 4 years to become proficient, never great, and around the corner kicks were pretty much the order of the day. They also struggled with the running demands, even at a lower standard. Those that adapted best were the ones that came out of a union background. While they struggled a bit with awareness at times, their skill sets were fairly compatible. They never became great handballers, but they learned to kick with a reasonably sound technique and marking and tackling were fine as well as being less athletically compromised than their league counterparts, due in part to the more continuous nature of union.
Thanks LB. Very informative post.
Looking 20 yrs hence, supporting the different initiatives to establish local leagues in far flung places may be the best approach to developing successsful foreign born AFL players
Of the american sports, I’d think that ice hockey and lacrosse would probably give the best indicators of guys who could transition, because they’re both fast moving (and constantly moving) full contact sports. The problem is that the former has enough different leagues and levels that there’s no financial incentive for them to move, and the latter isn’t popular enough to attract first choice athletes.
Looking 20 yrs hence, supporting the different initiatives to establish local leagues in far flung places may be the best approach to developing successsful foreign born AFL players
Absolutely agree, but more emphasis should be placed on developing (in a sports landscape sense) areas like China and India, than in the US. We should be setting up academy like systems and youth leagues/talent pathways in these countries, paying for tv spots with all time highlights being shown along with quick rule explanation segments and the best game of the week.
That’s where the real dividends are going to come, from both a player talent pool and afl audience. The AFL has been dropping the ball on beating sports to these markets, fortunately they’re still big enough.
…if they stop ruining the product with their stupid rules.
Waste of time
Of the american sports, I'd think that ice hockey and lacrosse would probably give the best indicators of guys who could transition, because they're both fast moving (and constantly moving) full contact sports. The problem is that the former has enough different leagues and levels that there's no financial incentive for them to move, and the latter isn't popular enough to attract first choice athletes.
And neither has a transferable skill
Waste of timeEspecially for the kid, he has come half way across the world, let him at least do the whole session
Looking 20 yrs hence, supporting the different initiatives to establish local leagues in far flung places may be the best approach to developing successsful foreign born AFL playersAbsolutely agree, but more emphasis should be placed on developing (in a sports landscape sense) areas like China and India, than in the US. We should be setting up academy like systems and youth leagues/talent pathways in these countries, paying for tv spots with all time highlights being shown along with quick rule explanation segments and the best game of the week.
That’s where the real dividends are going to come, from both a player talent pool and afl audience. The AFL has been dropping the ball on beating sports to these markets, fortunately they’re still big enough.
…if they stop ruining the product with their stupid rules.
Is be sticking in the US and looking at Africa and Northern Europe where typically people are bigger and faster.
Of the american sports, I'd think that ice hockey and lacrosse would probably give the best indicators of guys who could transition, because they're both fast moving (and constantly moving) full contact sports. The problem is that the former has enough different leagues and levels that there's no financial incentive for them to move, and the latter isn't popular enough to attract first choice athletes.And neither has a transferable skill
If NFL does, they do.
Edit: I don’t think any of the American sports is a particularly fertile ground for recruitment given the skills/age problem, with the minor exception that basketball has lots of ridiculously tall guys, and being ridiculously tall is basically a skill in an of itself.
Of the american sports, I'd think that ice hockey and lacrosse would probably give the best indicators of guys who could transition, because they're both fast moving (and constantly moving) full contact sports. The problem is that the former has enough different leagues and levels that there's no financial incentive for them to move, and the latter isn't popular enough to attract first choice athletes.And neither has a transferable skill
If NFL does, they do.
Tackling
Except skill position players don't tackle. And the guys who do tackle don't handle the ball. And NFL tackling technique is completely different, consisting mainly of things that are illegal in the AFL.Of the american sports, I'd think that ice hockey and lacrosse would probably give the best indicators of guys who could transition, because they're both fast moving (and constantly moving) full contact sports. The problem is that the former has enough different leagues and levels that there's no financial incentive for them to move, and the latter isn't popular enough to attract first choice athletes.And neither has a transferable skill
If NFL does, they do.
Tackling
Of the american sports, I'd think that ice hockey and lacrosse would probably give the best indicators of guys who could transition, because they're both fast moving (and constantly moving) full contact sports. The problem is that the former has enough different leagues and levels that there's no financial incentive for them to move, and the latter isn't popular enough to attract first choice athletes.And neither has a transferable skill
If NFL does, they do.
Tackling
Lol all they do is helmet charge
Receivers or the guys that defend the receivers would be the 2 most likely imo
Re: the vid. That guy is a bit of a nufti. At least teach the players to kick properly from scratch before introducing them to a professional club
Can’t escape the feeling that miro is just stringing these guys along and wasting their time. Wonder whose money he is burning to do it?