LAST week I believe the Newcastle Knights in tandem with Newcastle Rugby League implemented a great plan by staging the first ever Newcastle Knights player draft. It's a programme I think Newcastle Jets, in tandem with the Northern NSW Football Federation, should work to duplicate...and soon.
In the draft, every contracted Knights player was aligned with a Newcastle-based club as either an ambassador or as a potential player.
The non-playing ambassadors are big name players such as Kurt Gidley and Jarrod Mullen, whilst fringe first teamers such as Sione Tovo, George Ndaira and Marvin Karawana, when not selected for first grade, will be filtered back to their respective Newcastle-based clubs for matches on the weekend.
By my reckoning, the programme has a number of advantages for both parties.
For the Knights, they get to keep their unselected players match sharp by having them compete at a decent standard each week. They can also use the system to allow injured players a platform to return to the top grade.
For Newcastle RL, they'll be getting at least a handful of high quality players playing in their league week in, week out. This should help boost crowds, interest and perhaps sponsorship in their competition, as well as lifting the overall standard of the league.
The Jets and the NNSWFF should consider doing something similar, as should the other A-League clubs with their respective state leagues.
As it stands, the A-League season has more than a five month hiatus between the Grand Final in February and kick off again in August. Stretch this tenure to almost six months for clubs who don't make it to the pointy end of the season.
This lengthy break is one that has been well documented when compared to European leagues, with A-League professionals quite simply needing more game time.
Personally, I'd love to see Ante Covic or Matt Thompson as an ambassador for my club Weston Bears, drawing the hundred club on selected match days while the football deprived Kaz Patafta or Shaun Ontong line up for first grade.
I reckon the Newcastle football community would too, with people far more likely to get out to a local game if they knew they could check the form of Marko Jesic as he comes back from knee surgery with Hamilton Olympic against Ben Kantarovski as he returns to his old Wanderers stomping ground.
With the Jets entering the Asian Champions League, there'd be no better time to quickly implement the plan. Although the start of the Northern NSW State League is a month away, align the players soon enough and the ones who find themselves matchless will have a place to scratch their itch for game time and showcase their wares before too long.
It'd bring the newly revamped, eight team Northern NSW State League to life, whilst game time denied Jets could keep ticking over. Win. Win.
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Beijing Guoan watch:
In preparation for their ACL opener against Newcastle Jets on March 10, Beijing Guoan recently completed a training camp in South Korea.
On February 26, Guoan played a friendly against Busan I'Park at the World Cup Stadium in Busan, running out 4-1 victors.
According to fcguoan.com, Joel scored a hat-trick playing at the point of the attack with the "avant-garde" Ryan playing wide left.
"Griffiths brothers play very smart, technical (and) down-to-earth", Guoan coach Lee Jan-soo said. Lee also said the main reason for the tour to Korea was to integrate his four foreign players into "the collective".
Guoan have now set up camp at their Xianghe base to complete their preparations "before the first battle".
