AFL to remove Albury, Murray region from GWS talent academy zone

THE AFL has bowed to pressure from Victorian clubs and is set to remove Albury and the Murray River region from the GWS Giants academy zone from next year.

GWS academy product Will Setterfield.

The AFL has again bowed to pressure from Victorian clubs and is set to remove Albury and the Murray River region from the GWS Giants academy zone from next year.

The move caps a bad couple of days for the AFL’s newest club which has lost Lachie Whitfield to a six-month suspension and is facing draft sanctions over the actions of Whitfield and former Giants officials Graeme Allan and Craig Lambert.

The commission is expected to announce the change to the boundaries on Wednesday after meeting in Melbourne over the past two days.

Wagga Wagga and the surrounding areas of the Riverina are likely to remain as part of the Giants’ talent region.

The change will not affect this year’s draft in which Albury products Will Setterfield, Zach Sproule and Lachlan Tiziani are all potential GWS recruits.

The move is the latest in a succession of rule changes which have effectively watered down the original intention of the academies which was to provide at clear pathway to the AFL for NSW and Queensland footballers in rugby league-dominated states.

Melbourne clubs have argued Albury and the Murray region are Aussie rules strongholds and should not be included in the Giants Academy Zone.

Former Swans captain and now assistant coach Brett Kirk (North Albury) was one of many players from the area the Giants will lose along with Sydney coach John Longmire, who grew up in nearby Corowa. Triple Brownlow medallist Hayden Bunton Jr also came from Albury.

Will Setterfield is likely to be selected in the top 10 in this year’s draft. Picture: Mark Stewart

The loss of Albury and Murray region is the latest change to the rules surrounding the northern states academies which have essentially made it harder for the Giants, Sydney Swans, Brisbane Lions and Gold Coast Suns to secure talent from the academy zones which were set up in 2011.

A points bidding system for academy and father-son selections was brought in two years ago and modified again earlier this year.

The AFL also approached Deniliquin talent Todd Marshall six months ago and allowed him to opt out of the academy on a paperwork technicality after initially signing up last year.

The Swans academy has produced two genuine stars in Isaac Heeney and Callum Mills, who won this year’s Rising Star Award. Heeney came from a Rugby league background and Mills grew up playing Rugby Union.

The emergence of these players has been a massive win for the code north of the Murray but has been widely viewed as a negative story in Victoria.

Originally published as AFL to remove Albury, Murray region from GWS talent academy zone