The 'alternate view' Kingsley holds as draft changes loom

ADAM KINGSLEY has an idea, if anyone wants to hear it.

As the AFL continues to canvass clubs around potential Academy and father-son bidding changes, with the possibility of restrictive measures becoming more and more realistic by the day, Kingsley knows his Greater Western Sydney team and its Northern Academy are about to be impacted.

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But why, he wonders? The Giants have produced only one first-round Academy talent since Tom Green seven years ago. As the AFL's newest expansion club, they've never had a father-son prospect. They likely won't for the next decade, either. So, Kingsley wants to know, why should the Giants be made to pay for the success of others?

"I just think it should be reflective of the talent produced out of it," Kingsley tells AFL.com.au.

"How much you've cashed in or not, it should be reflective. If you haven't picked players for a while, but you're still pouring in time and effort at an Academy level to try and grow the game and develop players … that ultimately keeps more Melbourne-based players at Melbourne-based clubs, so it's a win-win for everyone.

"You shouldn't be penalised because other teams in different moments have cashed in and developed really good players out of their Academy and been in a position where they can take them."

Kingsley isn't angry at the likes of Gold Coast, Brisbane and Sydney for producing such local talent. He thinks it should be encouraged. Instead, his idea to fix the bidding process is one that's barely been considered: Tax the Academy-rich.

He thinks Gold Coast, which matched bids on four Academy players inside the first round of last year's draft, should have to pay more the next time it receives an early bid on one of its own. He thinks that should've been the case for Brisbane when matching a bid on Dan Annable last year, having already had access to Levi Ashcroft and Sam Marshall inside the first round the season prior.

But now the Giants, who have only matched a bid on a first-round Academy talent once since 2019 – that coming when it matched Sydney's bid on Harry Rowston at pick No.16 in 2022 – will face the same level of restrictions as the Suns and the Lions the next time they produce a high-end prospect. For Kingsley, that doesn't make sense.

"The Gold Coast example, they've been able to take four players out of their Academy in the first round last year," Kingsley says. "It's a brilliant result for football in Queensland and a great reflection of the Academies being beneficial, not only for encouraging and increasing participation in regions of need but also developing high-quality players. That's what we need to encourage.

"Now, Gold Coast – and Brisbane to a certain level too – have clearly been the beneficiaries of that in the last year or two. We haven't. Yet we'll be judged under the same rules. We've poured in the same level of effort into developing participation in the region, we just haven't been able to generate the same quality of player yet.

"To increase the rules across every club, I just have an alternate view. We don't have access to any father-sons, nor do Gold Coast. If I look at some of the players drafted via Academy and father-sons, every single club bar us and Gold Coast had the opportunity to access both Academy and father-son players. We haven't had either for a long period of time, in terms of first-round talent.

"We're able to generate some guys who get picked later on and we were able to pick Riley Hamilton last year really late as a Canberra boy who was an over-ager. That's us encouraging the participation and trying to reward our Academy to continue developing and to continue to grow the game in regions where it needs to be grown. I think that benefits everyone.

"I haven't considered all of the minute details of what it's worth, what it should be, I just have an overall general view of throwing everyone under the same blanket."

GIANTS' RECENT ACADEMY GRADUATES

Kingsley's idea extends to participation numbers. The number of young footballers playing locally in Sydney, Brisbane and Gold Coast's Academy regions far outweighs that of Western Sydney's. So, Kingsley ponders, should his idea of an increased tax for matching an Academy bid extend to the number of prospects a club can choose from?

"Maybe [clubs] sit in a region that has four times the amount of participation than us, maybe it's seven times. Because that's the reality," Kingsley says.

"When we develop a player who is a local Sydney boy, like we did with Joey Delana, we should be able to give them the opportunity to stay local. One of the ambitions of this club was to try and get local kids winning. If we've got local kids winning, we've done a great job in Western Sydney and developed the game to a level where we're producing a lot of good players. That only benefits the game."

The community in Western Sydney has been on Kingsley's mind a fair bit this summer. Having travelled to New Zealand alongside assistant coaches Wayne Cripps and Trent Dennis-Lane recently, he spent time in Christchurch with Super Rugby powerhouse the Crusaders.

The reigning Super Rugby champions have won the title 13 times in the last 26 seasons and been to the final a further four times across that stretch, making them one of the most successful clubs in modern professional sports. But, according to Kingsley, it's their commitment to fostering ties within their local community that was most evident during his three-day stint across the ditch.

"They're a fantastic organisation," Kingsley says. "They've won every second year, on average, over a 30-year period. It's extraordinary. You can just see the culture they have, the people they have there, the work ethic, the planning, it's incredibly detailed. It was really beneficial.

"The culture stuff … the way that people are inducted into that organisation, there's a specific way of doing things and an expectation that it's done in a Crusaders way. They don't use that language, but that's ultimately what it is.

"There's a real sense of belonging to the community. There's a real passion for community development. I link it all back to our club and where we sit in the Western Sydney region of 2.8 million people, trying to grow our game into that region and be great role models and be a reflection of our community out in Western Sydney. There's a lot of ties."

Kingsley is hopeful his learnings can seep into the Giants' own methods this season, as the young club looks to win a maiden premiership having fallen just short in recent years. Last season was another missed opportunity for the League's newest team, failing to capitalise on nine wins from its final 10 games of the home and away campaign once September arrived.

Instead, a similar final chapter unfolded for Kingsley's men. Their 19-point elimination final loss to Hawthorn was their fourth straight finals loss and followed familiar heartbreaks to the tune of six points (Sydney, 2024), five points (Brisbane, 2024) and one point (Collingwood, 2023).

Having either led or been level in the final quarter of all four losses, Kingsley is determined to break the streak in 2026. But whether there's a pattern unfolding come September is another question altogether.

"It felt like they were all just different," Kingsley says. "I don't think it's the same thing or things repeating. Collingwood by a point, Sydney by a goal, Brisbane by four or five points, then Hawthorn by a couple of goals.

"I don't think it's an issue solely with our mentality, I don't think it's an issue solely around the way that we play, I don't think it's an issue around availability. I think it's probably a combination of all of those things. We play good teams, we don't necessarily win them all. I'm not panicking over it, but I want to fix it."

The Giants were bolstered over the off-season by the cut-price addition of ex-Melbourne midfielder Clayton Oliver, with Kingsley confident the four-time Demons best and fairest and three-time All-Australian can recapture his best form.

Superstar captain Toby Greene has spent more time in the midfield alongside Oliver across the summer, while the return to form and fitness of veteran onballer Stephen Coniglio has been another key feature of the side's pre-season so far.

With a host of young talent – led by Green, Finn Callaghan, Aaron Cadman, Connor Idun, Lachie Ash and Sam Taylor among others – continuing to develop as well, Kingsley believes the Giants have enough about them to win it all in 2026.

"Yeah, we can," Kingsley says. "We can lose it, too.

"They're hard to win. On average, you're going to be disappointed 17 years out of 18. That's a lot of disappointment.

"I think we're capable. Our best is as good as any team. We've got to find a way to be a little bit more consistent, not only game to game but within games. If we can produce our best more often, we'll give ourselves an even better chance. If we can produce our best in the last quarters of finals, we'll probably go on and win at least one of them if not more.

"There's a lot to like about our group. There's a lot of hope, there's a lot of confidence. But they're bloody hard to win. You look at Brisbane. Gee, we were seven goals up with six minutes to play in the third quarter of that final [in 2024]. All of a sudden, Brisbane's not two-time premiers. They're the team that got pretty close the year before.

"But they showed extraordinary character and great fight. They ran over the top of us, now they're two-time premiership players and favourites for a three-peat. Anything's possible."

Subscribe to the Your Coach podcast to listen to Riley Beveridge's full interview with GWS coach Adam Kingsley next week.