World Footy News

Two areas we've particularly focused on for this site are international Australian football and the ongoing development of the sport within Australia, be it plans for AFL clubs on the Gold Coast and West Sydney or the lower tiers such as the addition of the NT Thunder in AFL Queensland's league.

Leading the way for the AFL has been their General Manager of National and International Development, David Matthews. It's pleasing to see the AFL website has conducted a series of interviews with Matthews, covering a wide range of development issues, including all of those that we've previously discussed on this website, but without the large audience that Australia's most popular sporting website can reach.

All of the items discussed regarding international footy we've touched on before with Game Development staff, such as the AFL's hopes to bring Oceania into the elite Under 16 competition, a tender process for IC2011, and South Africa filling the junior void from the cancelling of International Rules with Ireland. But this is the first time the plans have been more widely reported, especially all in one interview, and possibly indicate a firming of some of those plans and a desire to build community support for it. The articles are:

AFL sets sights on Pacific talent pool

AFL says no to reserves league

Heavy hitters: Dave Matthews

It is rare for us to fully reproduce an article from mainstream sites, but as a consolidated summary of how the AFL sees future development it seems worthwhile for the record, so we have done so below.

Heavy hitters: Dave Matthews

By Matt Burgan
7:05 AM Thu 21 May, 2009

A former general manager of the Geelong Football League, Dave Matthews is now the AFL's national and international game development manager.

GOLD COAST AND WESTERN SYDNEY

Gold Coast and western Sydney are the next AFL teams. How well is the game growing the game at grassroots level?

As modest as it seems, we're the world governing body and you've got to invest in your future. We've made sure our strategies and growth in New South Wales and Queensland have a very strong community base. We did the deal on Blacktown Oval many years ago and seriously ramped up our investment in Queensland 15 years ago.

People will say: 'The Swans have been in Sydney for 25 years', but it's only in the late '90s the AFL started to seriously invest. In 1997, New South Wales and Queensland was 14 per cent of our participation base and now it’s 30 per cent, so it's doubled.

We've been investing a lot longer than some people would believe. Some people think we thought of western Sydney five minutes ago – but we didn't.

There has been a lot of public negativity regarding western Sydney. Why does the AFL believe it will work?

We have confidence in it because we've been making investments for a fair period of time – not just Auskick kids, but in infrastructure. So the facilities are in place. In many respects, they're ahead of what's been available to us on the Gold Coast.

The population is enormous and it's very diverse. One of the critical factors is how we can keep engaging in the community. There is an indigenous population of 150,000 in western Sydney. We're a game that prides itself on its track record with indigenous people, so opportunities are there. We've been working on multi-cultural programs in Melbourne and Sydney, so what can they teach us about connecting with the community?

We think we've got a great game and you just can't accept the position that 50 per cent of Australia's population north of the Murray [River] has got two clubs. I'm very optimistic about it. People forget the amount of thought and work that goes into it.

What is the latest regarding the draft concessions for new clubs?

The list management committee has just reconvened for western Sydney, but from an industry point of view, it (the Gold Coast working party) was a really productive process. To individually consult the 16 clubs and form a working party with club representatives made for a very good process.

The debates were really robust and well considered from everyone's perspective. What we came up with was fair, because the clubs acknowledged it (the Gold Coast) needed some start-up opportunities.

I've seen the uncontracted [rule] labeled as some secret, but the key point is that there is compensation. The 16 clubs said: 'If we're going to give something up what are we going to get back?'

We're really pleased with how [Gold Coast coach] Guy McKenna is developing the young Queenslanders. There will certainly be some [Queensland] players on the Gold Coast's first list – some are already contracted. Others will end up at other clubs – no doubt about that.

We wanted to enlarge the pool [coming] out of Queensland. Some of the guys that weren't on the radar 12 months ago are very much so now. They also now under the noses of all recruiters, so we're pretty comfortable with how the strategy is going.

The next part of the plan has them entering the VFL next year. But we're going to take the next month or two to review that. Is that still the best destination or is it in the Queensland competition? That decision will be made in the next couple of months.

Will the western Sydney list have the same draft concessions as the Gold Coast?

Last year we did detailed analysis on the under-16s coming through and tried to find out if it was a deep talent pool. So we'll do that with western Sydney.

We're playing (this year's NAB AFL under 16 championships) in Blacktown and Sydney, after playing them on the Gold Coast last year. A lot of those [NSW] players in are also signed on the scholarship scheme, but New South Wales hasn't produced, in general terms, the same talent Queensland has. So how does that reflect in western Sydney's concessions?

We started modeling Gold Coast with up to half a dozen Queenslanders on their list, maybe more, but will that be feasible for a side coming out of western Sydney?

So there are two things: the depth of the national pool and what they'll get access to, and the quality of their local talent. The national concessions will reflect local opportunities.

When will the list criteria for western Sydney be decided?

We've added [ex-Carlton football manager] Grant Williams to the committee, so we'll run through it before the season finishes. We've actually got a model in place, so we're not starting with a blank sheet of paper.

The other consideration for western Sydney is that there isn't another team coming in after them, like there is for the Gold Coast, so we might be able to spread [the list build] over a couple of drafts. Western Sydney's national selections might be over 2011-12.

OTHER STATES

Tasmania, Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory don’t have AFL teams. What is the future for these states/territories in the game? Let's start with Tasmania.

Firstly, we think about regions more than states. We divide Australia into 91 development regions. We then look at the 91 regions and work out what needs better outcomes and investments. That's actually how the Next Generation strategy was developed. It was a regional prioritisation exercise, which said: 'Where can we get some growth?'

But getting back to your question, Hawthorn's membership out of Tasmania has reached 7000 and it has a new state league. They've just got $4 million out of the Federal Government for facilities and major growth around Hobart.

We're absolutely strong on making sure Tassie continues to be a strong footy state and they've got their aspirations [to join the AFL], which is terrific. In the interim, it's really important we take our games there, to NT and the ACT. To be able to play games in every state and territory is good for our game.

Northern Territory?

In the NT, [AFLNT chief executive] Tony Frawley has been an outstanding leader for our game up there. His partnership with Michael Long has been very compelling for the governance and for other investors, who have supported the Thunder [under-16 and under-18 NT sides].

Partnerships [have been forged]: Essendon on the Tiwi Islands, Geelong with Gove and Richmond with Alice Springs. The Thunder plays in Alice Springs and Darwin and they're aligned with Clontarf. So there are a lot of positives in NT.

The AFL match arrangement is now up for review, but we've had some terrific meetings with the NT's sports minister Karl Hampton about how it would be best considered and reviewed. We're in those discussions at the moment, as is [NSW/ACT chief executive] Dale Holmes with the ACT [Government].

Which leads us on to Canberra.

The ACT community has a number of strong clubs and traditionally it has been a strong footy area. We'd like to do more work with their talent academies and improve outcomes. In addition to AFL games, we've had discussions about their second-tier structure.

It certainly makes good sense ACT sits inside the NSW/ACT tent at the moment. I think ACT has a lot of development opportunities for us. The focus on western Sydney will naturally have some spin-offs and further support [the ACT].

INTERNATIONAL

How is the game faring in targeted nations such as South Africa, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand?

People say: 'Why aren't you an international game?' The short answer to that is that we've never tried. The commission is supportive of international opportunities. We need to invest more – we're probably not investing enough – given the opportunities identified.

In South Africa, we're five minutes in, but with cricket grounds everywhere and being eight hours from Perth [opens up opportunities]. There will be almost 20,000 players [in South Africa] by the end of this year and it's not expat footy.

We've got a project going at the moment, which fast tracks South Africa through the AFL. Jason McCartney is leading it. They do draft camp-style testing and training with the AIS. It makes good sense to take the academy over there. The next stage, which would be fantastic, would be to get a talented player from there.

New Zealand and PNG is part of our strategy for Oceania. We have 20 million and there are 10 million people off the coast of Australia.

There are talented players in PNG and Fiji. We like the idea of an Oceania under-16s team in the nationals and a South African team would make sense too in the next couple of years.

We're thinking under-16s initially and you'd look at some age concessions too. You might put an under-17 Oceania team in the under 16s.

What is the future for the International Cup?

We were thrilled with last year. We had a record number of teams. It's not expats who are playing – it's locals. To have China and India playing was quite staggering actually. The Peace Team was a great story. So we'll play that again in 2011.

We're actually going to put it out to tender. The economic impact of it is $3 or $4 million and it's a pretty significant event, when you're getting 16 countries, 40 people from each team, all of the hangers on and tourists.

I wouldn't rule out Perth [hosting it] and we've had expressions from Queensland. You'd want to keep attaching it to the AFL competition, because a lot of those guys want to see AFL games. The USAFL has expressed an interest in hosting it, so at some stage it will go to another country and that makes sense.

The International Rules returned last year after the series was put on hold in 2007. Where do you see the hybrid game heading long-term?

International Rules ends up being players from our competition against players from their competition. That's where it's got to. Discussions for a broader vision of that game have really been put on hold, as the two organisations try to reestablish that competition. vI thought what gave it more clout, credibility and possibility was having a junior and senior series. It's an interesting one for us because part of your accreditation and funding requirements with the AIS is that you need to play an international series.

When the GAA decided they weren't interested in continuing the youth series, I thought it was a mistake. It's worried us less now, because we've turned our attention to South Africa and it doesn't worry me at all now. Actually what it's done now is make the AIS program completely about our game – completely about football.

The cultural and leadership opportunities that are available in South Africa far outweigh what was available in Ireland – we learn about [Nelson] Mandela, the history of that country and go on safaris.

We always found when we toured Ireland that you almost had to apologise for your game, which is frustrating. The 30 young men in the academy go away as ambassadors of Australia and the sport in South Africa. They go into townships and help drive growth in Footy Wild. There are four or five other outcomes that you just can't get in Ireland.

PARTICIPATION

Is the game still growing strongly in this harsh economic climate?

All of our indicators so far say participation will grow again. In difficult times, people really want to attach themselves to their communities. There are probably no better communities around than footy clubs and Auskick centres.

With the global financial crisis, the AFL, state leagues and community clubs have been very conscious of offering great value. We're trying to hold prices and make sure our programs are the highest quality.

Participation growth is ahead of what we forecast for the Next Generation plan. We almost hit 700,000 last year and we said we'd get to about 706,000 by 2011. So we're charging along pretty well there.