Greater Western Sydney Giants should aim to be big, old(ish) and strong

As footy baptisms go, they don't get much harder than the one experienced by the Gold Coast this year. A first-up twenty goal loss to a Carlton side looking strictly mid-table, followed by a thirteen goal defeat to Footscray, sorry, the Western Bulldogs. On both occasions they managed only just above fifty points and, although their list management has been highly praised for their foresight and talent, yet the kids haven't been able to physically compete with the established clubs they've come up against.

This must sound alarm bells for the Greater Western Sydney project due to kick off next year. Their biggest money signing, Rugby League expat Israel Folau, has struggled to adapt to the speed of AFL so far, as has the Gold Coast's big poaching, Karmichael Hunt. "K" has a better Aussie Rules pedigree than "Izzy", having represented Queensland as a schoolboy, but questions now should be asked as to whether youth, and total youth, is the way forward for a GWS franchise which probably won't have the same luxury of time - former Swans coach Paul Roos is convinced that team success is the only way for the league thrive in Sin City.

Roos' recruitment policy reflected this for the majority of his time harbourside. Over his eight-plus year tenure, he brought in several re-treads and mature-bodied players who were able to keep his side in finals contention. Recently, names such as Josh Kennedy, Ben McGlynn, Mike Pyke, Shane Mumford, Martin Mattner and Rhyce Shaw have made themselves a home in the shadow of the Harbour Bridge alongside youngsters Dan Hanneberry, Craig Bird and local boy Kieren Jack. Success for GWS is paramount for the AFL and should they risk a totally-youth oriented recruitment program as the Suns have, then they risk losing fans and, eventually, losing credibility when public opinion suggested - with good, but not perfect reasoning - that a Tasmanian team was the better option for the AFL's eighteenth licence.

This recruitment of more mature players has thrived once again with expanded rookie lists and the success that Fremantle and Geelong have had with the likes of Michael Barlow, Alex Silvagni and James Podsiadly. This season as the top level talent went north (voluntarily or involuntarily) to join the Suns, clubs were forced to face the fact they were more likely to get a better quality recycled player than young prospect and drafted accordingly, allowing Andrew Krakouer a route back into the AFL and securing lifelines for players like Brad Miller, Mitch Hahn, Ed Barlow, Nick Lower and Robert Campbell.

In order to secure a reasonable first-season showing - and with much of this year's talent plumbed already by the Suns - the Giants will have to recruit accordingly, and mix their poached players and prospects with more hardened, experienced bodies. A quick glance around the next tier down suggests there is the quality at that level: Troy Selwood and Jaxson Barham at Geelong, Jarryd Allen at Sandringham, Bens Davies and Jolley at Williamstown, Adam Pattison at Box Hill and most notably, Brendan Fevola at Casey. Each of these players - though not superstars - is serviceable at AFL level and should serve to ensure defeats aren't as demoralising. Each also would be motivated by their last chance at AFL level, and each could be replaced by a developing youngster within three years.

By expanding to Greater Western Sydney, the AFL willingly acknowledged they were biting off a piece of the sporting pie which they weren't sure they could digest, let alone chew. To make the transition easier, it may be best to simply acknowledge that youth at all costs is a flawed strategy for starting a club. They should, because if the Giants are creamed week in, week out next season, the notoriously fickle Sydney crowds will flock to the exits and the AFL's greatest experiment since Brisbane will go down as a sure-fire failure.

The New Game in the North: NEAFL 2011

While doing a vague internet search today about the AFL's newest member club, the Greater Western Sydney Giants, I found something which surprised me - there's a new league in Australia this year. Surprised, I decided to look closer at the format for the nascent North East Australian Football League.

The local competitions in the northern states have been a shemozzle for some (all?) time and it's about time that the AFL had interceded and decided to put them right. In the early days of the national competition, the Swans and Bears would send their reservists to Melbourne for the VFL/AFL reserves competition - Brisbane even won the Premiership in 1991. Since the AFL correctly deduced an official Reserves' League was financially unviable for non-Victorian teams, Brisbane and Sydney have been forced to play their second-stringers in local, substandard leagues.

The new NEAFL will have Eastern and the Northern Divisions, with the Eastern comprised of the largest five teams from AFL Canberra - Ainslie, Belconnen, Eastlake, Queanbeyan, Tuggeranong, as well as Sydney Swans Reserves and Greater Western Sydney developmental squads. The Northern conference will start with eight QAFL teams (Aspley, Broadbeach, Labrador, Morningside, Mt. Gravatt, Northern Territory, Redland and Southport) plus the Lions and Suns Reserves.

Although hampered by the fact it isn't the dominant sport in these states, Australian Rules hasn't developed in the North to the AFL's liking and as such they have apparently decided to take control of these leagues to engender stability, player pathways and adequate competition for developing, out-of-form and second-string Suns, Lions, Swans and Giants players. The clubs involved are impressive enough - most, if not all the big names north of the Murray will take part - meaning the competition should also have some local appeal and repute. A downside is the lack of top tier Sydney clubs, with Pennant Hills the most conspicuously absent team, but there are strong arguments that even the strongest local Sydney teams would struggle to compete against full-time professionals. However, with only seven teams in the Eastern Conference, there is room for growth as the AFL attempts to capture the imagination of those in that great unknown, Western Sydney.

With no crossover between states until finals time the fiscal cost for these old clubs will remain at near enough 2010 levels. This also means that for all the novelty, there won't be too much difference between the competitions now and past, but the AFL can monitor and guide the sport's progress in the undiscovered country. With the new AFL franchises now blooded, the League is more invested than ever before in a local competition which allows youngsters inspired by the AFL to develop and start "giving back" to Australian Rules. The NEAFL isn't just about making sure that Western Sydney and the Gold Coast are successful - and on that the AFL has staked a lot - but on backing up their big money expeditions into new territories with grass-roots development.

With a litany of failed and bankrupt clubs in both the ACT, New South Wales and Queensland, the AFL is readying itself for the two-fronted fight to develop the sport in the north. There have been plenty of "knockers" of the Great West Sydney Experiment with valid queries about Sydney's readiness to accept a second AFL team. With the NEAFL's genesis, however, the AFL is suggesting that it's more prepared for a drive into Rugby heartland than we had previously suspected.