Neil Balme says the AFL need to get clubs more involved rather than taking control themselves

COLLINGWOOD football boss Neil Balme says the Magpies will continue to “look very closely” at GWS for any disgruntled or unwanted players.

Day 1 of the AFL Trade Week at Etihad Stadium. Collingwoods Neil Balme arrives . Pic: Michael Klein. Monday October 12, 2015.

COLLINGWOOD football boss Neil Balme says the Magpies will continue to “look very closely” at Greater Western Sydney and will be ready to pounce on disgruntled or unwanted players.

“The Giants have got an enormous bank of very, very talented players,” Balme said at the annual Peter Mac Breakfast at the MCG yesterday.

“A fair few of them aren’t going to get an opportunity or aren’t getting a game.

“We’ll be looking very closely at Greater Western Sydney’s kids and saying, ‘Are there any others that are going to fall out?’ It’ll be the natural way.

Balme says "It's my personal view....that head office plays too big a part in the game. It's too much about the AFL and not the clubs".

— Lauren Wood (@LaurenA_Wood) May 4, 2016

“They’ve got 23 first-round draft picks in their squad and you can only pick 22 each week, so even the (first-round) draft picks aren’t all going to get a game.”

Balme cited the example of recruit Adam Treloar, who moved from the Giants to the Holden Centre at the end of last season.

“They needed to turn some over because of the new zone kids that were coming in,” Balme said.

“Even when Adam Treloar became available, it was because Greater Western Sydney couldn’t fit him in.

“We were lucky enough to get him to come to our club, but every other club was interested.”

Balme also slammed the AFL and accused the league of sticking its nose into the game too much.

Balme, who coached at Melbourne before moving into football management roles at Collingwood, Geelong and then the Magpies again, conceded the league has a difficult task, but ultimately it needs to butt out.

“I think they’ve got a really tough job, but my own view is that head office takes too big a role in the game,” he said.

Collingwood football boss Neil Balme says more control needs to be given to clubs. Picture: Michael Klein

“That’s my view ... but it doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t sack half their staff and let the marketing people at the clubs actually sell the product.

“I think head office takes too big a role — I think it’s all about the AFL when it really should be about the clubs. That’s a personal view having been around for a long time.”

While Magpies chief executive Gary Pert didn’t directly reference today’s Herald Sun report that the club is scouting out its opportunities with TAC Cup outfit Oakleigh Chargers, he detailed the “strategic vision” that the club employs to “stay ahead of the game”.

And, he says, there could be a very different landscape in five years’ time.

“We’re looking at what are the future of what a sporting club looks like, and I would say right at the moment, we’ve been doing a lot of strategic planning on this ... over the next five years, I think what football clubs are going to look like is going to be more reflective of the bigger European sports clubs like your Arsenals and your Barcelonas,” Pert said.

“A lot of the work that we’re doing in strategic planning elements – you’ve got the footy program actually putting on the game on the weekend and thinking about the day to day – but you’ve got a whole team of people forecasting and looking at what the Collignwood Football Club is going to look like and to be honest, reading the play of what the AFL is going to look like over the next five to 10 years and trying to be ahead of the game.

“If you’re not developing these broad elements of the club, you’ll be left behind. A lot of these strategic things are happening every day.”

Originally published as Neil Balme says the AFL need to get clubs more involved rather than taking control themselves