As the AFL competition grows and expands into new frontiers the responsibility on the new club administrators to provide the necessary support for a new generation of young players has never been greater. The Gold Coast and Western Sydney provide an exciting opportunity for our game of AFL to grow and develop and be seen first hand by more supporters than ever before. However, we need to learn by history and the way we supported and developed the players of expansion clubs in years gone by that we don’t make the same mistakes again.

Stories of players getting off the plane with no one to greet them and requiring a map to find the actual ground they were hopefully going to spend the next few spilling their blood, sweat and tears are well founded. Fortunately, as an industry we are far more advanced and informed about the responsibilities we all (AFL, AFLPA & Clubs) have for growing the game.

Understanding this is the key. For the first time in the history of the game there is a real willingness to co-operate and ensure that our players are the best they can be on and off the field in Australian sport.

It’s heartening to hear and see the dialogue between entities who traditionally would not be working collaboratively on topics relating to best practice models in list creation, community involvement, facility infrastructure, player development on and off the field.

With this background, the path that these new clubs face will no doubt be a tough one, however, they may just be the catalyst for real change among the existing 16 AFL clubs when it comes to getting the Big Picture right!

General Manager – Player Development, Steven Alessio