The Greater Western Sydney GIANTS have set a new AFL record in their inaugural year, with Devon Smith becoming the seventh GIANT to be nominated for the NAB AFL Rising Star Award in 2012.
One man who knows all about young talent and their pathway in to the AFL is GIANTS Football Administration Manager, Alan McConnell.
McConnell spent five years as the AIS AFL Academy High Performance Coach before becoming the first ever employee of the GIANTS.
During his stint at the top of the most elite AFL development squad in the country, McConnell coached a volume of promising youngsters including Nic Naitinui, Bryce Gibbs and Cyril Rioli.
Speaking exclusively to GIANTS TV, McConnell said that he is thrilled with the number of Rising Star nominees that the young GIANTS have amassed this year.
“I think it’s pretty exciting for our club and our future," McConnell said.
“We’ve had 34 debutants for the year so we’ve certainly had a big pool to be working with.”
McConnell also claimed that the way that the squad has been able to stick together through their junior development has been a massive plus for the fledging club, who hope that building a close and safe environment will help with player retention.
“What is unique is that they’ve been able to stay together as a group.
“Generally they would go to a club where they might know one or two other boys and here they have been through the talent pathway together.
“That certainly gives us an advantage in that they are not alone on their journey,” he said.
“It’s provided far more opportunity than might otherwise be the case.
“At another club they might have gotten one or two games.”
McConnell said that the GIANTS’ priorities lay with fast tracking the development of their talented youngsters and said that the side wasn’t necessarily looking to the scoreboard as a measurement for success.
“We do have a lot of talent on our list and as a coaching group I think that we are duty bound to develop that talent as fast as we can.
“I think in that regard we should be pretty pleased with what we’ve been able to achieve.
“We decided from the outset that we weren’t going to judge our performance and development via the scoreboard and we shouldn’t be doing that this week either.”
By Rebecca Mills
