I think considering where how club has been the last 5 years I can understand why we may not have offered as many opportunities to indigenous kids if it was likely they require more resources.
We did give Walla an opportunity in that time though but admittedly Walla himself did most of the hard work because he moved to Victoria himself and put in all the hard yards.
Now that our club is in a strong position both on and off the field I hope we can give some more indigenous kids opportunities and strengthen that relationship again that we were once so strong in.
We used to laugh at Richmond for only having one player in the Dreamtime gameā¦ Now itās us. We were very lucky that Tippa was so persistent otherwise we might have none.
The extra resources argument is a cop out!
ā ā ā ā me! Surely the recruiters could have found a couple of Aboriginal ābest availableā players over the last few years.
I am really disappointed and bemused, especially in this draft With such late picks we still couldnāt find 1 indigenous player to give an opportunity to.
Iām not a fan of any token picks due to race, religion, colour or anything else. If an indigenous lad was available for our needs Iām sure we would pick them or are you suggesting our recruiters are deliberately discriminating against indigenous talent?
I would personally love to have more indigenous players but for the right reasons
Iām not suggesting that itās based on race. Iām suggesting that the club has put an emphasis on strong character, coming from a settled family, quality education & friendship circles.
This makes indigenous players (especially those who live rurally) in an impossible position to compete against white privilidged city kids.
Rather than it being all about football ability.
If what you say is true that would indeed be disappointing as Iād hope the club would back themselves in to offer these lads the best support and care possible
Love to have more players of all different backgrounds, but with regard to the work the club and Sheeds did back when to open doors for indigenous talent, and the ongoing work, think you gotta look at how the league in general has been changed for the better. We also have probably one of the top five indigenous players in the game right now. Plus Longy will tear it up this year
A player we know can contribute if called upon immediately (and avoids us moving McGrath back) versus a speculative 2nd round rookie selection
Common sense move IMO
Given we didnāt take anyone from next gen academy last year would think weād have to be looking to do so now. We need some more small fwds / pacy winger types.
Its an interesting misnomer about indigenous players, re- greater propensity to āgo homeā statistically speaking people of indigenous heritage are only 2% more likely to leave football due to personal reasons than people of non indigenous backgrounds.
Now these figures are slightly skewed because indigenous players are more likely when they do leave a club to leave football entirely where as others seek opportunities at clubs closer to home and family. With that being said, we are now seeing players who leave football due to family or cultural reasons, actually go back into AFL football once things have settled on the home front.
Where the stats get truely interesting is the difference between percentage of players delisted vs retired.
Indigenous players drafted are 70% more likely to play AFL football from being drafted, than non indigenous people, basically 9 out of every 10 indigenous kid drafted plays AFL football. Indigenous players only make up 5% of delistings due to football reasons each year, and 3% of players delisted without playing an AFL game.
Which makes it even more disappointing that more clubs donāt see that while in some cases an increase in off field resources are required to support the players, mathematically the chance of that player making the grade are significantly higher.
Its interesting that clubs see spending money on development coaches who spend 3-4 years trying to iron out significant flaws in kids games only to see that player delisted in that time frame, is less risk adverse than spending money on player welfare on kids whoās obstacle is majority cultural.
When you look at the data of indigenous players taken later than pick 36 playing AFL football vs non indigenous picks. Mathematically if you where recruiting based on this information, and were looking at a defining characteristic that would ensure success in a draft pick 45- Rookie where you gauged the success of that pick based on playing AFL football Indigenous heritage is undeniably the number one common factor. They are even 45% more likely to play AFL than a state league and mature aged recruit. In fact, there has only ever been one state league mature aged indigenous recruit that was drafted that hasnāt played senior AFL football, and he is still on a list so that could change.
So basically, the argument of you donāt draft to fill a quota or based on skin colour seems to make sense from a logical or even ethical standpoint, mathematically, its stupid.
Essentially its the ultimate money ball selection.
I know, itās like we go out of our way to find the most fringe qualifiers. Itās really suppose to be for remote community kids or kids who werenāt born here really.
I still find how McNiece qualifies hilarious, itās awesome. The McNeice family have been stallwarts of Northcote Park footy club for generations.
But he doesnāt scream category B, in that he is not coming from a under represented background, he is more Aussie than I am