The AFL Commission has decided to strip Greater Western Sydney of its Murray region recruiting zone in a move that will shape the immediate futures of two highly-rated draft prospects.
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While the league opted against an announcement on Thursday in order to finalise details and contact affected parties before making the decision official, GWS will be the major losers in a retooling of northern academy rules, which will also place limits on the the amount of top 20 academy picks clubs can take in a year they make the finals. Under the new rules, NSW and Queensland clubs finishing in the top four will only be allowed to take one academy player in the top 20, while clubs who finish between fifth and eighth will only have special access to two of those players.
While the father-son system will remain untouched, the Giants will no longer have priority access to many of the players they have previously been able to take under the generous concessions they were granted when created by the AFL. The Giants will lose their draft discount for players in the key border town of Albury, as well as other towns in the area including Moama, Wentworth and Deniliquin. The move most immediately affects Albury's Charlie Spargo - son of former North Melbourne and Brisbane Bears player Paul - and Jarrod Brander from Wentworth, both of whom loom as early selections in 2017, and who have both been training with the GWS academy. The Giants will no longer be able to draft the pair at a 20 per cent points discount.
Brander had been the subject of an AFL investigation over his dual home addresses in Wentworth and Mildura, however the changes to the GWS zone means he will be ineligible in either case.
The Giants were yet to be informed of all the specific changes, and did not want to be publicly drawn on the matter until the finer points had been fleshed out. The AFL had not completed re-drawing the academy boundaries as the 2017 season was officially launched on Thursday. However, the Giants were bracing for significant losses.
While the Giants will not challenge the commission decision, they greeted the verdict with disappointment and are particularly frustrated at the AFL's ongoing delay in defining the Giant's new restricted academy boundaries.
As a consolation, GWS will retain access to the region as part of the AFL's Next Generation academy system, allowing them priority access to Indigenous and "multicultural" players from the Murray region.
The Giants' concessions have been a major talking point in recent seasons, raising the ire of Victorian clubs. Collingwood president Eddie McGuire has been among the most outspoken critics of the system, which last year allowed the 2017 premiership favourites priority access to young star Will Setterfield, who the club took at pick five last November.
Meanwhile the Giants have placed ruckman Tom Downie on their long-term injury list as he deals with mental health issues. Downie has been given indefinite leave from the club. The fringe big man has played just nine senior games in five seasons at the club, including just one AFL appearance last season.
Giants football manager Wayne Campbell said Downie had the club's support.
"Tom's been dealing with a mental health issue for a number of months and the club is doing everything possible to support him," Campbell said in a release.
"Tom's welfare is our priority and those closest to him all agree that the best course of action is for him to step away from the game. "
