3 hours ago, Dee Viney Intervention said:

Time to pack it in with the academies. We were denied MAC Andrew, had Darwin as a zone taken off us and given to the Suns and now have the Mornington Peninsula Junior Football league which is a strong competition taken off us and get SFA in return. Good thing we stocked up on smalls in the last draft because we won’t be getting Marcus Prasaad.

Equalisation……Bollocks.

Why won’t we get Prasad?

Club run academies are the biggest joke ever. The development of the game is the AFL's responsibility and they should take ownership of the programs.

Get rid of zones and stop the rorting of players being tied to clubs merely because they lived in the area at some point in their lives.

And yes, having a zone with a significant population of migrants from the subcontinent is great if you are running a cricket program, not so much for a football program.

1 hour ago, Roost it far said:

Why won’t we get Prasad?

My mistake, was pure red mist when I saw the changes but didn’t see the transition date at the end of the article.We should be able to draft Prasaad. Make no mistake though we have absolutely been bent over here again.

Interesting that Darwin is not allocated to anyone, especially as it was taken off us for Gold Coast. Not that I want it back either….just interesting.

Edited November 27, 2025Nov 27 by Dee Viney Intervention

3 minutes ago, Dee Viney Intervention said:

Because we have lost MPJFL as a zone. His home club is Dromana. Free kick Saints.

Pretty sure i read that this new academy changes don't kick in until either 2027 or 2028?

4 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Pretty sure i read that this new academy changes don't kick in until either 2027 or 2028?

You’re right Dazzle, pure red mist on my behalf.

New zones 2028 onwards

Prasad remains a chance

Not sure many NGA qualified kids are lining up to play at the Sorento Sharks. Its based on population and migrant numbers per area. Melb have a small area but high density population and migrant numbers. All that farming land that Geelong got is not run by new arrivals.

'On the fly' AFL strikes again.

So they've pretty much taken the peninsula off us and given it to St Kilda so they can look like Italy on the map. Yay.

I know this is based on population or NGA player numbers that have come out of these areas but it feels a bit meh.

20 hours ago, Roost it far said:

New zones 2028 onwards

Prasad remains a chance

What about Corey Ah Mu? Will they now be including the Samoan and other south seas islanders into the acadamies?

22 hours ago, Dee Viney Intervention said:

Interesting that Darwin is not allocated to anyone, especially as it was taken off us for Gold Coast.

Sounds as if they're planning to make team number 20 the Northern Territory once they get the Tassie Devils off the ground.

I just don't understand why any of these changes have been made

3 hours ago, Chelly said:

What about Corey Ah Mu? Will they now be including the Samoan and other south seas islanders into the acadamies?

Corey will still be in our NGA. Stingrays had a shocker this year not on male player drafted. Hopefully he has more luck than his brother.

1 hour ago, Dee Viney Intervention said:

Corey will still be in our NGA. Stingrays had a shocker this year not on male player drafted. Hopefully he has more luck than his brother.

Great. I know that we have a good few talls on our list but I would like to see see Tairon Ah Mu try out at Casey next year.

3 hours ago, MrFreeze said:

I just don't understand why any of these changes have been made

North had Tassie as their NGA area. That now is going to be for the Devils so North had to fit into vic so things where rigged to allow north a zone

4 hours ago, BangBnagBang said:

North had Tassie as their NGA area. That now is going to be for the Devils so North had to fit into vic so things where rigged to allow north a zone

How does giving Geelong and St Kilda more territory compensate North Melbourne?

On 28/11/2025 at 20:05, RalphiusMaximus said:

How does giving Geelong and St Kilda more territory compensate North Melbourne?

Its not about territory its about population

On 01/10/2025 at 14:22, Whispering_Jack said:

The changes to the rules are substantial.

Under the new rules, the cultural background of the parent is paramount; a player must have at least one parent born overseas to qualify for multicultural status.

Clubs must spend more time with NGA prospects, have nominated them earlier, and proven that they have improved their football.

Pacific and Central and South American regions have been added to the cultural eligibility criteria while European countries have been removed.

With the inclusion of the Tassie Devils, North Melbourne loses its zone in the Apple Isle and the zones will be shifted around to accommodate them in Victoria.

Obviously, more details are required to assess the effect on the MFC. We need to see what the boundaries are of the amended zones and know more detail about the families of the potential NGA prospects.

It appears that there are no changes to 2025 draft eligibility criteria so on that basis, we can still get Toby SInnema but not Tairon Ah Mu, although we might have access to the latter’s younger brother who is also a talented young player.

afl.com.au

AFL cracks down on player eligibility in NGA revamp

Clubs must spend more time with Next Generation Academy prospects and register their interest earlier in order to get priority draft access

Didn't work with Mac Andrew!

On 27/11/2025 at 07:46, Dr. Gonzo said:

Academies work against one of the key pillars of equalisation ie the draft. AFL no longer cares about equalisation, they care about revenue and expansion. The game is cooked.

Spot on! 15 GFs & 7 flags between the 4 Northern Clubs since 2000, yet the afl haven’t blinked an eye on between Freo, Saints, Nth, Carlton, Crows, zip flags

9 hours ago, BangBnagBang said:

Its not about territory its about population

A fair few people live from Port Melbourne down to Mornington. Yet St.Kilda get the rest of the Mornington Peninsula off of Melbourne. We just keep Casey. Makes zero sense. The AFL threw a dart.

There was absolutely no justification for taking the Mornington Peninsula Junior Football League off Melbourne as a zone.

Edited November 30, 2025Nov 30 by Dee Viney Intervention

12 hours ago, BangBnagBang said:

Its not about territory its about population

How does giving Geelong and St Kilda more population compensate North Melbourne?