For those having trouble with the link (probably just my machine) here's what the big footy bufoon had to say...
Larry the Liquidator @ BigFooty wrote:A few months ago, in a thread which has since been deleted, the current Central Districts' place in SANFL history was being debated. There were some silly enough to suggest that the Centrals of the past 10 years could be mentioned in the same breath as some of the great Port sides of the past. It was a stupid argument and only endured because some are too stubborn to want to admit when they are wrong.
Anyhow, I mentioned in that thread at the time that according to my West Adelaide supporting brother, the reason why Centrals continued to dominate was because it stacked its side with AFL rejects whereas the other SANFL clubs took the time to develop[ future stars which eventually get drafted at the national draft. Of course, some CD fans tried to refute this comment.
Did anyone bother to do a quick mental count of the clubs which lost out most in Saturday's draft? I did.
It appears WWT clearly is the big loser, followed by West Adelaide and then North Adelaide. CD, the two-time defending champions, did not have one player drafted. Not one. Have my brother's words ever rung more true than now. Now I know that Port did not have a player of its drafted either. But Port are not the current powerhouse side of the SANFL. Remember, this is a side which, according to a few Centrals fans, could give the Port sides of the early 80s, the late 80s and mid 90s a run for its money. These Port sides would lose a handful of players to the AFL every year. Yet with Centrals, not one player drafted this year. Those upcoming teams which would have challenged Centrals for the title have now been decimated at the draft, leaving the AFL reject stacked Centrals to run out next year pretty much unchallenged.
What a sad state the SANFL is in.
What this person fails to recognise is that while it is great to have players drafted from their local clubs, that is not the purpose of what SANFL clubs play football for. Is it not to win Premierships, and hello, Centrals have been the best at doing that for the last decade. And here is in interesting fact to counter his point about Centrals stacking their side with AFL rejects - Out of the 56 individual players that have won 1 or more Premierships for Centrals there is ONLY a total of 3 players out of the 56 who were recruited as AFL "rejects" - Danny Stevens, Simon Arnott and James Gowans. Approximately 30 to 35 of them are or were local products from the northern suburbs or Barossa area.
Yes, they have recruited interstate players in years gone by and have had a pretty good success rate with this, but this only makes up for the remaining 20 odd players. While it is important for clubs to develop players coming up through the junior ranks, how is it Centrals "fault" that they focus their energies and priorities on winning premierships. Thier yard stick is measured in premierships, not by how many players they have recruited into the AFL. I'm sure that is the same priority for all other * SANFL clubs, it just seems some supporters of certain other clubs can't seem to hide their jealousy too well.
Get over it I say and move on with the times Larry, stop hanging on to the past
Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 9:29 am
But it's up to us to catch the Dogs, not rely on bringing the Dogs 'down to earth'. How does that help the competition.