Scott, who spent eight years with the Brisbane Lions, knows the challenges Australian football faces in the northern states and said it was magnificent that the AFL had been able to snare Israel Folau and Karmichael Hunt.
“It was difficult to get young people excited about our game,” Scott said of his time in Brisbane with the Lions.
“This is going to create a lot excitement, a lot of interest among potential young AFL footballers.
“Young kids, eight or nine years of age, are going to watch our game on the back of those two players playing. They’re going to have a crack at Auskick and get involved.”
Scott has pushed aside concerns that the two converts will be unable to adapt to their new code.
“I’d love to have Karmichael Hunt and Israel Folau at North Melbourne, that’s for sure,” he said.
“They’re great athletes and I’ve seen first hand Alan Richardson do some great work with Marty Clarke at Collingwood. He’d never kicked an AFL football and turned into one of the elite kicks in the competition.
“The Gold Coast has great people working in development and I’m sure Western Sydney will have too.
“There have been question marks over their aerobic endurance, but that is the easiest thing to train.”
