27 minutes ago, Dee Viney Intervention said:

It will be an interesting watch. Tairon is dominating at junior level because of he’s size. He is a big strong boy. Will that translate to senior football where he will come up against big strong men. A bit like Tom Scully who dominated at junior level racking up huge numbers on the back of his engine…….didn’t translate to senior football.

I know its a different kettle of fish so to speak, but I watch a lot of underage European football.

I am very hit and miss on my 'this kid is going to be a star' statements.

Either way it seems the AFL will tortoise there way on the issue and we'll miss out on him

11 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

But they were happy to change the rules about GC only accessing 2 picks if they make finals. Policy on the run but only when it suits from the nuffies at AFL HQ

That will mean White will have to nominate us

9 hours ago, Lucifers Hero said:

The AFL is reviewing NGA rules and zones. There is a push to include Pacific Island descendants in the new rules.

The new rules/zones will be effective in the 2026 draft.

We can still draft him but use a higher pick than we otherwise would.

The frustrating thing is this will be the third time in not many years we miss a key player due to on-the-run AFL rule changes. The others:

• Noah Anderson due to GCS getting pick 2 as a priority pick. He is now their captain. We did get Jackson so not sure we lost out short term but probably did long term.

• Mac Andrew due to the silly not being allowed to match under draft pick #40 rule. No prior warning. That rule was quickly rescinded. Too late for us. Now one of the highest potential players in the league.

I'm not suggesting an AFL conspiracy against us but last year Carlton (F/S) and Essendon (NGA) did a fine job of lobbying for the new bid matching rules to not take effect until 2025. Maybe we just don't lobby enough.

Maybe we don't lobby at all. Take last year when we lost Gus with his early retirement and we couldn't replace him on the list because it was after the cut-off date. This year we also lost AMW. I suspect when Carlton lost Jagga Smith, they kicked up a huge stink resulting in the AFL doing a backflip on the rules so we could add Culley after the cut-off date. Maybe we kicked up a stink, but if the previous year is anything to go on, we either didn't or were ignored.

Under 18 rep trials …

Dandenong Stingrays’ Tairon Ah-Mu performed strongly in game one, booting six majors as the dominant forward on the ground.

Ah-Mu booted 22 goals in eleven matches for the Rays last year and is covering the ground well this season after working on his fitness over summer. A powerful mark who can also play in the ruck, he has plenty of tools to succeed at the highest level.

“His fundamentals are unbelievable, he’s clean for a big bloke and he’s learning to be better up the ground. It was exciting to see him do that at a pretty good level,” Cox said.

Cox believes Ah-Mu, who clubs believe could also be thrown into the backline, will thrive in a full-time system.

“I know this is big, but Riley Thilthorpe is similar in a way. Big bloke who marks ball in goal square and commands the footy. Obviously, he was a bit raw when he came in, but he’s turning into a mammoth man now.”

The Herald Sun online edition has an article about the current crop of APS prospects and includes this write-up on Melbourne’s not draftable Clayton’s NGA:-

Tairon Ah-Mu (Haileybury) 198cm - Ruck

Ah-Mu was at his damaging best for Haileybury and led the way in the contest, with plenty of clearances and hit-outs to advantage. He used his size to take control, which isn't new, as he dominated the comp last season as a bottom-ager. When the game was in the balance at the start of the fourth, he stood up and led the way for his side. His impressive athleticism was also on display earlier in the game as he drifted forward, launched himself into a pack to pull down a mark, and kick the goal. The Dandenong Stingrays big man collected 154 ranking points in the Coates League last round and would've been around the mark again. He also kicked six goals in a Vic Country trial game last month.

The kid has roots in Samoa and can’t be drafted by us but if his father or mother was from Italy or Greece, he qualifies. Spare me!

1 hour ago, Whispering_Jack said:

The Herald Sun online edition has an article about the current crop of APS prospects and includes this write-up on Melbourne’s not draftable Clayton’s NGA:-

Tairon Ah-Mu (Haileybury) 198cm - Ruck

Ah-Mu was at his damaging best for Haileybury and led the way in the contest, with plenty of clearances and hit-outs to advantage. He used his size to take control, which isn't new, as he dominated the comp last season as a bottom-ager. When the game was in the balance at the start of the fourth, he stood up and led the way for his side. His impressive athleticism was also on display earlier in the game as he drifted forward, launched himself into a pack to pull down a mark, and kick the goal. The Dandenong Stingrays big man collected 154 ranking points in the Coates League last round and would've been around the mark again. He also kicked six goals in a Vic Country trial game last month.

The kid has roots in Samoa and can’t be drafted by us but if his father or mother was from Italy or Greece, he qualifies. Spare me!

AFL screwed MFC with Mac Andrew. Then they decides the screw the Dees again.

Players whose parents are from Iraq, Finland, Switzerland, South Africa, Ghana but all played junior footy from the age of “7” at Auskick but somehow the Polynesian area got excluded. AFL would rather than go off to the NRL storm academy system.

2 hours ago, Whispering_Jack said:

The kid has roots in Samoa and can’t be drafted by us but if his father or mother was from Italy or Greece, he qualifies. Spare me!

a bit harsh there @Whispering_Jack .

Everyone knows that Samoa is one of the bigger AFL talent pathways

Time to lock the thread.

He's irrelevant to us now. Time to move on.

36 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Time to lock the thread.

He's irrelevant to us now. Time to move on.

The fact that he is, but shouldn't be, is exactly the reason we shouldn't lock this thread.

Rolling over and accepting this AFL sh*t is what will keep us irrelevant in their eyes.

I'm sick of it, and we should never accept being a door mat like we were with Mac Andrew.

Grow some b*lls MFC!

16 hours ago, Whispering_Jack said:

The Herald Sun online edition has an article about the current crop of APS prospects and includes this write-up on Melbourne’s not draftable Clayton’s NGA:-

Tairon Ah-Mu (Haileybury) 198cm - Ruck

Ah-Mu was at his damaging best for Haileybury and led the way in the contest, with plenty of clearances and hit-outs to advantage. He used his size to take control, which isn't new, as he dominated the comp last season as a bottom-ager. When the game was in the balance at the start of the fourth, he stood up and led the way for his side. His impressive athleticism was also on display earlier in the game as he drifted forward, launched himself into a pack to pull down a mark, and kick the goal. The Dandenong Stingrays big man collected 154 ranking points in the Coates League last round and would've been around the mark again. He also kicked six goals in a Vic Country trial game last month.

The kid has roots in Samoa and can’t be drafted by us but if his father or mother was from Italy or Greece, he qualifies. Spare me!

Not quite EU countries don't count either. Asian or African only AFAIK.

However can somebody explain how David Rodan son is part of the Essendon NGA

14 hours ago, spirit of norm smith said:

AFL screwed MFC with Mac Andrew. Then they decides the screw the Dees again.

Players whose parents are from Iraq, Finland, Switzerland, South Africa, Ghana but all played junior footy from the age of “7” at Auskick but somehow the Polynesian area got excluded. AFL would rather than go off to the NRL storm academy system.

Mr Smith...

Could you , or some other kind tragic please explain how all this works ( or rather doesn’t )

I'm not at all au fait with the particular machinations .

Cheers

21 hours ago, Palace Dees said:

The fact that he is, but shouldn't be, is exactly the reason we shouldn't lock this thread.

Rolling over and accepting this AFL sh*t is what will keep us irrelevant in their eyes.

I'm sick of it, and we should never accept being a door mat like we were with Mac Andrew.

Grow some b*lls MFC!

Okay.

What do you want the club to do then? Because I can tell you right now it's not going to change anytime soon. There is only so much the club can advocate for. To say that the club needs to "Grow some b*lls" is ridiculous. You dont know what's been done behind the scenes from a club perspective.

In the meantime we'll have the same usuals on here continue to moan about a kid that's not even in our academy. So realistically, hes on the same level as every other 900 other kids out there trying to get drafted.

I mean, this was literally done and dusted last year when Cal Twomey made the announcement.

Put the time and energy into Marcus Prasad and Toby Sinnema instead.

Edited May 27May 27 by dazzledavey36

1 hour ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Okay.

What do you want the club to do then? Because I can tell you right now it's not going to change anytime soon. There is only so much the club can advocate for. To say that the club needs to "Grow some b*lls" is ridiculous. You dont know what's been done behind the scenes from a club perspective.

In the meantime we'll have the same usuals on here continue to moan about a kid that's not even in our academy. So realistically, hes on the same level as every other 900 other kids out there trying to get drafted.

I mean, this was literally done and dusted last year when Cal Twomey made the announcement.

Put the time and energy into Marcus Prasad and Toby Sinnema instead.

Some people just like to whinge, Dazzle.

For Haileybury this weekend past, Tairon starred with

22 disposals (9 contested),

25 hit outs,

2 goals,

142 champion data ranking points.

A shame we don’t have rights to guarantee access. A unique proposition.

I have seen a couple phantom draft rankings and Tarion hasn't cracked the top 20. We are all bitter over Mac Andrew but Tarion (probably) won't be drafted in the top 5.

Therefore, he still eligible to be drafted by us if we so choose. And we are not getting shafted in the same way we were with Mac.

I am also generally skeptical on oversized Jnrs and their ability transition to AFL level. I'd rather the string bean with potential (Mac, Darcy, hopefully Kalani too).

The Herald Sun has devoted a significant amount of text in recent days to the current NGA rules and some of the ludicrous rules that are in place.

Ah-Mu has not been mentioned, but there are numerous examples of players being eligible due to being born to two Australian parents who were living outside Australia at the time, or having an overseas-born parent who has lived in Australia for the past 30 years.

There appears to be a growing mood amongst the Victorian clubs for local NGAs to be scrapped and for the AFL to assume responsibility for attracting and developing indigenous and multicultural talent.

Clearly the northern clubs will want to maintain their current systems, but anything has to be better than the current mess.

6 hours ago, poita said:

The Herald Sun has devoted a significant amount of text in recent days to the current NGA rules and some of the ludicrous rules that are in place.

Ah-Mu has not been mentioned, but there are numerous examples of players being eligible due to being born to two Australian parents who were living outside Australia at the time, or having an overseas-born parent who has lived in Australia for the past 30 years.

There appears to be a growing mood amongst the Victorian clubs for local NGAs to be scrapped and for the AFL to assume responsibility for attracting and developing indigenous and multicultural talent.

Clearly the northern clubs will want to maintain their current systems, but anything has to be better than the current mess.

I still don’t understand how a Finnish mother gets her son into NGA, but a Pacific Islander mum doesn’t.

It’s made worse as the Finn married a former AFL footballer and the boy who is with the Saints Academy, is suddenly Geelong’s player.

On 25/04/2025 at 13:27, spirit of norm smith said:

Under 18 rep trials …

Dandenong Stingrays’ Tairon Ah-Mu performed strongly in game one, booting six majors as the dominant forward on the ground.

Ah-Mu booted 22 goals in eleven matches for the Rays last year and is covering the ground well this season after working on his fitness over summer. A powerful mark who can also play in the ruck, he has plenty of tools to succeed at the highest level.

“His fundamentals are unbelievable, he’s clean for a big bloke and he’s learning to be better up the ground. It was exciting to see him do that at a pretty good level,” Cox said.

Cox believes Ah-Mu, who clubs believe could also be thrown into the backline, will thrive in a full-time system.

“I know this is big, but Riley Thilthorpe is similar in a way. Big bloke who marks ball in goal square and commands the footy. Obviously, he was a bit raw when he came in, but he’s turning into a mammoth man now.”

Why ??? Are we still banging on about a player we probably cant get?? AND maybe NQR for us??FOR CARRYST SAKES??

Edited Wednesday at 11:034 days by picket fence

16 hours ago, Redleg said:

I still don’t understand how a Finnish mother gets her son into NGA, but a Pacific Islander mum doesn’t.

It’s made worse as the Finn married a former AFL footballer and the boy who is with the Saints Academy, is suddenly Geelong’s player.

You're 100% right. This must Finnish right now.

16 hours ago, picket fence said:

Why ??? Are we still banging on about a player we probably cant get?? AND maybe NQR for us??FOR CARRYST SAKES??

Yeah...and why are we still banging on about our coach and regurgitating the same rubbish on the "Time to go Goody" thread?

I guess that's the problem with a fan forum...you never know what will come up.

Edited Thursday at 03:453 days by rjay

On the question whether "banging on" about the subject has any utility, I would apply the Eddie McGuire test.

Would Eddie McGuire have banged on about having first dibs on a 198cm big man in such a situation?

Too right he would ... and if he banged on long enough and hard enough, he might possibly get his way because he always insisted on achieving the best outcome for his club. That's why Collingwood is regularly among the successful clubs and why they have such a strong following. They're not soft[censored] like some are.

1 hour ago, rjay said:

Yeah...and why are we still banging on about our coach and regurgitating the same rubbish on the "Time to go Goody" thread?

I guess that's the problem with a fan forum...you never know what will come up.

Also Picketfence wants us to move on cos he doesnt want another tall forward to compete with Jeffo!

9 minutes ago, roy11 said:

Also Picketfence wants us to move on cos he doesnt want another tall forward to compete with Jeffo!

Ridiculous !

On 18/06/2025 at 20:49, Redleg said:

I still don’t understand how a Finnish mother gets her son into NGA, but a Pacific Islander mum doesn’t.

It’s made worse as the Finn married a former AFL footballer and the boy who is with the Saints Academy, is suddenly Geelong’s player.

African, Asian or a non English speaking country.

3 minutes ago, BangBnagBang said:

African, Asian or a non English speaking country.

Samoans speak Samoan and Finns speak Finnish.

Neither language is English.

What therefore is the reason the AFL are denying us access to a player we have invested some time in, given that they are going to change the rule next year?

The Northern teams are being very well looked after and we have already been dudded by this system with Mac Andrew.

If we have any interest in Ah Mu and he has a younger brother who has some ability apparently, I would be screaming AFL house down.

Edited Friday at 03:372 days by Redleg