First stop NEAFL, next stop AFL
It is not the most conventional way to find yourself on an AFL list, but as several top-up players’ success stories have recently shown, there is more than one way to make it to the football big-time.
Regular AFL players like Sydney Swans star Kieren Jack, and Hawthorn midfielder Luke Breust, both got their first opportunities to impress at senior level as NEAFL top-up players, and have not looked back since.
Top-up players are players who have made the QBE Sydney Swans Academy or Slater & Gordon GIANTS Academy and are then recruited to play in the NEAFL sides of their respective clubs. These players are used in the case of injuries, league requirements and to further the development of young players.
The 2012 rookie draft saw eight talented NSW footballers selected by AFL clubs, with six of these players, Dane Rampe, Brandon Jack, Sam Naismith, Dan Robinson, Zac Williams and Joseph Redfern, all previously playing top-up games for either the Swans or GIANTS.
Dane Rampe was selected by the Swans at pick 37 after impressing during pre-season training with the club over the past few weeks.
Rampe has had an extremely impressive 2012 season; picking up the 2012 Phelan Medallist (AFL Sydney Best and Fairest) and the Howarth Trophy (representative player of the year) as well as notching up two NEAFL top-up games.
Brandon Jack, QBE Sydney Swans Academy member and younger brother of Swans star Kieren, was also training with the Swans during pre-season and was pre-listed for a rookie position just prior to the draft.
Jack played several games for the Swans reserves this season and will get his chance to follow in his older brother’s Premiership-winning footsteps after being formally selected with pick 57.
At 208cm, Naismith caught the eye of Swans recruiters while playing football for the Gunnedah Bulldogs and was selected for the QBE Sydney Swans Academy.
He played most of the 2012 season for the North Shore Bombers in the AFL Sydney competition, but Naismith’s real opportunity came when he lined up for the Sydney Swans reserves four times in 2012.
Filling the Swans’ final rookie spot was former NSW Scholarship holder Dan Robinson.
Robinson has been on a scholarship for three years and just finished exams at St Ignatius Riverview, playing for the Mosman Swans and Riverview. He also made two appearances for the Swans reserves in 2012.
Zac Williams, from Narrandera, was one of just two rookies taken by the GIANTS in the draft.
His impressive performance playing for the NSW/ACT RAMS in the National Championships, which saw him win the Most Valuable Player award, coupled with his games for the GIANTS reserves made him a common-sense pick for the AFL’s newest team.
A medium-sized midfielder and defender who is very strong through his body, Williams was the only New South Welshman invited to attend this year’s NAB AFL Draft Combine.
18 year-old Joseph Redfern was the GIANTS’ other selection in the 2012 rookie draft. Having moved to Sydney from Wagga Wagga 12 months ago, he trained with the Slater & Gordon GIANTS Academy and Sydney Hills Eagles during the 2012 season.
He played only one match for the Eagles in the AFL Sydney competition between NSW/ACT Under-18s commitments and lining up for the GIANTS’ NEAFL team an incredible eight times.
While most top-up players get a limited number of NEAFL games, some players have made huge impressions and become inspiring success stories.
Kieren Jack and Luke Breust are easily the biggest names to have started their careers as top-up players, but there have been further notable instances of top-ups making big impacts in recent years, including Josh Bruce, a former Swans top-up from Canberra who is now playing with the GIANTS.
As has been repeatedly seen in the AFL, the most successful football clubs have a fierce competition for spots and thus a hunger for individual players to prove themselves and succeed.
With the extra opportunities in the NEAFL provided by the top-up rules, the standard of football should only increase as more and more young players stake their claims for an AFL rookie listing.
Having some of Australia’s best young talent duking it out for opportunities as top-up players, the NEAFL appears set to become not only a vital breeding ground for Sydney and GWS, but also an increasingly impressive competition and spectacle for years to come.
