Talking Footy

Rugby league worries over AFL Sydney push
04 June 2007 Herald-Sun
Tim Morrissey
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/ ... 22,00.html

AFL's push into rugby league's heartland is seen as more than a passing fad - it is creating some real fear.

Concerned: Mark Geyer worries about the growth of the AFL in Sydney, especially the western suburbs.

Former NRL great Mark Geyer, a product of and player for Penrith, in Sydney's west, said the AFL was making serious inroads.

"The people at NRL have to pull their finger out and start fighting fire with fire," Geyer said yesterday.

"If we want to remain the biggest winter sport in Sydney, we can't rest on our laurels.

"This infiltration by the AFL has been going on now for probably a good five years.

"Without wishing to throw daggers at anyone, the AFL boys are doing things so much better."

Geyer, who has lived in league's heartland all his life, is noticing a growing AFL presence in the west.

He's seeing "AFL sticks" popping up everywhere and has seen AFL scouts attending Penrith under-12 league games taking down notes and talking to promising young league players about switching to Aussie rules.

"It's definitely a concern. I don't think it's a major catastrophe just yet," Geyer said.

"But they are all playing Aussie rules at schools now, and in suburbs where there was predominantly rugby league posts, there's now AFL sticks, so it's definitely a concern.

"An AFL tsunami is slowly building and it's going to swamp everything if we don't do anything."

The AFL's decision to promote club-based scholarships to talented young NSW teens has become a growing worry for rugby league.

The scheme is designed to ensure Australian rules infiltrates the minds and conscience of Sydney's elite young athletes.

Last year, AFL clubs signed 23 NSW kids aged 14-17 to scholarships. This year, the count is at 13, and expected to grow.

Nick Perry is the latest talented junior football star to be plucked by an AFL club out of rugby league's home.

The Penrith 14-year-old is the second kid out of "rugby league central" to be recruited by Collingwood through the AFL-endorsed talent-spotting scheme this year.

Nick, in year 10, has won a $20,000 scholarship with the Magpies.

He will continue his schooling in Sydney but will fly to Melbourne a minimum of four times a year for specialised training.

"Collingwood is one of the best clubs in Australia," said Nick, who switched from rugby league and soccer to Aussie rules five years ago.

"To get a scholarship from them, you can't ask for much more.

"It is rugby league central out here, but it's changing.

"My friends just asked me to come and play AFL, that's how I got into it.

"When I got to high school, kids were still calling it 'Gay-FL' and stuff like that, but I don't really care. I love playing the game and that's all that matters.

"I'm an assistant coach for our under 12s and we've got kids in that team who don't care about rugby league, they just want to play AFL."

Willis 21 wrote:

Let me get this straight...

By "Rugby League" you mean Mark Geyer

By "AFL Sydney push" you mean signing one kid who has played AFL the last 5 years...

OK...

Footy makes inroads in Sydney
16 June 2007 Herald-Sun
Jon Anderson
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/ ... 42,00.html

AFL high-performance co-ordinator Jason McCartney says Australian rules is starting to make serious inroads into the Sydney sporting market.

McCartney, who has been a regular visitor to Sydney over the past three years, says the code is on the move, much to the chagrin of rugby league and union loyalists.

He points to an article in last week's Herald Sun in which rugby league legend Mark Geyer claims "the people at the NRL have to pull their finger out because the AFL are doing things so much better".

Geyer was referring to Collingwood's recent signing of 14-year-old Nick Perry from Penrith, traditional league territory, to a $20,000 AFL scholarship.

"That kid Perry was the 36th teenager signed on AFL scholarships in the past 18 months. Geyer described the AFL infiltration as 'a tsunami that will swamp everything'," McCartney said.

"He spoke of seeing AFL scouts at Penrith under-12 games speaking to promising young athletes about switching to Australian rules. And what I've seen backs up his thoughts."

McCartney has facts on his side, with 24 secondary school competitions and 36 at primary school level in 2005 having increased to 110 and 336 respectively this year.

He believes the growth has come on the back of Sydney's sustained AFL success over the past three years.

"The same thing has happened in Brisbane and the Sydney model has been based on Queensland to an extent. They have learnt you can't go head-to-head with the rugby codes," McCartney said.

"If you take them on head-to-head you get nowhere, but if you give the kids the chance to play AFL when they are having a break from rugby, they quickly see what a good product we have.

"I have no doubt down the track another AFL team will go to Sydney, both from the game's growing popularity and from the sheer size of Sydney."

McCartney believes the biggest hurdle to AFL development in Sydney is the lack of space at schools, with most grounds built to cater for the rugby codes.

McCartney, in Sydney last week to talk to a group of teenagers about youth leadership, said he noticed there was no longer ignorance or apathy when AFL was mentioned.

"I often use footy as a backdrop to my seminars. Suddenly there has been a level of acceptance not previously there," he said.

"They are starting to get it and rugby league and rugby union are worried."

In actual fact we've seen 36 signed up in the past month alone

"That kid Perry was the 36th teenager signed on AFL scholarships in the past 18 months

MarkZZZ wrote:

oh onion you sure are a funny person with way too much free time on your hands. Imagine going back through the old post on the board just so that you can tag them with your one liners. Lets get one fact straight GWS haven't even played a game in the AFL competition and it's a bit premature to say anything about them. Lets give them a couple years to see what impact they have instead of playing little games in our head like you like to do.

MarkZZZ wrote:

oh onion you sure are a funny person with way too much free time on your hands. Imagine going back through the old post on the board just so that you can tag them with your one liners. Lets get one fact straight GWS haven't even played a game in the AFL competition and it's a bit premature to say anything about them. Lets give them a couple years to see what impact they have instead of playing little games in our head like you like to do.