Young footballers today bypass the

Young footballers today bypass the apprenticeship phase. Our youth need to be educated and taught the process of becoming a professional. Once this process is complete and they step into the first team, they appreciate their position and work harder to hold onto what they have, respecting the senior players along the way. Respect for senior players and what they have achieved has slowly faded out of the game. There’s a lack of respect. That old school culture needs to come back. It makes you resilient and I think a lot of young footballers these days just want things handed to them. But you need to put in a lot of hard work first. You need to earn your future. That culture will produce better Australian footballers. There are a lot of crucial steps on the way to becoming a professional and you can’t have people skipping them.