Michael Voss says that the AFL needs to pay significant attention to what is happening in Brisbane to ensure that player retention is strong in the northern markets.
Having lost a host of young stars in recent years, and with former No.2 draft pick Josh Schache now the target of Victorian clubs trying to lure him home, Voss told SEN Breakfast that the academies are going to play a vital role in stabilizing struggling clubs in the non-traditional football states.
“All you can say historically, the No.1 issue for the Brisbane Lions and certainly will be for the Gold Coast also, is about player retention. It always has been, it always will be,” the former Brisbane Lions champion said.
“That’s why one of the really big strategies that is important for the club, is the academies. How they get them up and how they drive local talent and how they balance out there list a bit more so that they’re not having to lose players because they are settled in their own state.
“That will be a strategy they’ll continue to drive but that risk will never change for those clubs.”
Voss, who is now the midfield manager at Port Adelaide, said that he keeps an eye on what is happening at his former club, and understands the challenges that they face.
“You always take a keen interest in your ex-club – you don’t follow it as much as you’re so absorbed ion what you’re doing,” he said.
“I’ve come through that system and seen the club, or more importantly, the actual code, grow in that area.
“When your starting out as an 11 or 12-year-old and you see how that’s transformed, and then they are going through a bit of a touch battle, you’ve invested a fair bit of your own time into that.
“It’s an area that they have to get right and the AFL has to put significant attention into it.”