Hot AFL reading picks from across the week
by PAUL BUGEJA
Guardian Australia: Nino Bucci on grassroots football
Like most AFL fans, AFLFA staff read anything they can get their eyes on when it comes to our magnificent game.
On Sunday, January 8, a piece that caught our eye is a little different to the more standard AFL pieces you'll see daily in the main press - it's from Guardian Australia.
‘There’s too much money in local footy’: the bidding war for Aussie rules footballers by Nino Bucci, a Melbourne-based reporter for Guardian Australia, offers a rare look into local grassroots AFL footy ... and the money potentially involved with it.
Talking to players and administrators across local footy, Bucci reveals some startling insights, most notably that some semi-professional players are said to be earning up to $60K per annum for the twenty-week season.
Take a read of Bucci's piece - it might surprise you, or maybe as a local player or someone involved with footy at a local level, you'll know exactly what's going on...?
The Age: A 'Danger'-ous captain for the Cats?
Earlier in the week, the Age's Marnie Vinall reported on who might be Geelong's new captain given legend and recent Premiership captain Joel Selwood has retired.
In her piece, Dangerfield says he’d put his hand up for Geelong captaincy, Vinall reveals that Patrick Dangerfield was open to the vacant captaincy, although noting he is but one of a field of candidates, with best club man 2022 Tom Atkins looking a likely contender.
Who's your pick?
Herald Sun: Collingwood depth...or lack thereof...
The Herald Sun's Rebecca Williams ran her eye over Champion Data breakdowns in AFL 2023: Champion Data breaks down each club’s list to rank its depth across every position.
Basing the findings on Herald Sun SuperCoach points from season 2022, Carlton, with seven players, jumped out as the team with the highest number of players with a top-10 positional ranking.
However, in not such good news for Collingwood fans, was an apparent lack of depth, which may surprise many after the stellar year the Pies had in 2022.
Despite having a respectable five players with a top 10-positional ranking, the Pies depth seems to drop off markedly, with only nine of the current crop making it into a top-30 positional ranking.
Of course, all bets are off going into season 2023, so it will be interesting looking back at the end of the season to see if this apparent lack of depth causes the Pies issues or whether players will rise to the occasion and help their side push for contention again.