South-west football mentors discuss AFL draft figures

But regional schools, including those in south-west Victoria, are working hard to provide the coaching and facilities to give footballers the best chance to make it to the highest level from home.

New Hamilton Kangaroos coach Gerard FitzGerald said it was important country areas could deliver the training programs and high-calibre coaches the Melbourne and Geelong-based elite private school system offered.

FitzGerald raised his concerns about the development of regional talent with The Standard after he was taken aback with statistics tying draftees to Associated Public Schools in a piece in The Age titled How private schools have taken over the AFL.

The APS and Associated Grammar Schools (AGS) in Victoria, or their equivalent elite private schools in Western Australia and South Australia, provided 25 of the 78 players taken in this year's national or rookie drafts.

Four of the top-10 draftees were from the APS which includes Carey Grammar, Caulfield Grammar and Geelong Grammar.

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It was a similar story last year, with 24.3 per cent drafted from the APS and 25.6 per cent in 2017.

FitzGerald, who coached North Ballarat Roosters to three consecutive VFL premierships, said the figures were concerning.

"It just gives a perception that it's centralising the talent pool," he said.

"My concern and perhaps the lesson for regional Victoria is 'what can we do to make sure that we are still providing the best possible environment for a draftable player'?

"So how we can support schools' centres of excellence for football?

"What can clubs do to develop their facilities so they can provide a quality environment for their developing players?"

FitzGerald, who also coached the Greater Western Victoria Rebels for four seasons, said it wasn't all doom and gloom.

Numerous schools in the south-west are running comprehensive football and sports programs.

Warrnambool College has a Sporting Pathway Program (SSP), a high performance centre and a football academy.

Warrnambool's Emmanuel College also has a football academy and a high performance program for its athletes.

Warrnambool's Brauer College also has a host of sport academies.

The school's football academy was reignited in 2017 with lunchtime training sessions run by Jason Kermeen and Kurt Lenehan.

Lenehan, a long-time Hampden league player, will play with South Rovers in the Warrnambool and District league this season.

Brauer College's football academy members have the chance to represent their school at interschool competitions.

"I'm hearing some very good signs of regional schools accepting the challenge that they've got a role to play in developing high-level football programs," FitzGerald said.

"And some fantastic examples for us, in this region, are St Patrick's College in Ballarat and Ballarat Clarendon College and that's led to other schools learning from their example.

"St Patrick's and Ballarat Clarendon College have had significant success in recent years with players drafted and the example is (South Warrnambool's) Hugh McCluggage taken at number three (in 2016)."

FitzGerald said he wasn't sure if the APS figures reflected the cyclic nature of AFL drafting or were part of a trend.

But he said the NAB League, formerly TAC Cup, was set up to allow regional players to stay home and not go to a Melbourne boarding school.

"Part of the original philosophy of the TAC Cup, when it started in the early 1990s, was to create an environment whereby players did not have to leave home to be drafted," he said.

FitzGerald is hoping South Warrnambool's Jay Rantall - who was drafted to Collingwood in the past fortnight - is seen as an example of a regional success.

Rantall finished year 12 at Warrnambool College this year.

FitzGerald said Rantall's story was encouraging for regional areas which wanted to produce and nurture talent.

He said he wasn't sure if young players felt they had to go to a private school to make it to the AFL.

"I haven't spoken to the boys for a couple of years but I know that this trend of these of figures (The Age article) could lead to that perception - you could see why that could happen," he said.

FitzGerald said it was important to at least offer an alternative and perhaps in time compete with elite private schools.

He said the elite private school dominance was a concern if it became an ongoing trend.

But he said you only had to go back to 2016 - the year when the Rebels had six players drafted - to see that numerous players could get picked from this region in a draft year.

That draft group included McCluggage (Brisbane), Jarrod Berry (Brisbane Lions), Willem Drew (Port Adelaide) and Jamaine Jones (Geelong).

The Rebels have only had four players - Lloyd Meek, Flynn Appleby, Tom Berry, Rantall - picked up in the past three years.

While the APS figures suggest the state's elite private schools are providing about a quarter of drafted players, there are many players who only attend for part of their high school education.

Former Melbourne player Dion Johnstone was a Brauer College and North Warrnambool Eagles product.

He boarded at Scotch College from year 10 and played for NAB League club Oakleigh Chargers.

Former Warrnambool College student and South Warrnambool export Jamarra Ugle-Hagan (Johnstone's cousin) started boarding at Scotch College in year nine.

Both received scholarships to attend the prestigious school.

Essendon superstar Zach Merrett, a Cobden product who also went to primary and secondary school in the town, boarded at Melbourne Grammar on a cricket scholarship from year 10.

He played his NAB League football with Sandringham Dragons.

McCluggage also attended Warrnambool College before boarding at Ballarat Clarendon College.

Emmanuel College teacher Noel Mugavin said travel was one of the biggest challenges for the south-west's young players.

He said it was difficult for youngsters to continuously travel to play for a club like the Rebels.

"When you're in the (NAB League) system for a couple of years, it's extremely hard to travel from this area to Ballarat and then compete in Melbourne, Shepparton or Gippsland," he said.

Mugavin said elite private schools identified talented regional players and offered them scholarships.

"You can't knock the kids for taking up those opportunities," he said.

The former senior football coach said the constant travel, for a player who chooses to stay home, could hamper their school education.

He said the other bonus of going to an elite private school was it enhanced players' academic pursuits.

"In an ideal world, it would be wonderful to have a NAB League team (in the south-west) so we're getting more boys to compare and showcase their abilities," he said.

But Mugavin said he wasn't sure if a south-west team would be competitive against the sides from bigger areas.

Warrnambool College SSP teacher Adam Dowie agrees travel is a big barrier for south-west footballers.

He said players would be "silly not to look at" accepting a scholarship for an elite private school.

Dowie said recruiters understood country players do not have access to the same facilities and opportunities as their city counterparts and had more room for improvement.

"I know talking to recruiters, they would realise that," he said.

"If they had a boy from the Oakleigh Chargers and a boy from the Rebels and they were on the same level, they'd usually take the boy from the country area."

Rantall and McCluggage were both part of Warrnambool College's Sporting Pathway Program.

Dowie said 250 students - from years 7-11 - were involved in the program which covered numerous sports.

All students in the program complete a minimum three sessions per week in the school's high performance centre which is equipped with up-to-date sports science equipment.

They also undertake two sport specific training sessions per week.

Dowie said the school had accredited strength and conditioning coaches and a host of high-profile mentors.

Premiership coaches Danny Finn (Kolora-Noorat) and Adam Matheson (Timboon Demons) are part of the team.

The school also has a Football Academy.

Dowie said the academy had weekly training sessions and each year there was a trip to Melbourne for an AFL experience which involved visiting venues and meeting coaches.

Mugavin said Emmanuel College had tweaked part of its football program recently.

He said the school had opted not to put its year 7 and 8 teams in the School Sport Victoria competition this year.

Instead St Joseph's College Geelong came to Warrnambool to play Emmanuel's years 7 and 8 teams.

He said the idea in the works for next year was to have St Patrick's College Ballarat come to play in Warrnambool.

The Emmanuel teams would head up to Geelong to play St Joseph's.

He said the school had found its students were out of the classroom too often with long-distance travel to sports events.

Emmanuel College runs its Academy of Sport Program which includes boys and girls football.

The school's facilities include indoor sports courts, The Jonathan Brown Gym and a spin bike studio.

Mugavin added the school's year 9 students had been playing against St Patrick's for the past six or seven years.

Koroit mentor Chris McLaren will coach Emmanuel College's senior football team in 2020.

The three-time Hampden league premiership coach will bring his experienced football mind to the south-west high school as it chases glory in the SSV Premier League.

Emmanuel and Warrnambool College both play in the premier league against some of the best schools in the state.

Dowie said it was frustrating the elite private schools often got the kudos for draftees who had originally been at a regional school.

"I suppose it is a little bit," he said.

"But I think if you asked their parents they'd say 'no it was a great opportunity for our child'."

But the school teacher and coach said overall it was about getting the best outcome for the boys and girls and their families.

He said the school was proud of the role it had played in developing the likes of McCluggage.

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