Tigers committed to second-chance pact
THE established link between Geelong Falcons and Werribee can survive the pandemic and continue to provide a pathway for talented young footballers.
But Tigers football operations manager Stuart Balloch says the VFL club’s biggest challenge will be its ability to give players a second opportunity to realise their AFL dreams.
Werribee has traditionally provided a lifeline for possible draftees to continue their journey on the talent pathway, and Balloch hopes that will remain beyond 2020.
He said the partnership with Geelong was also having success in other parts of southwest Victoria.
“When you talk about recruitment, you talk about guys wanting to get another look at AFL level. That’s what they need; they need opportunities to play against the best,” Balloch said.
“That’s probably going to be the biggest challenge that’s going to be faced at the boardroom table about how can we give these guys opportunities, how can we provide levels of exposure . . . and what are we faced with if we don’t have mature-aged players that are playing at the highest levels.”
Geelong chief executive Brian Cook has said the Cats will “farm players out” to a VFL club if AFL list sizes are reduced to 35.
Werribee has had AFL alignments with the Western Bulldogs and North Melbourne but Balloch said its priority would be to offer a pathway for players overlooked out of the NAB League.
Five Geelong Falcons graduates are on Werribee’s list this year.
“All we need to look at is the opportunity to provide a pathway for talented footballers that don’t get their opportunities out of NAB League,” he said.
“That’s fundamentally, what we need to consider and how we do that and how we support AFL talent and development is going to be the real challenge — and that’s the great unknown.
“We’ve historically had, as a pathway through the Geelong Falcons, which has been a terrific relationship with Mick Turner and Dean Pearce, who are doing a wonderful job of supporting and sustaining talented young men out of Geelong.
“These sorts of relationships have been strong over time and I guess with the way the talent structure and the pathway’s structured, we hope for that to continue to provide opportunities.”