Players from unusual places

[SidVicious 130]

Looking at players from unusual places:-

Contrasting youngsters hope they caught the eye of AFL scouts

These blokes sound like potential rookie draft prospects but another interesting aspect of the article is the reference to the recruitment of Andrew Leoncelli and the McDonalds in the mid 1990s from the amateurs -

James McDonald, Anthony's younger brother, joined Xavs before 1996. In the first round, he ran water for the under 19s. Then he had a few games in the Xavs' under 19s and half a dozen in the reserves.

He was elevated into the seniors only when key forward Nick Bourke was appointed playing-coach halfway through the season. McDonald went on to play in Xavs' 1996 premiership team and was taken by Melbourne in the draft. He's now the club captain.

[beelzebub 23,382]

wonder if we were one of the clubs ??? youd have to think we were

[Whispering_Jack 30,633]

Despite the above examples, you don't generally see many players recruited out of the VAFA these days. I suppose it's because many of the ammos are fairly laid back in their attitude. Still, I've seen some terrific footy at amateur games I've attended and every once in a while I wonder why more players at that level don't make it to the elite AFL. Probably because most have prioritised their real professions and they simply don't have the time.

On the subject of players from unusual places I would really like to see us revive our interest in the Irish experiment. I recently met an Irish gentleman who works in Canberra in the diplomatic area and he knew of Jim Stynes and mentioned there was a lot of interest over there in the Irish players in Australia. Given that we started this in the first place with Sean Wight, Phil Earley and Jimmy and Brian Stynes, surely it's time to bring out another player from over there?