Aussie Sports Thread - NRL, AFL or A League

[SB]

Portsmouth are keen on signing former youth player John Swift, 29, after he was released by West Bromwich Albion, while Pompey are also eyeing a move for winger Adrian Segecic, 21, from Australian A-League side Sydney FC. (The News)

[SB]

Hey Ho the Titans had a win. We had friends over for dinner last night so I was just checking the scores in the first half but when they left I watched the 2nd half. Beating Manly 28-8 & keeping them to nil in the 2nd half without our 2 SOO players was pretty impressive. Mind you Manly we’re woeful.

[Sus]

I was thinking that. It might be the level everywhere else has lifted significantly in terms of how well organised they are in youth development and it’s taken us a while to get to a better level.

Plus the A-League when it started was more about older players and aging overseas players.

It’s now shifted to a real focus on developing young players. I think it’s second in the world for minutes given to players 23 and under. There does seem to be more exciting young players coming through and doing well in the league. It’s the next step in their careers that’s so important.

The worry is a lot of these players seem to take the first opportunity to move to Europe and end up not getting any game time. It’s such a tough balancing act. You go from being the star locally to being one of so many players signed by a club from all over the world and it’s tough to step up to the level that they’ve probably been training at for years already.

I wonder if any of these past players who’ve done it are involved in advising them on what to expect and what leagues are a good move. Lots seem to be going to Scotland and the right now but I don’t know if that is the right place for them to develop. Maybe the lower English leagues, in the right club, would work but Germany, Holland and maybe France feel like good fits. Who knows but they’re in the World Cup again which is massive.

I would like them to find a long term coach who will really help with the behind the scenes infrastructure and getting the setup right for youth development. But it’s so difficult when you’ve got much bigger domestic sports dominating. I know youth participation is huge for football but at some stage things change. I wonder how it would work if you took those top players from other sports with the sporting ability and game intelligence and put them in football from a very young age what type of footballers we’d have.

This is a great summary and point of view - playing time in the right structure is the most important aspect of whether players make it or not, in my view

So finding those environments is so important for Australian footballers

[peterbread]

I was thinking that. It might be the level everywhere else has lifted significantly in terms of how well organised they are in youth development and it’s taken us a while to get to a better level.

Plus the A-League when it started was more about older players and aging overseas players.

It’s now shifted to a real focus on developing young players. I think it’s second in the world for minutes given to players 23 and under. There does seem to be more exciting young players coming through and doing well in the league. It’s the next step in their careers that’s so important.

The worry is a lot of these players seem to take the first opportunity to move to Europe and end up not getting any game time. It’s such a tough balancing act. You go from being the star locally to being one of so many players signed by a club from all over the world and it’s tough to step up to the level that they’ve probably been training at for years already.

I wonder if any of these past players who’ve done it are involved in advising them on what to expect and what leagues are a good move. Lots seem to be going to Scotland and the right now but I don’t know if that is the right place for them to develop. Maybe the lower English leagues, in the right club, would work but Germany, Holland and maybe France feel like good fits. Who knows but they’re in the World Cup again which is massive.

I would like them to find a long term coach who will really help with the behind the scenes infrastructure and getting the setup right for youth development. But it’s so difficult when you’ve got much bigger domestic sports dominating. I know youth participation is huge for football but at some stage things change. I wonder how it would work if you took those top players from other sports with the sporting ability and game intelligence and put them in football from a very young age what type of footballers we’d have.

[Sus]

Yep good call on Tobin, forgot about him

I wonder if it’s a bit like tennis, in that other countries got their act together in terms of football development and then let population advantages play out, eg Japan, Korea and even emerging countries like Indonesia

Makes it harder for us to compete when infrastructure gaps are smaller and also more opportunities for top clubs to pick up players from around the world, not just from a handful of countries

[peterbread]

Getting Guus Hiddink in was a game changer. That guy was brilliant for us.

Yeah it’s strange how with a fully professional league and proper youth academies now the level has dropped. How did we produce some amazing players with a semi professional league.

Then you had guys who stayed in Australia but could have played at a very high level like Alex Tobin.

[Sus]

That would have been amazing. The atmosphere must have been next level.

Schwarzer And Aloisi running around swinging their tops in the air. That’s was a great team back then, some really top players.

Most hostile atmosphere I've ever experienced in Oz - we booed their national anthem, after they did the same to ours in the first leg in Montevideo, plus that whole changing the first leg game time at the last minute so we would miss our commercial flight back to Oz. Just a lot of really ****ty behaviour

And watching the highlights again, we had some serious players, most of whom were regulars in the top 5 European leagues - Schwarzer, Lucas Neill, Craig Moore, Marco Brescianio, Vince Grella, Brett Emerson, Tim Cahill, Harry Kewell, Mark Viduka

What we would give now for even a handful of players of that quality

[peterbread]

I remember Iran as well. Was 17 years old and just devastated

I was there in Sydney for 2005! And I sat next to John Aloisis brother in the Socceroos family section. My wife (girlfriend at the time) worked with the cousin of one of the Socceroos and she couldn’t go as she was in Perth for work, so she got me her ticket at the last minute for the Uruguay game

Ross Aloisi is a big man and he threw me around like a rag doll when his brother knocked in the winning penalty

That would have been amazing. The atmosphere must have been next level.

Schwarzer And Aloisi running around swinging their tops in the air. That’s was a great team back then, some really top players.

[SB]

I remember Iran as well. Was 17 years old and just devastated

I was there in Sydney for 2005! And I sat next to John Aloisis brother in the Socceroos family section. My wife (girlfriend at the time) worked with the cousin of one of the Socceroos and she couldn’t go as she was in Perth for work, so she got me her ticket at the last minute for the Uruguay game

Ross Aloisi is a big man and he threw me around like a rag doll when his brother knocked in the winning penalty

Great memories mate, the whole country went crazy when the penalty went in hey.

[Sus]

Just saw they qualified. 6 in a row now. I still remember watching that penalty shoot out against Uruguay to finally qualify again and also the previous qualifying and the disappointment of losing to, was it Iraq or Iran, when that idiot ran on to the pitch and caused the huge delay. I remember being absolutely devastated. So good to seem them regularly qualify and playing in Asia has been a big change. Well done Popovich.

Yeah Mam should have been sacked by the Broncos to be honest. The problem with the NRL is he would have been signed up by another club pretty quickly. That May guy has gone to the Tigers after being dropped by Penrith not that long ago. There are plenty of examples. Remember Todd Carney, how many chances did he get?

I remember Iran as well. Was 17 years old and just devastated

I was there in Sydney for 2005! And I sat next to John Aloisis brother in the Socceroos family section. My wife (girlfriend at the time) worked with the cousin of one of the Socceroos and she couldn’t go as she was in Perth for work, so she got me her ticket at the last minute for the Uruguay game

Ross Aloisi is a big man and he threw me around like a rag doll when his brother knocked in the winning penalty

[SB]

What happened with David Fifita ? He was (is?) a great player - had a bit of the Mal Meninga about him - and now is he just injured or sidelined for some reason?

I think he sees himself as an 80 min footballer but he’s not. He was putting in zero effort so he got dropped & turned out for Ipswich Jets in the Q Cup & stunk the place out. Next word was he was injured & now they say he’s ready but refused to play. I think either he or Des Hasler is going to get the boot pretty soon.

[bacon]

Titans are a shambles mate IMO. We just let Josiah Pahulu leave & he’s joined the Storm. One of the most underrated players at the Club who was due a bonus if he played 1 more match last season so the Club dropped him. It was only a few grand but he asked to leave as a result of the lack of respect they showed him.

What happened with David Fifita ? He was (is?) a great player - had a bit of the Mal Meninga about him - and now is he just injured or sidelined for some reason?

[SB]

[peterbread]

It wasn’t a game it was for the photo shoot. I remember the story but got the details wrong.

https://www.news.com.au/sport/nrl/origin-star-cameron-munster-tells-story-behind-infamous-queensland-team-photo/news-story/830e05cff8376508d091bf037b3cd5cf

[SB]

Yeah every time it was against a South American team wasn’t it.

I remember when the broncos signed Matt Lodge and the uproar that went with it. I didn’t really know his history but quickly found out. Then at one stage they were thinking of making him captain.

Didn’t Munster turn up hungover for one origin and played an absolute blinder

Not sure about the Munster bit but it wouldn’t surprise me me.

And it was either a SAm country or Asian. It was always tricky though.