Long time state league coach and former Frankston VFL player David Dunbar has backed the introduction of a VFL Under-22s clash to the talent pathway calendar.
The side will be made up of underexposed players on VFL lists, giving them an opportunity to showcase their talent ahead of the Mid-Season Draft against a Young Guns side made up of 19-year-olds.
Dunbar is a former senior coach of Port Melbourne and East Fremantle, and has also held roles at Hawthorn, Melbourne, Fremantle and Brisbane, now passing on his knowledge to the next generation of footballers via his private coaching business.
“Not everybody grows into their footy at the same increments, some take a few years to get up and going so giving players a chance to put their skills on show is important,” Dunbar told Zero Hanger.
“If kids feel like they're dismissed at 18, it makes it very hard for them. It can't be the end of the line; they need to stay in the pathway because players have to come from somewhere and players need to believe that if you're good and work hard enough, anything can happen.”
VFL coaches nominated players with recruiters helping streamline the squad into a final team.
The match will be played at Williamstown ahead of the Seagulls' Saturday night clash on Anzac Day.
The Young Guns squad has been a staple on the talent pathway calendar for many years, with Mid-Season pick-ups including Jai Culley, Cooper Lord, Ryan Maric and Massimo D'Ambrosio among those to have strengthened their stocks from the game.
Many of the most attractive 19-year-olds for recruiters are granted an exemption to play an extra year of Talent League as an over-ager, while others will feature in the VFL via the 23rd player rules.
But there is currently a gap thereafter for aspirational footballers.
The match comes a year after the reintroduction of the annual state league clash between the VFL and SANFL, played during Gather Round, with both games shining a light on unlisted talent.
Milan Murdock, Tom McCarthy, Tom Blamires and Angus Anderson are examples of players who have transitioned seamlessly.
Collingwood chief executive Craig Kelly indicated on Triple M during Gather Round that the club is set to target more mature-aged talent, having long and unashamedly declared its desire to remain in the premiership race year after year.
“They understand their bodies a little bit more, and have had more coaching, training, game development and skill development to round themselves off,” Dunbar said.
“Some kids at 18 from a maturity point of view can't handle it, whereas 23 year olds have had to fight and scrap and wake up early to go work and will really appreciate becoming a full-time footballer.”
On average, in each of the past three years, each VFL club has added just three Talent League graduates to their squads, leaving many forced to bide their time at local footy.
Even those who are listed often struggle for games, with the representative clash an opportunity to keep players' names in the spotlight as the industry continues to embed the message to young footballers that missing out as an 18-year-old does not signal the end of the journey.
It has become more difficult for players since the demise of the VFL Development League at the end of 2017. While the SANFL and WAFL both have reserves competition, in the VFL, those not selected for their side play local footy.
“The VFL Development League was a good in-between competition that allowed players to develop,” said Dunbar, who has long held strong views on the importance of the Development League.
“Training with senior VFL players and learning off them and a better standard of coaching than local is important.
“And coaches will watch the reserves, whereas now players will go to suburban footy and there is no eyes on them and clubs have their own agendas with their players so development might not be a priority, whereas development is in the very name of the old competition.”
There are a multitude of reasons the Development League ended and is no longer viable, so providing a platform for players to perform on a representative stage was viewed as a necessary step by many.
Matt O'Connor, who has coached the Young Guns for the past four seasons, offered an insight into the way the two-game Young Guns series is approached, with the Under-22s side likely to be similar in nature.
“It allows kids the opportunity to play a game where they're in the spotlight. It's a fashion parade for elite talent that is potentially draftable,” O'Connor told Zero Hanger.
“You need to show what you do, but you need to show you can play in a team. How can you make someone else look good and work hard for them, but then when it's your turn, show us what you can do.
“If you're an intercept defender, we don't want you punching, we want you going for the mark.
“If you've got elite legspeed, take the game on, but you still have to do in the parameters of the team. You need to play in a way that shows what got you there.”
O'Connor, who until this year was a long-time assistant coach across both Calder Cannons' boys and girls programs, also highlighted that playing the 19-year-old Young Guns against senior bodies would also be beneficial for recruiters to help assess how their skills will transfer to the next level.
The squads and coaching panel for the game will be confirmed early in the week.
