Jaeger O'Meara and Gary Ablett of the Suns celebrate the win over Richmond. Pic Darren England.
Source: News Corp Australia
Dear Clown Prince, Eddie (McGuire),
I’m just sitting here up on the Parramatta River, trying to baptise the good people of New South Wales to Australian football.You don’t have to do that in Melbourne; that all comes naturally.
Your recent attack on the junior development academies we have up here — and in Queensland — shows a lack of understanding of what we are trying to do.
Perhaps you should leave the inner-city affluence you are used to now, Ed, and come and see the wonderful football programs we are running at grassroots level here.
NORTHERN AFL CLUBS BLAST EDDIE
These academies exist to grow the game. After all, the Swans have been here for 33 years and the Giants for only two and a half seasons.
And the reason we can access some of those players is compensation for the fact that the Giants won’t have father-son selections until the next generation.
Kevin Sheedy and Eddie McGuire before the Round 18 clash between Collingwood and GWS in Round 18 last year. Picture Peter Ward.
Source: News Limited
Essendon has been kissed on the butt with Dustin Fletcher and Jobe Watson being such important players, and they have had another lick of the ice-cream with Joe Daniher, who looks like being some sort of player.
And look at the Western Bulldogs’ father-son selections — Tom Liberatore, Mitch Wallis, Lachie Hunter and Ayce Cordy.
Only a month ago Hawthorn just got over the line against the Giants. And before my eyes I did see Isaac Smith (from Cootamundra), Luke Breust (from Temora) and Matt Suckling (Wagga). And Will Langford, you wouldn’t believe it, is a NSW scholarship selection for the Hawks.
The Hawks have also been generous to the Sydney Swans by clearing Josh Kennedy, a one-time father-son selection.
Which brings us back to your club, Clown Prince, and how Collingwood lacked the courage to make bold decisions in the past that might haunt you into the future.
We offered the Magpies — and other clubs — the chance to secure Jaeger O’Meara, Jack Martin, Brad Crouch and Jesse Hogan through the mini-draft.
Your club wasn’t bold enough to take a calculated punt and turned them down.
And as soon as you said “No, we won’t give you a senior, experienced player”, you cleared Dale Thomas, Sharrod Wellingham and Heath Shaw.
And we gave you Taylor Adams for Heath Shaw. Only time will tell whether O’Meara and Martin turn out to be better players than Adams. You be the judge of that!
That was the softest decision I’ve seen in football since the marshmallow wars we had with North Melbourne.
Jack Martin of the Suns kicks during the round 14 win over Geelong. Photo by Chris Hyde
Source: Getty Images
Collingwood didn’t have the same courage when O’Meara and Martin were on the table. They weren’t prepared even give one player up for either of those young stars.
And, Ed, you conveniently forget that your club took Heath Shaw (pick 48), Travis Cloke (39), Nick Davis (19) and Rhyce Shaw (18) as father-son selections — even though you ended up giving three of them away. Two would become Sydney premiership players.
There is also the fact that Magpie ruckman Jarrod Witts was a NSW scholarship player. And defender Lachlan Keeffe was a soccer player who the Magpies, we suspect, played a great game of hide and seek with in the academies of Queensland.
We all know you love your footy and you love your club. That’s great, but sometimes you have to look at the big picture.
And the big picture is that we are still trying to educate the people of New South Wales about our great game.
Remember that before you make statements that mislead the public and don’t tell the true picture of the state of the game in the developing states.
Let’s concentrate on growing our game, instead of having selective amnesia.
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