Bulldogs scouring Fiji for raw talent

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Bulldogs scouring Fiji for raw talent

Authored by: Sean Finlayson
on Friday, October 03 2008 @ 04:34 pm ACST

It is great to see the Bulldogs doing this, but you guys are right. The "Tall" is not so much a representation of the needs of the code but of the needs of the Western Bulldogs recruiters. They really struggle in that department, but have plenty of short, quick players. Guys like Will Minson (pictured) are still developing but critical to their success. I doubt the other players are all "locked" into rugby or any other sport. Would be great to see a concerted AFL drive into Fiji capitalising on the fact that it is now on television there.

The Bulldogs would love a Natanui, but consistent appearances in the finals mean they don't have a high enough pick. I'd suggest they go for Pirika from PNG. He's virtually a Natanui clone but younger and a proven goalkicker.

Bulldogs scouring Fiji for raw talent

Authored by: Brett Northey
on Friday, October 03 2008 @ 05:15 pm ACST

Woops, sorry for posting as Admin before (Admin can be any one of the editors).

Your theory about them looking for talls beause their list lacks them makes sense at first, but I don't reckon the timescales match up. To develop a young Fijian adequately they would have to be looking at someone around 15 or 16, maybe younger but probably no older. Given they will have no Aussie Rules background, they wouldn't be expected to hold down a key position before age 21 at the absolute earliest. So that's at least 5 years away, 7 - 10 years would be more realistic, so it isn't going to help their current list win a flag. I guess maybe they could find a gun 18 year old who is already playing another sport but not professionally, so he could theoretically be playing an important role in maybe 4 years. That'd be more impressive than the Marty Clarke story (given he has the Gaelic football background).

So I reckon the logic is probably based on two things. The very best mid-sized athletes are probably already locked into other sports (though no doubt some great kids still haven't been "discovered") and the fact that quality talls are still pretty rare in Australia. As I think we've written before, an excellent 180cm athlete will be competing with 10s of 1000s of other quality footballers. A very good 200cm athlete is probably only up against a few 100 or 1000 others.

But it does seem a little odd to focus just on talls. We've seen the great athletes from Fiji, but what is the average height? Perhaps they don't want 1000s of guys 150 - 170 cm turning up - a few guys that size have made it in the AFL, but they have to be absolutely exceptional.

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Brett Northey - Co-founder and Chief Editor of WFN

Bulldogs scouring Fiji for raw talent

Authored by: Sean Finlayson
on Friday, October 03 2008 @ 05:36 pm ACST

Making news in Fiji too ..... here's and article from the Fiji Times:

http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=102398

Brett, I think what you're saying about ready-made 18 year olds is not too far off the mark. Personally I think that Kurt Tippett is a bigger story than Marty Clarke. A 3 year contract for a gold coast basketballer who started playing at 17 proves it is definitely possible. Mathematical theory says is at least one in every few hundred thousand and Fiji certainly has the population for it.

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Brett Northey - Co-founder and Chief Editor of WFN

Bulldogs scouring Fiji for raw talent

Authored by: Sean Finlayson
on Friday, October 03 2008 @ 05:41 pm ACST

Yet another article in the Fiji Times about Natanui.

Based on the press so far, this guy may one day be a Mal Michael type if he ever goes over there. But even more interesting is a Rupert Murdoch mag actually taking an interest in AFL ...

http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=102510

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Brett Northey - Co-founder and Chief Editor of WFN

Bulldogs scouring Fiji for raw talent

Authored by: Brett Northey
on Saturday, October 04 2008 @ 04:45 pm ACST

Yes Kurt Tippett was very fast in his progression. An elite under 18 basketballer (which will have helped his progress dramatically) he apparently started playing footy in early 2005, was a premiership player with Southport in 2006, drafted at the end of 2006, AFL debut in 2008.

Actually it's his "bag of tricks" from basketball that he's been able to use on the footy field that kept him in the team this year - some of the one on one body positioning for the high ball, and ability to grasp the ball one handed.

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Brett Northey - Co-founder and Chief Editor of WFN

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