AFL: Indigenous Pathway Working Too Well, Must Be Tweaked

MELBOURNE – The Australian Football League has confirmed sweeping changes to the Next Generation Academy and father-son rules this week with new AFL football performance boss Greg Swann admitting the changes will affect roughly half the competition and “probably all of the Indigenous kids”.

“We acknowledge the NGA was designed specifically to grow Indigenous and multicultural participation in elite footy,” said one AFL strategic outcomes manager. “We just didn’t expect it to actually work. Now we have to make it harder, otherwise it’s like rewarding the program for doing what we set it up to do, which goes against fifty years of established practice.”

The reforms come as Carlton and Port Adelaide eye top-two picks Cody Walker and Dougie Cochrane in this year’s draft. Under the new rules clubs will pay significantly more to access these players, a system the AFL describes as “fair” and “definitely not just St Kilda finally getting their way”.

A Brisbane Lions spokesperson noted the timing was suspicious.

“Funny how the rules only changed once Queensland clubs started getting deadly First Nations talent through the academy pipeline,” he said. “Almost like the system was fine when it was producing kids from Brighton Grammar.”

The AFL maintained the changes were unrelated to which kids were coming through, despite the announcement landing the same week Greg Inglis Junior was tipped as a top-five prospect, three Yamatji teenagers signed development deals, and one Tiwi Islands school recorded its first ever Coates League draft pick.

When asked if the changes would discourage Indigenous participation, Mr Swann said the league had “robust frameworks in place” which is the AFL’s traditional way of saying “we’ll fix it after the next Round in Country”.

The next round of consultation will be held with all clubs, except the ones that benefit most from the current system, who have already been consulted thoroughly.