Philosophy on Devils program must go beyond AFL draft to ensure healthy a State League
Sick of seeing talented juniors leave Tasmanian football to play interstate, one coach is questioning why the TSL is not considered a competition that gets players drafted to the AFL.
AFL
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SOUTHERN TSL coaches have issued a passionate defence of the competition, while declaring more must be done around player retention when they have finished in the under-18 program.
The exodus of top-line talent to interstate competitions continued in the off season, with a belief young players overlooked in the national draft won’t get noticed in the State League.
North Hobart assistant coach Oli Di Venuto believes the messaging to young players needs to change, not only for their development but also for the health of Tasmania’s top competition.
It comes as the Demons prepare to lose eight players to the Devils ahead of their round two clash with North Launceston this weekend.
“The concerns for me with the Devils program is the messaging that comes out of there. I’ve had this gripe for years,” Di Venuto said.
“The philosophy around the Devils program is about getting blokes drafted, which is true to an extent, but for me it’s about getting those kids to play 150 TSL games.
“The messaging coming out of there is they’ve got 12 potential kids to get drafted next year and, realistically, that’s not happening.
“But they put it out there so you’ve got 12 kids in that program that think they’re going to get drafted, they miss out so then, instead of probably staying around in the TSL to figure their games out, they’re going to the mainland … they’re probably not ready to go yet.
“Jay Lockhart to me is a perfect example of what it should look like, [Rhyan] Mansell who is debuting for the Tigers this week, he played in three premierships here before he went to Adelaide.
“If we can get these kids to come out of that program and really figure their games out at TSL level, and then if they need to go to the mainland to test themselves, well go do it.
“I would like to hear why the TSL is not rated as a comp to get drafted from. If this is what recruiters are saying, why?”
Di Venuto’s concerns were shared by Tigers coach Trent Baumeler and Clarence counterpart Jeromey Webberley.
Tigers duo Kieran Lovell and Mackenzie Willis were both drafted from the TSL.
“There’s no issue with the product. You’ve got to dig a bit deeper and look,” Baumeler said.
“It’s whether recruiters, AFL clubs, whether they actually want to do their job and watch the games, and see where the talent is.”
Webberley also backed the TSL product to stack up against other leagues across the country.
“Oli Davis was stiff not to get drafted last year, dominated TSL, yet Isaac Chugg plays nine games of development and gets drafted and averages eight disposals a game.
“So is it they don’t want to draft ‘Davo’ because he dominates the competition that’s not good enough, or they want to draft Isaac Chugg because he plays well at development footy and averages 10 disposals at TSL level?
“I don’t think it’s got anything to do with the competition. Richmond’s number one pick last year was a ruckman [Samson Ryan] from … out of back of nowhere in some comp no one had heard of.
“Go figure.”
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