Recruiting from China

[saka888 54]

This might sound ridiculous to some posters, but I think it might be worth a consideration.

I realise that AFL will never take off in China, However this is a country that spends billions on schools completely dedicated to the development of athletes for all sorts of sports, Now I realise that this list defiantly does not include AFL, however the excess of student athletes that can’t be moulded into world class Olympians is enormous and I am sure a small percentage of these athletes bodies be suited for AFL. You only have to look at NBA’s tallest player (Yao Ming) to realise that there is some huge talent in china that could easily make the transition as a ruckman or even a quick midfielder.

Without stereotyping and stating that I don’t think I have ever seen an Asian play AFL at almost any level. I still think it would be a great idea with minimal cost for the MFC to at least send a couple of scouting agents to have a look (before another club does).

Any thought?

[The Chazz 4,077]

Danny Seow?

[Swampfox 190]

Peter Bell

[RalphiusMaximus 6,088]

Getting back to the point, it's not the worst idea. We know the AFL sees Africa as a source of talent, but there are plenty of other markets. China has the huge advantage of a monumental population, and thus a larger pool of potential athletes. Couple this with the amount of money they spend on developing these athletes (as mentioned above) and there is a very good opportunity there for a club to look into. Why not see if you can convince some nice government officials or corporate entities to start an Aussie Rules academy over there?

[Adzman 2,154]

There are a stack of kids not playing much over there. Why not grow the game in china?

And before anyone uses Yao Ming as a positive example- the dude is made of glass and has cost Houston any chance of a championship this last decade.

Would be very interested to see what the Chinese could produce.

[John Crow Batty 8,879]

Hi all, I doubt that we would ever find good players there. They can't even get out a decent soccer team or player despite investing sqillions of Yuan in develloping the round ball game. There are relatively very few sports grounds in China and even fewer suited to play Aussie Rules and the aggression of the game does not suit Chinese cultural sensibilities IMO.

Perhaps the best Asian to play the game was Les Fong in the 70/80's. Played and captained West Perth in the WAFL and played quite a few State of Origin games for the Sandgropers.

Edited April 21, 2010 by america de cali

[Cards13 9,117]

This might sound ridiculous to some posters, but I think it might be worth a consideration.

I realise that AFL will never take off in China, However this is a country that spends billions on schools completely dedicated to the development of athletes for all sorts of sports, Now I realise that this list defiantly does not include AFL, however the excess of student athletes that cant be moulded into world class Olympians is enormous and I am sure a small percentage of these athletes bodies be suited for AFL. You only have to look at NBAs tallest player (Yao Ming) to realise that there is some huge talent in china that could easily make the transition as a ruckman or even a quick midfielder.

Without stereotyping and stating that I dont think I have ever seen an Asian play AFL at almost any level. I still think it would be a great idea with minimal cost for the MFC to at least send a couple of scouting agents to have a look (before another club does).

Any thought?

I have played footy against of few of our Asian brothers and generally they are fantastic players. Don't want to generalise or sterotype but from my experience the guys I've played against are:

Quick, awesome change of direction and hard runners. Most have been on the short side with massive little legs. There is a team in the Southern Football League Div 3 called Southern Dragons who are made up of mostly Asian players. This is only their 2nd year as a club.

Edited April 22, 2010 by Cards13

[half back 0]

Speaking of chinese footballers wait till you see this

You guys are going love this.

This is classic - My link

Have a look at the chinese guys face affter being crunched ha

[dazzledavey36 55,337]

recruit from fiji ffs!

[e25 5]

Somebody has been reading this thread...

http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/92947/default.aspx

Or, you know, the club is well ahead of us.

[saka888 54]

Somebody has been reading this thread...

http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/92947/default.aspx

Or, you know, the club is well ahead of us.

I was thinking the same thing!

[The Red Fox 216]

I arrived in Shanghai today, over here to participate in The Amazing Race: China Rush

www.chinarush.tv/

The club were good enough to kit me and my teammate out with Members polos and we've got a Dees branded footy that'll be on us every step of the way. Here's to hoping we can provide some quality television exposure for the club.

I'll be sure to send a few stab passes at unsuspecting locals to see whether anyone has a natural reflexive talent suited to our game. It'll be interesting to see how AFL is received.

[e25 5]

I arrived in Shanghai today, over here to participate in The Amazing Race: China Rush

www.chinarush.tv/

The club were good enough to kit me and my teammate out with Members polos and we've got a Dees branded footy that'll be on us every step of the way. Here's to hoping we can provide some quality television exposure for the club.

I'll be sure to send a few stab passes at unsuspecting locals to see whether anyone has a natural reflexive talent suited to our game. It'll be interesting to see how AFL is received.

Mad respect for that.

Something i've always wanted to do but didn't hear about this til now.

Smash it Wise.