Draft wipeout: Fears talent pathways won’t cater for 19 clubs as WA could prove canary in coal mine

Is there enough draftable talent for 19 AFL clubs once the Devils arrive? One recruiter says there isn’t even enough for 18 at the moment, as Western Australia braces for an historic low.

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA – JUNE 11: Bo Allan of Western Australia. And William Rowlands of the Allies during the 2023 U18 Championships match between Allies and Western Australia at Thebarton Oval on June 11, 2023 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Sarah Reed/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Western Australia is bracing for its worst ever national draft as fears escalate that the country’s talent pathways will not be capable of producing enough elite players for 19 AFL clubs.

Several clubs say there is currently not a single West Australian they would select while Tasmania struggles to consistently develop AFL talent. WA typically produces about 16 per cent of the draft pool and had 14 players selected last year.

But that is set for a dramatic fall in a year where Fremantle holds three first-round selections and West Coast is likely to have a top-four pick.

“There’s not enough draftable players for 19 clubs,” one recruiting expert said.

“I don’t think there will be a West Australian legitimately drafted this year – that’s how bad WA is at the moment. It’s the worst year for talent they’ve ever seen.

“There’s not enough kids for 18 clubs at the moment. Some of that could be because kids never got the games into them during Covid. But WA didn’t have lockdown like Victoria did.”

Two Sandgropers – Bo Allan and Malakai Champion – made the under-fire AFL National Academy squad of 30 this year. But they are not regarded as certainties to make the grade.

Malakai Champion is one of the few WA prospects who is looking like he could be drafted. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

Champion is tied to West Coast’s next generation academy, although the Eagles would prefer to take him as a category B rookie, rather than on their primary list.

There was a suspicion that Tasmania would again withdraw from this year’s U15 national school carnival after last year’s uncompetitive return.

Tassie lost its first two matches 12.10 (82) to 1.5 (11) and 20.13 (133) to 0.1 (1), despite attracting strong numbers to their trials on the back of the 19th licence announcement.

School Sports Australia confirmed that Tasmania had lodged forms this week to play in the U15s competition, but not the U12s.

Experts believe the talent pathways are layered with problems, arguably led by the deepening dearth of Indigenous talent.

Some cannot understand why the AFL is forking out big sums of money to fly a Northern Territory team in for Coates Leagues matches, given it is not their football season and many players do not want to be in chilly Melbourne.

NT has lost to Western Jets 24.21 (165) to 2.4 (16) and to Tasmania 17.15 (117) to 4.8 (32).

The loss to Tassie was especially alarming when compared to other results.

That Devils team was pipped by the GWS Academy, which Sandringham Dragons pumped by 114 points with half of their private school boys absent.

Elsewhere, some clubs flagged concerns that Riley Onley was the only Murray Bushranger picked for Vic Country between Shepparton and the NSW border. They think the AFL should send officials to flagging parts of the country to investigate whether kids have turned to rival sports since Covid.

Bo Allan is one of WA’s top talents. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

WA talent boss Adam Jones was hopeful that a poor 2024 would prove an anomaly.

“We’re a little bit lower on our depth and potentially top-end talent,” he said.

“But I’m still confident in seven or eight guys. We’ve got eight bottom-age kids in our (U18) squad of 30, which is a really high contingent. That says a bit about what we’ll have next year, and the 16s group looks pretty strong as well.”

The state recently set up a talent committee as part of a review into its pathway programs.

“The next 45 that are playing state leagues essentially are going to get opportunities on a list with a new team coming in,” Jones said.

“We’re now getting our U18s squad in for an 11-12 week pre-season. Do we do something similar starting at U15-U16 to really get some better development in the state? Some greater investment from the AFL would go along way to helping that as well.

“The state school boys is one that we’re potentially looking at a greater investment in, which is run separately to the (WA) Football Commission.

“But is it worth our while putting investment into beefing up a program that’s already running to give the players involved better development and a better link in with our state U16s?

“I think they’re some really low-hanging fruit that will have a decent impact.

“The selection process around that is a little bit flawed. So how can we help those programs select the best kids in the state and then really beef-up the program?“

“It’s a poor competition in that they play five games in seven days, so it’s a massive toll. I’ve never really supported it because of things like that, and the families have got to pay.

“It’s a bit flawed, but it’s there – so we’re thinking do we try and make it better?

“It’ll definitely help our players if we have more investment.”