No real loss to the league.

"Derp ME, nothing like a bit of your favourite "tall poppy syndrome" showing, "did he sleep with your girlfriend" I wonder"

I am making one comment about a player choosing codes. I am not obsessively bashing the guy like you do to Delly, who by the way is completely shitting on you right now.

No interest from the sixers ever ?

You don't need to hate on AFL to like basketball. AFL is huge in Australia, deal with it

Anon #822, not sure if you are the same anon as other posts here, but you have a valid point worthy of discussion.

I have no issue with anyone wanting to have a go at AFL, certainly having played high level basketball is no barrier, however here in Australia and with a tightening of NBL opportunities possibly being a result of the three import rule is there anything to be concerned about here?

AFL is not a good sport.

Good for Maynard. How many people get to play professionally in multiple sports.

I'm lukewarm on Aussie rules in general outside of the odd live Swans game every couple of years, but it's the biggest pro sport in the country by a wide margin, whether you think it's "good" or not.

AFL is the biggest sport in the country, certainly the most lucrative.
A guy who can't swing an NBL contract is hardly going to be in demand O/S, so its a pretty easy choice.

The problem with basketball as a profession, is that too many youngsters get bedazzled by the dream of an NBA or Euro career. For those who are exceptional enough, its wonderful, but most aren't.

There's a lot of worse leagues to go to - the $$$ just probably won't make it worth your while.

If Maynard has any real footy talent then this is a no brainer.

There is so much more money in footy. Even if he doesn't make it in the AFL, he can develop himself and then have a career in lower leagues. Decent players in local district footy leagues- like the EDFL in the North Western Suburbs of Melbourne- can get $1,000 a game plus sign on bonuses of $3,000 or $4,000. They train twice a week at night, play on Saturday afternoons and don't even need to travel far on the weekends.

AFL footy is full of stories of junior basketballers taking up footy, or people who played both but ultimately chose footy. It’s obvious why that is the case.

There is certainly more money at the lower levels.

I think Corey had a crack at NBL, realised he was a solid bench guy but nothing more, had a brief crack in Europe which didn't produce anything great and then decided it was time to try the 'family sport' and see if he could do better at that.

Aussie rules is a sub-elite sport by world standards, which gives athletes from other sports the chance to switch and be successful, and pays well by Australian standards which gives them real incentive to do so.

I can't believe I read the whole thing...

LV summed it up perfectly.

If you want to be a full time pro-athlete in this country, in the 10-15 years that you'll actually be able to do it, having a go at AFL if you're a fringe NBL player seems pretty logical.

The fact that basketball is a global sport means very little if overseas opportunities to actually make a living aren't worth more than a local contract in the AFL.

"A guy who can't swing an NBL contract is hardly going to be in demand O/S."

You can, in countries like Sweden and the UK if you don't have a Euro passport and plenty others if you do, but Corey tried that, it didn't work out that well and the money isn't awesome, so footy seems like a pretty smart move. If it doesn't work out he can always go back to hoops.

In any sport where you have a lot of people on field at once and there are certain positions with well-defined and specific roles, it is quite possible to make a switch to another sport.

Consider AFL players who have become kickers in the NFL. Or consider American basketballers and other athletes who have become AFL ruckman- there are plenty of examples of each.

The issue Maynard has is that he's only 190cm- not tall enough to be a specialist ruckman. He will need to have a range of skills, and be able to cope with the physical demands of the AFL- which easily exceed those in basketball.

So I think it’s unlikely he’ll make it in the AFL, especially at the age of 24. 8 years is a long time to be out of the game. He’s more likely to be another Ryan Bathie or David Smith.

But, like I said, there are plenty of opportunities in lower footy leagues. He can pick up on a civilian career while making a go of footy, instead of going full time with basketball where he’s taking up valuable years of his life and is unlikely to ever earn decent coin.

Can't hate the guy for making that choice. He wasn't going to be one of the best players in the league so they can take him if they want. Hugh Greenwood was a little bit of a loss, though. I have a feeling if he stuck with basketball he very well might be in Damien Martin's position right now.

The NBL is getting better imports, better Aussies and better money. If the AFL picks off a few role players it doesn't hurt as much as it would have just a few seasons ago.

It's not just role players- even Wortho flirted with an AFL career with West Coast a couple of years ago.

And AFL isn’t the only threat to the talent stocks of basketball- remember Darren Ng quit NBL to finish a medicine degree, and Cam Tovey left so he could pursue a career in accountancy.

This is just the position basketball is in, in this country. Even in typical NBL teams these days, I’m guessing there’s somewhere between 5 and 7 players earning what most people could consider "good money", depending how you define it. The remaining 3 to 5 would be on the types of salaries that the average man on the street would earn.

I'm thinking say, United, Kings, Perth might have more players in the "good money" category (depending how it's defines) whereas say, Illawarra or Adelaide would have more in the "man on the street" category, but the point is that there aren't that many players plying their trade here within our borders who actually make a seriously good living from basketball.

@ Paul, yeah, I was meaning "lucrative" O/S deals.

The thing that people need to understand is the incentive to AFL clubs.
Guys like Maynard, Greenwood, and Adamson (Baseball) who have been away from AFL for at least 3 years can be signed as "B-List" Rookies. These are supernumerary over and above the regular places, so they are a bonus to the clubs, and the clubs are therefore prepared to take a punt on guys who ordinarily wouldn't get a second glance.
I don't know what Maynard's footy background is like, but the chances of him making it in the AFL are slim.

But still, an AFL Rookie salary is liveable, and the potential upside is huge. If you're going to go play College ball and chase the dream of a basketball career, why wouldn't you chase an AFL dream too?

He'll also benefit from the facilities and coaches. If he decides to come back to Basketball in a year or two, he'll be a lot stonger and fitter than if he'd played SBL.

With 11 players on an NBL roster, that's 88 in the country. Of which maybe 50 (ish) of them would be making a very comfortable living and maybe 30-40 on the sort of wage that isn't substantially much more than average. So it's not surprising there are instances like Cam Tovey and Maynard

If the player isn't setting the league on fire and isn't a great role player they're no loss to the league.