Jump to content

Is the talent pool diluted?


Demonland

Recommended Posts

Pretty good article really.

TBH, I've never really bought the 'expansion = diluted talent' argument for a couple of reasons. Firstly, if the talent pool is really stretched as thin as is claimed, it should be harder to find AFL level talent in the state leagues. Yet virtually every team has key members of their best 22 that were overlooked in multiple drafts, and toiled away in the lower leagues for a few years. 

Secondly, i think people get nostalgic about footy in days gone by, and forget about the lesser players. There have always been (relatively) bad footballers playing AFL. We've had more than our fair share!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Accepting Mediocrity said:

Pretty good article really.

TBH, I've never really bought the 'expansion = diluted talent' argument for a couple of reasons. Firstly, if the talent pool is really stretched as thin as is claimed, it should be harder to find AFL level talent in the state leagues. Yet virtually every team has key members of their best 22 that were overlooked in multiple drafts, and toiled away in the lower leagues for a few years. 

Secondly, i think people get nostalgic about footy in days gone by, and forget about the lesser players. There have always been (relatively) bad footballers playing AFL. We've had more than our fair share!

Agree with both points above. In addition, when we last had a 12 team competition, the population of Australia was 16 million. It is now 25.5 million - a 60% increase. In the same time, the number of clubs has increased by only 50% . In raw numbers the talent pool hasn't diminished.

What has happened, though, is that there are more options for potential players to choose from, some of which pay much more handsomely than being a professional AFL player.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The talent pool for top level AFL footy was diluted when the league expanded to 18 teams. We now need over 700 AFL standard players to service the fans.

Remember WA and SA had their own state competitions pre 1987 and then, as now, NSW and QLD delivered few footy players. Suddenly the players who were good enough to play in the inferior state comps were being asked to step up to the top league. Big ask.

Population numbers don't create a linear change as bigger source populations don't necessarily provide talent with the requisite drive to excel in the top league.

Talent spotting, recruitment and development can overcome much, if not most, of the dilution but it still remains.

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, tiers said:

The talent pool for top level AFL footy was diluted when the league expanded to 18 teams. We now need over 700 AFL standard players to service the fans.

Remember WA and SA had their own state competitions pre 1987 and then, as now, NSW and QLD delivered few footy players. Suddenly the players who were good enough to play in the inferior state comps were being asked to step up to the top league. Big ask.

Population numbers don't create a linear change as bigger source populations don't necessarily provide talent with the requisite drive to excel in the top league.

Talent spotting, recruitment and development can overcome much, if not most, of the dilution but it still remains.

 

Interchange bench. = 4  

Take 2 off..  multiplied by18 = (36),  when I was at school, way back.  Thats almost one full list.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


46 minutes ago, Demon Disciple said:

With all the academies and NGA zones in place now, it strips the draft of it's essential purpose.

All academies need to be abolished and discounts for F/S selections also need to go (having first dibs on a particular player is enough of a discount).

It doesn't have to.

Just put a limit on how many players can be drafted from a combined F/S-Academy school,  per club,  per season.

I like the system concept,  but it needs refinement.

 

IF the draft age gets lifted to 19Yrs of age,  I think Academies will become even more important. 

And I'd suggest that players in Academies,  should be eligible for drafting from 18Yrs of age,  to play senior footy, if they're ready.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why on earth did the analysts select 1995 as a baseline? Most pundits and fans who complain of a diluted competition are referring to the latest expansion teams - so since 2012.

How much has the population grown since then? How much of that growth is immigrants or first-generation with no interest in football? From the Census data provided the trend-line for football participation for ages 15+ had declined from 2006 to 2012. 

The childhood participation data is meaningless. How many aspiring footballers miss out on the draft or recruitment to state leagues and then just quit football? That's the reserve talent pool, the adult ammos, not some kids who played Auskick in primary school. 

It's subjective of course, but I would posit that football reached it's heights in the years leading up to around 2012, with several dominant and exciting teams. Since then the standard has plummeted, especially over the past three or so years. 

Nostalgia for the mid-90s is another matter. Football was different then. But now it has no grounding - the evenness of the competition is not a benefit in my opinion but a detraction. I want to see the best football possible, not even scorelines and manufactured excitement. 

My and many others' early projections of a diluted competition on recent expansion were slightly wrong. The impact isn't felt immediately, but five or six odd years later when the quality reaches it's peak playing years. That's the dilution - a wider spread of top talent across more teams. 

It's subjective again, but form my perspective that is exactly what has occurred, the inability now to assemble a genuine, top-level team. I still have no respect for current Richmond in the way I did for the Geelong, Hawthorn, Collingwood and Swans' teams of the recent past.

I've basically stopped watching football over the past few years, and it's not because of congestion. It's because I no longer get the opportunity of watching titans in the sport crush other teams, or occasionally play against each other. 

Nothing has moved me to watch in a way that a Hawthorn v Swans or Geelong match-up would have done so not so long ago. Richmond v West Coast or the Giants in 2018/2019? Whatever. I may be getting old.   

But I find arguments against the football talent pool having been diluted illogical. Why would you even use population growth as a starting point, it's completely irrelevant. There's two new top-flight teams. That means a wider spread of top-flight talent as compared to when those teams didn't exist. That dilutes the competition. 

The Fox Sports article draws from here: http://www.hpnfooty.com/?p=31834

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Demonland Forums  

  • Match Previews, Reports & Articles  

    GETAWAY by Meggs

    Calling all fit players. Expect every available Melbourne player to board the Virgin cross-continent flight to Perth for this Round 4 clash on Saturday afternoon at Fremantle Oval. It promises to be keenly contested, though Fremantle is the bookies clear favourite.  If we lose, finals could be remoter than Rottnest Island especially following on from the Dees 50-point dismantlement by North Melbourne last Sunday.  There are 8 remaining matches, over the next 7 weeks.  To Meggs’

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    AFLW Melbourne Demons

    DRUBBING by Meggs

    With Casey Fields basking in sunshine, an enthusiastic throng of young Demons fans formed a guard of honour for the evergreen and much admired 75-gamer Paxy Paxman. As the home team ran out to play, Paxy’s banner promised that the Demons would bounce back from last week’s loss to Brisbane and reign supreme.   Disappointingly, the Kangaroos dominated the match to win by 50 points, but our Paxy certainly did her bit.  She was clearly our best player, sweeping well in defence.

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    AFLW Melbourne Demons 4

    GARNER STRENGTH by Meggs

    In keeping with our tough draw theme, Week 3 sees Melbourne take on flag favourites, North Melbourne, at Casey Fields this Sunday at 1:05pm.  The weather forecast looks dry, a coolish 14 degrees and will be characteristically gusty.  Remember when Casey Fields was considered our fortress?  The Demons have lost two of their past three matches at the Field of Dreams, so opposition teams commute down the Princes Highway with more optimism these days.  The Dees held the highe

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    AFLW Melbourne Demons 1

    ALLY’S FIELDS by Meggs

    It was a sunny morning at Casey Fields, as Demon supporters young and old formed a guard of honour for fan favourite and 50-gamer Alyssa Bannan.  Banno’s banner stated the speedster was the ‘fastest 50 games’ by an AFLW player ever.   For Dees supporters, today was not our day and unfortunately not for Banno either. A couple of opportunities emerged for our number 6 but alas there was no sizzle.   Brisbane atoned for last week’s record loss to North Melbourne, comprehensively out

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    AFLW Melbourne Demons 1

    GOOD MORNING by Meggs

    If you are driving or training it to Cranbourne on Saturday, don’t forget to set your alarm clock. The Melbourne Demons play the reigning premiers Brisbane Lions at Casey Fields this Saturday, with the bounce of the ball at 11:05am.  Yes, that’s AM.   The AFLW fixture shows deference to the AFL men’s finals games.  So, for the men it’s good afternoon and good evening and for the women it’s good morning.     The Lions were wounded last week by 44 points, their highest ever los

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    AFLW Melbourne Demons 3

    HORE ON FIRE by Meggs

    The 40,000 seat $319 million redeveloped Kardinia Park Stadium was nowhere near capacity last night but the strong, noisy contingent of Melbourne supporters led by the DeeArmy journeyed to Geelong to witness a high-quality battle between two of the best teams in AFLW.   The Cats entered the arena to the blasting sounds of Zombie Nation and made a hot start kicking the first 2 goals. They brought tremendous forward half pressure, and our newly renovated defensive unit looked shaky.

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    AFLW Melbourne Demons 11

    REMATCH by Meggs

    The Mighty Demons take on the confident Cats this Saturday night at the recently completed $319 million redeveloped GMHBA Stadium, with the bounce of the ball at 7:15pm. Our last game of 2023 was an agonisingly close 5-point semi-final loss to Geelong, and we look forward to Melbourne turning the tables this week. Practice match form was scratchy for both teams with the Demons losing practice matches to Carlton and Port Adelaide, while the Cats beat Collingwood but then lost to Essendo

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    AFLW Melbourne Demons

    WELCOME 2024 by Meggs

    It’s been hard to miss the seismic global momentum happening in Women’s sport of late. The Matildas have been playing to record sell-out crowds across Australia and ‘Mary Fowler is God’ is chalked onto footpaths everywhere. WNBA basketball rookie sensation Caitlin Clark has almost single-handedly elevated her Indiana Fever team to unprecedented viewership, attendances and playoffs in the USA.   Our female Aussie Paris 2024 Olympians won 13 out of Australia’s all-time record 18 gol

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    AFLW Melbourne Demons 3

    EPILOGUE by Whispering Jack

    I sit huddled in near darkness, the only light coming through flickering embers in a damp fireplace, the room in total silence after the thunderstorm died. I wonder if they bothered to restart the game.  No point really. It was over before it started. The team’s five star generals in defence and midfield ruled out of the fray, a few others missing in action against superior enemy firepower and too few left to fly the flag for the field marshal defiantly leading his outnumbered army int

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Match Reports 6
  • Tell a friend

    Love Demonland? Tell a friend!
×
×
  • Create New...