TOPIC:

seems to me the AFL spit out a lot of potential 100 game WAFL players at an early age and dishearten them footy wise....geez Gourdis, Jetta and a few of those CL indigenous boys of late just off the top of my head.....

Freezin wrote: seems to me the AFL spit out a lot of potential 100 game WAFL players at an early age and dishearten them footy wise....geez Gourdis, Jetta and a few of those CL indigenous boys of late just off the top of my head.....

I agree mate.

I think each AFL club should be able to draft only one player aged below 20 per year.

We've built this idea up that if you don't make it in the AFL, you're a failure. It's wrong.

Even playing colts is a bloody good achievement I reckon.

La Hincha wrote:

Freezin wrote: every zone has it's challenges, socially, ethnically etc....yeah some more worse off than others....it's not EFFC or CFC 'fault' WCE or any other AFL club draft their players is it 27?....as it's not SD fault BHP chose them as their face of the WAFL instead of EF or CL.... or Subi's fault that WCE/Freo play their matches at Subi oval and Subi still reap some fair decent financial benefits from this!

It seems some of you boys want all the good financial backers/deals PLUS better footy orientated zones....just face the fact clubs like EF or CFC earn their monies via their development of kids from their 'better off footy wise' suburbs, whilst SD and Subi are better off financially through their connections with BHP, Subi Oval etc...it all evens out in the end....christ how many flags did Subi win between 2000 - 2010?....even SD have played more GF and won more GF than EF in that time....as for CL, well good on them for reaping the harvest of what they have.

As much as you guys say EF should get more proactive and show more initiative with their finances, perhaps SD and Subi should be the same with what they have in their zones....it's not as though WA has always been a soccer/basketball dominated state is it?

La Hincha have a scroll down SF playing list mate on WAFL online.....a lot of their kids came from EF junior footy clubs...yeah so kudos for them finding ways of getting kids into the footy system

Hahaha..yeah South have a few from EF (And Claremont) but I reckon they've done well with their Indigenous boys. So many I saw in SF sides in the recent development squad carnivals and a lot in who have come from their colts side of 2012 and moved up this year. Really talented from what I've seen.

And as I mentioned, I'm not complaining about subi's zone - I really like it - it's unique I reckon - but it has turned out to be a bit trickier than what I thought. Boys getting themselves involved in some silly stuff etc.

What's up with some of these kids following the EPL nowadays. Ok, kids getting involved in a bit of anti-social behaviour is one thing - but following Man U?

LH I have lived up here in WP's zone for around 4 years now & I see it first hand how much of an influence that EPL is. Quite seriously if I go for a beer at my local in Mindarie I am more often than not the only bloke or one of a handful at best from Australia in a pub of 50 or so. And although they some show some interest in our great game their main sport of choice is soccer & to a lesser extent cricket & rugby. And of course they are influencing their kids towards soccer as that is the sport they want their kids to play because that is what they are interested in. Anyways just some of my observations on the difficulties faced by WP as the amount of expat Poms, Kiwis & saffers up here is frightening to be honest!!

Yeah not wrong mate.

West Perth face a whole different set of challenges from Subi. It's a tough one for them as well. Chalk and cheese - Joondalup/Mindarie (WP) to Balga/Stirling (SU) - that's for sure. It's said that Joondalup is the largest British migrant area in Australia and I don't doubt it. I live in the Subi zone but close to the West Perth zone. (I suppose it is all close to the WP zone ) Go to the Carine - Aussie accents. A few kms up into the WP zone and it's all Northern accents. A few Kms over to the Mirrabooka and it's a different experience altogether.

There was a whole lot of hype around The Bakari Royals program with East Perth trying to get those from multicultural backgrounds interested in footy but it was disbanded towards the end of last year as simply there was very limited talent and too many were taking advantage of the resources provided to them. Agree with you Freezin that every club zone has its challenges. All clubs these days are continuing to work harder but like in any business you are always up against different competition but don't put money where there is likely to be limited or no rewards.

SC30 wrote: There was a whole lot of hype around The Bakari Royals program with East Perth trying to get those from multicultural backgrounds interested in footy but it was disbanded towards the end of last year as simply there was very limited talent and too many were taking advantage of the resources provided to them. Agree with you Freezin that every club zone has its challenges. All clubs these days are continuing to work harder but like in any business you are always up against different competition but don't put money where there is likely to be limited or no rewards.

What? Disbanded! That's disappointing. I hope the Edmund Rice Lions don't go the same way. It's been good for Subi already.

The WCE must have pulled the plug on the Bakari Royals ..will probably be brought back in the same form as the Natanui Eagles me thinks!!

Definitely wasn't pulled by the weagles. Too many were in it for the freebies not the footy. La Hincha, it's great that Subi's program is doing well. Maybe the 2 clubs could have come into some partnership to share ideas in this area but now that East Perth have screwed the comp, that's not going to happen. Let's hope you continue to unearth some talent. I think there are a couple or 3 boys from multicultural backgrounds with East Perth already with 2 having come through their junior clubs thanks to Nollamara who are now with you guys and Ellenbrook.

SC30 wrote: Definitely wasn't pulled by the weagles. Too many were in it for the freebies not the footy. La Hincha, it's great that Subi's program is doing well. Maybe the 2 clubs could have come into some partnership to share ideas in this area but now that East Perth has screwed the comp, that's not going to happen. Let's hope you continue to unearth some talent. I think there are a couple or 3 boys from multicultural backgrounds with East Perth already with 2 having come through their junior clubs thanks to Nollamara who are now with you guys and Ellenbrook.

Wow, sorry to hear that. The Bakari Royals was a great concept I reckon. Just needed patience like all these programs do. Shame if people were exploiting it.

Disappointed.

Yeah, one of the African lads at EP, Agid I think his name is, has a real red hot go when I've seen him play.

Good to hear you helping out in your zone Ben.

Last time we spoke re your zone (on FG) you said Subi threw it back in your face. Good to see they are a lot wiser when someone as passionate as you is willing to help.

You are totally correct regarding new systems that are implemented and being patience with them. So no surprises that EP system failed...perhaps the writing was on the wall with the alignment sooner than we all knew.

With alignment players plus other imports taking up at least half their league team what chance is there for a home grown EP player coming through their system to play league?