Smeltz and other Gold Coast recruiting

For quite a while I've been arguing the case that sides with an obvious disadvantage due to isolated location, lifestyle (as compated to other place) etc should be awarded some kind of concessions to entice better players and at the very least bring them into the realms of competitiveness and a chance to make the finals. This need was confirmed by the defection of the Phoenix star man, striker Shane Shmeltz. It's obvious that the east coast of Australia is the most attractive place to live in terms of lifestyle for players in the A-League.

The FFA has to take into consideration various factors and influences and do a study on why players are choosing to play where. It's more than just the fact that they're the furthers points east and west of the teams competing in the league, it's just a fact that these two cities are simply not an attractive place to play for many players. No good players seem to want to go there and I don't think you can continually put that down to mismanagement.

TBH though I don't have all the answers as to why players don't want to play there, I'm sure there are more. Perth tried to sign several players in the off-season that went to other clubs such as Stuart Musialik but were rejected and Wellington are seen as the dregs of the A-League and have been from the outset, I don't see how they are supposed to reverse this stigma without some sort of help.

The defection of Shmeltz to the Gold Coast is an unbelievably crushing blow to the Phoenix franchise, and one that should be countered swiftly before we see them continue to dwindle in the duldrems of the league and attendance ladders, ditto Perth. In certain cases like these it's better to act too early than too late.