Who would egg a house full of aspiring footballers trying their best to earn a contract at Brisbane Roar FC for next season? Actually, here's a better question - who wouldn't?
If you didn't hear about it then let me tell you - the so-called super-secret compound that houses this year's top 15 football superstars was attacked in a pre-meditated and pre-dawn egg raid a few weeks back.
It appears that one of the aspiring superstars decided to break off from the main group while they relaxed at Southbank Parklands to update his social networking status. He allegedly informed some friends as to the location of the compound and ended up with - wait for it - egg on his face.
Now the particular player at fault will remain nameless since he is really just a dumb kid afflicted with an all-too-common case of Obsessive Compulsive Status Updating Disorder. But I would like to be on the record as saying that if I had known of the location I would've attempted a few immature pranks of my own - massive pizza orders, strippagrams, flaming bags of dog excrement etc.
Why? Because I hate the Football Superstar concept as it currently exists, that's why.
However, this wasn't always the case.
In the first season of the show, as a new concept that offered a chance to earn a contract in the newly created National Youth League, it was an interesting and mildly entertaining idea. The programme provided an opportunity for fans to glimpse some of the background operations of an A-League club and aspiring footballers could see just what level of dedication it takes to make that first step to becoming a professional.
This novelty though wore increasingly thin through the show's Ernie-centric second season and has now disappeared entirely. All that is left is a bunch of kids from around Australia filling an unprized midweek timeslot with reality television inanity.
But the boring nature of the format isn't the problem - the problem is where these kids come from. I want to know why Brisbane Roar FC is giving opportunities to youngsters from Perth, Melbourne and Sydney.
To be clear, this isn't some crazy, one-eyed Queensland parochialism I am spouting - heck, I actually dropped in to this world in an entirely different corner of Australia to which I now live - and my Queensland bias isn't as strong as some might believe. But I think there is a question that needs to be asked, i.e. what club do you think these kids really want to play for?
If you are a football-loving kid from one of the southern metropolises you have had five years to attach your allegiances to an A-League club. Then said footballer-loving kid wins Football Superstar and receives a youth contract at Brisbane Roar for one year. Where do you think that player wants to be after those 12 months are done and dusted?
The old saying is that you can never go home again, but that's not true in a small, developing league like the A-League. With a finite number of low-cost players on the market and the artificial pressures of a salary cap on the wage structure, competition for signatures can become reasonably fierce. Many times it is the not-so-little things that will keep a player in a particular city - things like family, friends and the ready availability of certain brands of beer on tap at local pubs and clubs.
Now, don't pretend that when you play football in the backyard or on a games console you don't automatically choose one team - your own - to represent with all your inner-childish enthusiasm. So why wouldn't the interstate contestants of Football Superstar be incredibly willing to turn their back on the club that gives them a break to pursue their dream of hometown glory? After all, they are really just kids.
Club loyalty has always been a contentious topic in modern football and circumstances certainly change as a player matures - not always for the better, either.
Some players become jaded, chasing the biggest cheque with scant regard for those that unearthed them from the bobbling pitches and the cold showers of state league obscurity. Sasa Ognenovski is a prime example of this from a Brisbane Roar fans perspective, and to a lesser extent Alex Brosque still gets booed at Suncorp Stadium some five years after leaving Brisbane to return home.
Other players, their dreams almost crushed by countless rejections, stay loyal to the club that discovered them. Sometimes this is involves rejecting higher money offers from their hometown clubs - Ivan Franjic take a bow, you deserve it.
Now I understand there are other factors at play when it comes to contract negotiations and that club loyalty is not as black and white as some fans, or even this blogger, make it out to be. However, does anyone really expect any of these Football Superstar contestants to stay in Brisbane once they get the chance to move back home?
I certainly don't. So why should my club spend the time, energy and money improving these kid's games only to have that benefit another club in the same league a year later? It is an absurd proposition.
With that in mind, it seems only logical that locally-based players be considered for the Football Superstar contract simply because the chance of them staying at the club until they attract the interest of over-cashed mid-level Dutch, Turkish and German sides is far greater.
Would it make for an interesting reality television show if only Brisbane lads were considered? Likely not, even if there were such a thing as an interesting reality show.
But in the long run I honestly believe it would be of greater benefit to the club if only Brisbane lads were in contention.
And just for the record, I am backing Julian Zullo to get the contract - simply because he is a Brisbane boy that already has ties to the club. Although, I want to be clear that I'm not putting all my eggs in the one basket - I'll forge a birth certificate and play for free if Ange wants to give me the chance.
***As a quick footnote, Brisbane Roar have announced a friendly match against an African invitational team to help raise funds for George Wani - a promising Souths United player recently injured in a car accident.
The match is at Goodwin Park (Brisbane Olympic's home ground at Yeronga) on June 12 and entry is by gold coin donation. It should be an exciting evening of flair, fun and football. Kick-off is at 7PM and I hope to see a few of my loyal readers at the game to support a young member of the local football community going through a hard time.
