“How do we know that after two years, once your first contract lapses, you will stay with us? What stops you from going home after that time?”
The two-year conundrum is an issue every club faces in varying degrees when it comes to interstate talent. It is a problem that has caused the Brisbane Lions some serious headaches in recent times, and has done so once again recently in the form of James Aish.
But despite their widely documented issues with player retention, the Lions aren’t alone. Hence the importance of determining the likelihood of a player remaining with the club once they are removed from their home state. Securing good players via the draft is what recruiting is all about. Keeping them at your club long-term is a whole separate challenge.
For Gold Coast SUNS recruiting boss, Dom Ambrogio, and his team, they know every kid will tell them they want to come to their club – and the kid may actually believe they’re happy to move interstate – but what they’re looking for is evidence to support the prospective recruits ability to live it. And not simply just say it.
After all, the whole point of a player staying at a club long term is to emotionally buy in and become invested in the fabric of the football club. By doing so, they then stay and they then produce better football as a result due to the fact they care about the club and consider it to be ‘their club’ – not just their club in that moment.
“If we pick you, will you stay?”
“What makes you stay?”
These questions are simply part of a club doing their due diligence at the most basic level. There are countless stories from years gone by of potential draftees telling clubs not to pick them; that they would go home once their first contract expires.
Clearly, it is important to learn the likelihood of this occurring; particularly with someone you may take in the first or second round. Those picks must be banked and not wander home after 24 months and all the heavy lifting that goes into their development.
“It is all I’ve ever dreamed about so I would be so grateful for the opportunity to live my dream and be at an AFL club.”
“It is my dream. I would have no problems moving anywhere.”
“But you would still be living your dream if you returned home after two years to play for another club, wouldn’t you? And you would be back around your family and your friends? Surely that would be good wouldn’t it?”
It is a dark reality that has impacted Greater Western Sydney far more intensely than their expansion club rival, removing more than a handful of top-end talent in recent years. This very issue saw priority underage access recruits Adam Treloar and Tom Bugg head back to Melbourne during the recent exchange period, along with former No. 3 pick Lachie Plowman, and almost was alleged to be the reason former No. 9 pick Adam Tomlinson and No. 14 pick Cam McCarthy wanted to go home.
Prior to this trade and exchange period, Tom Boyd (former pick No. 1, 2013), Jono O’Rourke (No. 2, 2012), Dom Tyson (No. 3, 2011), Kristian Jaksch (No. 12, 2012), Taylor Adams (No. 13, 2011) and another underage recruit Jack Hombsch (2010), all returned home to pursue their football careers.
Obviously it is impossible to retain everyone, but you hardly want to lose your top-end talent. That is why it is important to get an understanding of how a potential recruit will survive and if they will prosper away from home.
“How important is family to you? How will you cope with being away from them for long periods of time?”
“What if you’re struggling with injury? Or not getting a game? How will you cope without your family and friends around you?”
The importance of family was greater for some interviewees than others, with some coming from broken homes and from difficult upbringings. Some even came from refugee camps in Sudan and didn’t land in Australia until the age of ten. Others have already moved away from home, boarding at prestigious schools for several years on football scholarships.
These were the ones that wouldn’t struggle with relocating interstate given the fact they had already gone through that, and at a far more testing age of 15 and 16. One had moved from across the country to rural Victoria, another from deep country South Australia to the bright city lights of Adelaide. For them, adapting to change wouldn’t be their biggest challenge. Although that is not to say it would still be challenging.
“Did you want to go home when you got to boarding school? What made you stay there? Who helped with your transition from home to your school?”
“Would you move back home once your football career ends? What would you do?”
For one potential draftee, relocating states to take up a football scholarship was a difficult transition. He knew only one other person and was at a regimented school that placed a large emphasis on the curriculum. For that school, football was far from the most important thing. He was glad this was the case and soon immersed himself in the full package the school had to offer. After all, football isn’t all year round. The boy admitted he struggled with homesickness at the start, but soon felt at home and knew staying was the best thing for him - not only for his football, but also for his life.
“When in your life have you had to really dig in and work hard to achieve something? It doesn’t have to be in football, it can be at school or at work or anything.”
This particular question acquired a range of different answers, with some struggling to put their finger on anything that has forced them to deal with adversity or something that has required them to really put their head down.
Before one potential draftee was allowed to respond, Ambrogio interrupted the discussion and told him he couldn’t use the phrases ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I’m not sure’ for the remainder of the interview. In the ten minutes prior to reaching this intersection, he had used the phrases umpteen times without thinking through his answers. For the recruiting team, they weren’t looking for Nobel Prize winners, but they did want to challenge this player and see how he thought his way through the remainder of the interview.
One player had risen up the draft charts in the last six months. He hadn’t been the best player in any of his junior sides growing up and had missed out on most representative sides up until this year.
For him, committing to working towards a goal had been particularly relevant to him. He wasn’t an underage superstar by any stretch of the imagination, but he was desperate to play as well as he possibly could and try and reach his state side and potentially put his name in front of recruiters to get an opportunity at the highest level.
As the recruiting team dug a little deeper, delving into what precisely he did each week to go about achieving this goal, it became apparent that this kid was made of the right stuff. He had a desire to achieve what he set out to do and was prepared to roll up his sleeves and do the work. He had no issue seeking advice from those who knew better than he did and he was prepared to dot his i’s and cross his t’s to ensure he gave himself the best possible opportunity. Attention to detail? Tick. Burning desire? Tick. Ability to work hard to achieve a goal? Tick.
How does this relate to staying at an interstate club? For one, this type of player truly appreciates an opportunity and would be forever grateful for whoever provides him with an opportunity. Secondly, with his clear commitment to getting the best out of himself, the club would be confident he wouldn’t want to leave once he is immersed in the fabric of the club. Some personal qualities are conducive to coping with packing your life up and moving away from home to live out your dream. This is definitely one of them.
