NSW/ACT bridging the gap: Roos

AFL.com.au

SYDNEY Swans Academy coach Paul Roos says the number of players from NSW and the ACT on AFL lists will rise in the coming years courtesy of the new club-based academies.

Former Brownlow medallist Paul Kelly joined Roos on Monday at the Under-16 Joss State Zone Trials in Sydney where the Swans Academy team played the Kelly coached Greater Western Sydney Giants Academy for the very first time.

The match marked the commencement of a new era in the emerging AFL state where players will have a direct pathway to an AFL career through the new academies.

While Roos and Kelly were once the heart and soul of the Swans in the 1990’s, their new roles nurturing, mentoring and developing local players for their respective Academies will have a positive effect on the whole competition.

“There’s only around 100 kids drafted each year and we’ve got two new clubs coming in,” Roos said.

“There might be some kids in our Academy that eventually play for Collingwood or eventually play for Greater Western Sydney because we can only take so many.

“If Kel (Paul Kelly) and I do our jobs well enough it will actually spill over to other clubs as well, so it’s not just an important initiative for us … it actually has benefits for all clubs.”

The AFL NSW/ACT Under-16 Joss State Zone Trials, now in its fifth year, brings together the top players from seven zones within the state and territory.

The Swans academy have unlimited access to players as young as nine-years-old from Sydney’s south and north, the Illawarra and northern NSW, while the Giants will be able to invite players from western Sydney, ACT and southern NSW to join their program.

Kelly, who was born in Wagga Wagga and played rugby league until he was 15-years-old, said there has never been a better opportunity for players in NSW, ACT and Queensland to make the AFL.

“There was nothing like this at all when I was growing up,” Kelly said.

“The opportunities that the new football club (the Giants) has brought to our region is massive.

“We’ve got 26 kids here this week, alone that’s an opportunity that wasn’t there a couple of years ago.

“I think they need to be in an environment like this to catch up to the other states – the other states where they’re saturated with footy.

“Bringing the boys up here where they get to live for a week like an AFL player is really beneficial to them.”

Last year a record 18 NSW/ACT players were listed by AFL clubs. The new Academies will aim to increase this number by providing first-class tuition, training and facilities to fast-track player development. 

Roos said with the Academies now fully operational both clubs can start turning their attention to players from other sports.

“Our next focus is now to scour the country along with the AFL operatives and the TPP (AFL NSW/ACT Talented Player Program) and pick up kids who aren’t playing AFL football,” Roos said.

“I think the other thing is with our Academy, we don’t mind kids playing rugby league, rugby union and AFL.

“Kel is a great example of someone that had a rugby league background and because of that background it helped him to play AFL footy – he was one of the great tacklers, he was hard at the ball and great below his feet.

“So it is an advantage if we can get kids from others sports and keep them playing other sports.”