Yeh, its terrible that a young bloke who loves playing footy is given any chance to join a professional club, train hard, earn a regular spot, live a great life and earn fantastic money. They get enough as it is let alone choosing what team to go to.


You think in 5 years time the ladder wont be different? It wasnt that long ago melbourne were playing finals

Also its fair game being hard on them. There being paid huge money to play so its only fair they perform

Personally I've always thought that 17 is just a touch too young (immature?) to be shunted interstate ... of course with some notable exceptions over the years with due respect ... could the age be lifted to 18 as a draft commencing point ? could there be an automatic 12 month pre-apprenticeship at the second tier level before being permitted to be selected in the A grade?
Just to protect & nurture physically "green" bodies and allow education etc

Just 2c of thought aloud

There is a young unmentioned kid , (my son's best mate ) who the last time I saw him was at the noddy shop with my son .
They were picked up for throwing eggs at people from his car.
He now plays for Gold Coast Suns , and Has great potential as a midfielder, I am sure he would be pretty happy being picked up at such a young age.
Lucky boy I recon

17 & 18 years olds are being taught to fight and kill oversea's...just to put it in perspective....if they don't like the pressure or are missing there mum's they are free to go home and get a lower paying job just like anyone else....

We need em youngs so their bodies get used to all the drugs needed in footy

Hey Simondo, to counter one of your points, how many 17/18/19 year olds get their dream job as the first one off the bat? Surely Jack Watts playing at Melbourne is just a stepping stone of sorts. I think the draft is totally fair. The players know what they are getting into. If they don't like it, don't nominate.
I know that at 45 I am still waiting and working for for my 'dream job' (professional bum with unlimited funding)

The main issue is there is money and way too much of it involved.

Hopefully the whole stinking edifice of professional sports will collapse sooner than later.

The Internet has a good chance of killing off professional football codes as more people spend less time watching TV and shows there is more to life than watching a bunch of blokes chase a ball around a field.

Mobydisc said..

The main issue is there is money and way too much of it involved.

Hopefully the whole stinking edifice of professional sports will collapse sooner than later.

The Internet has a good chance of killing off professional football codes as more people spend less time watching TV and shows there is more to life than watching a bunch of blokes chase a ball around a field.

I agree they get paid too much money, but it is all relative. It is only the very best that get paid the big dollars. Go and do some research and find out just how much a first year draft pick is actually on. First year drafts salaries are capped for the first 2 years. It's still a decent amount, roughly $100,000 a year. But think of this, this is going to be their life, 24/7 virtually 365 days a year. Are you governed by your job 24/7 365 days a year? Are you told you can't go and have beer the day after the weekend? Does your employer expect you to be subjected to random drug tests? The pressure these players are under is incredible. Will your job only last 15 years or most likely less before you have to go and do something totally different because the life as you have known it no longer exists? If you break a bone or get injured does your earning capacity diminish or will your profession say sorry, you're no good to us anymore?

But, to make a statement like the internet has a good chance of killing off professional football codes.....seriously, WHAT are you smoking? That has to be one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard or read. You serioulsy think that that billions if not trillions of dollars of revenue raised each year from professional football is all going to disappear because people would prefer to surf the internet........wow. I am stunned.
One of my greatest pleasures as a Dad is either going to the game or sitting on the lounge on the weekend watching the AFL with my 2 boys. I have dreams that one of my boys is good enough that he could make a go of being a professional AFL player. And if he does I am more than confident that by then whatever team he played for will school him in not just football but also on what he can do with his life once football is over. I will be deeply disheartened if he chooses to surf the net rather than indulge in what is one of his passions. Professional sportsmen and women on the whole are an aspirational lot. How many of us on here dream of being in the PWA or on the ASP tour etc etc
I think it is awesome that kids can aspire to being the professionals on the sports fields of tomorrow rather than the people who will get fatter and fatter and more insular and socially retarded from sitting in front of a computer screen.

Rant over