GWS boss David Matthews responds to angst from clubs about northern academies

For decades, any club outside Victoria has been referred to as interstate. Now, a fed-up club boss has urged a rethink as he hit back about ongoing angst surrounding northern academies.

Giants Tom Green handballs under pressure from Port Adelaide's Zak Butters and Willem Drew during the AFL Round 14 AFL match between the GWS Giants and Port Adelaide Power at Engie Stadium, Sydney on June 16, 2024. Photo by Phil Hillyard (Image Supplied for Editorial Use only – **NO ON SALES** – ©Phil Hillyard )

GWS Giants boss David Matthews has labelled Victorian clubs lobbying to change the New South Wales and Queensland academy programs as narrow-minded political grandstanding.

He also called on the league to ignore those who have no interest in growing the talent pool outside of Victoria.

Matthews was a key executive at the AFL – the general manager of national and international development – and responsible for setting up the talent pathways before being given the task of overseeing the Giants’ introduction to the AFL in 2012.

In the Giants submission to the AFL’s competitive balance review of the father-son and academy set-up, Matthews said the league should be investing more – not less – in the Sydney market.

“As the person helping to shape this strategy for the AFL in the first place, I wouldn’t wind back any of it, I would go harder,” he said. “The industry needs to be more aggressive in growing the talent pool, particularly if a 19th team is imminent.

“More talent in northern academies means more talent across the whole competition.

“Victorian clubs were happy to play the homesick card and feast on Tom Lynch, Steven May, Dion Prestia and Jaeger O’Meara, but when the Suns develop talent in their own backyard, there is suddenly outrage.

Tom Green has been the Giants’ highest Academy pick and has had a breakout season. Picture: Brendon Thorne/AFL Photos/via Getty Images.

“We need a far bigger national talent pool, we are aiming to be a national game not just a national competition. That’s the reality now and even more important with the Tasmanian team to come.

“We’re supposed to be a national competition yet we talk about ‘interstate’ clubs. Interstate from where?

“Grow the game nationally for the betterment of the whole competition and stop worrying about noisy southern clubs who have no interest or role to play in developing talent. Stop complaining when you’re not going to take on the responsibility to be part of the solution.

“It highlights the fundamental importance of an AFL Commission – to make national, strategic decisions.”

The Giants have already been hurt by previous zone changes with the Albury/Murray border region taken off them after “scare mongering” from rival Victorian clubs.

“The Academy strategy in NSW and QLD is starting to work in the best interests of the code,” Matthews said. “The strategic aim of growing the talent pool for every club’s benefit is being delivered upon.

“Most companies in other industries therefore wouldn’t dilute a strategy working in regions where they are weak or soft; they would invest more.

“Any further changes to the Academy will only be made for political purposes. No other reason. Politics overriding strategy.

“Removing Albury from our Academy was an example of that, when Victorian clubs were up in arms about potential top-30 Academy talent that never eventuated anyway. Kids who had been in the Academy all their lives were the ones that missed out on clear pathways to the AFL.

“The strategy is already being delivered in a way that ensures that clubs in NSW and QLD have to pay fair value for players.”

Matthews pointed out that the two newest expansion clubs, the Giants and Gold Coast Suns, were clearly disadvantaged by not having access to father-son selections.

“The Gold Coast Suns and GWS Giants are a decade or more away or more from father and son prospects but nobody seems to worry about that,” he said.

The Giants CEO also called for the specific removal of the bidding system for players from the western Sydney region to increase talent from the area.

“Western Sydney is home to Australia’s largest Indigenous population, yet only two per cent of the Giants Academy is made up of Indigenous participants from Western Sydney – a market where overall participation is declining,” Matthews said.

“We again request that the Academy Bidding System be removed in the designated Western Sydney region for a set period and the Albury/Murray border region be reinstated.”

Three players from Western Sydney have been drafted to the Giants in the 13 years of the club’s existence while over the past seven years 11 Giants Academy products have been drafted – three to other clubs.

Gold Coast CEO Mark Evans last week released a document he provided the AFL which highlighted the stark unfairness of the competition for the expansion clubs.

Originally published as GWS boss David Matthews responds to angst from clubs about northern academies