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Tomorrow's stars in Giants' sightsJake Niall
May 25, 2011OVER the past several weeks, Greater Western Sydney officials have held meetings with the established clubs in what could be described as the entree to trade talks.
The subject of the discussions - which have been informal - are prized 17-year-olds, such as West Australian youngster Jaegar O'Meara, whom several clubs, including Essendon, Collingwood, Richmond, Gold Coast and the Perth teams, have expressed preliminary interest in acquiring.Whereas this time last year clubs were buzzing with speculation - much of which proved accurate - about the players, such as Gary Ablett, who were slated to join Gold Coast as out-of-contract signings, there hasn't been as much mail on the Giants' covert recruiting operations.
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Yes, there's been talk about Melbourne's Tom Scully and Adelaide's Taylor Walker as potential signings (Walker's beer at the footy, strangely, seeming to fuel that), but most of the speculation has been guess work; last year there was far more, well-founded, intelligence about Campbell Brown, Michael Rischitelli, Jarrod Harbrow, Nathan Krakouer, Jared Brennan and, of course, the prize of Ablett, whose meeting with the Suns in December 2009 was a matter of public record.
This time, rival clubs genuinely seem in the dark.
One reason there is less focus on GWS's raids on prospective out-of-contract players is that the Giants don't have to chase them nearly as hard as the Suns did.
First, they have a two-year window in which to sign out-of-contract players, and can afford to be more choosey. It's conceivable that they would prefer the out-of-contract pool for the end of 2012 to this year's menu.
But no less significant is the fact the AFL has handed the Giants another major concession that removes the pressure on them to sign senior players.
It is the rule that has prompted this recent series of meetings between the Giants' football operatives - headed by Graeme Allan and list manager Stephen Silvagni - and most of the existing clubs.
Mindful of the greater challenges facing a club in the tough Sydney market, the AFL gave the Giants the right to trade a total of four 17-year-olds, who aren't eligible for the draft, at the end of 2011 and 2012.
The Giants cannot hoard these youngsters, who must be born between January 1 and April 30 (in 1994 or 1995). They can only be traded. In practice, they will trade rival clubs a pick in a separate mini-draft, rather than a specific player. For example, they could give Essendon pick No. 1 in this mini-draft this year in return for say, Scott Gumbleton or Patrick Ryder, and it would pick whichever 17-year-old it liked.
They can spread these four transactions over two years, which increases the value of the ''picks.''
O'Meara, a smooth midfielder from Perth Football Club, is merely the best known and, at this early stage, most desired of the kids in question.Victorians Jake Stringer and Brad Crouch, West Australians Chris Yarran, Shannon Taylor and Dayle Garlett and South Australian Ben Kennedy (who is playing seniors at Glenelg) and Josh Simpson are among the potential 17-year-olds, who cannot play AFL until 2013.
Jack Martin, a 16-year-old from Geraldton, is among those eligible as a 17-year-old trade next year. The Giants don't want to trade all four at once, because this would weaken the draft pool next year, when they don't have so many early picks.
For the AFL, the 17-year-old trading fair is an insurance policy for GWS. If the Giants struggle to sign out-of-contract players, then they can fall back on these trades. Plus, they can utilise the rule that gives them first rights to any player who has been on an AFL list, the rule that delivered Andrew Krakouer to Collingwood, via the Gold Coast (which got a draft pick).
Gold Coast recruiting supremo Scott Clayton said the recruiting rules had given GWS valuable flexibility and the club was extremely well-placed for ''the short and long term.''
''The GWS establishment rules are constructed really smartly. They've got real flexibility with two years of uncontracteds, the 17-year-old rule and previously listed players.
''There's no need to panic.''
Supporters of the old clubs should worry less about losing their stars this year. There's almost as much chance that the player they lose to GWS will be sent there, in return for a kid, as pinched from them by a rapacious Giants raid.
It's tomorrow's stars that the Giants are taking from them, first and foremost.
http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/tomorrows-stars-in-giants-sights-20110524-1f2ij.html#ixzz1NKRgBs85
