Premiership coach Chris Fagan has launched a strong defence of the northern academies, which produced some of the best players in this year’s draft.

Brisbane welcomed academy pick Sam Marshall in Wednesday’s first round of the draft, while Gold Coast Suns academy graduate Leo Lombard was also taken in the first round.

While there’s been constant talk around academy players and whether they compromise the open nature of the draft, Fagan told Wide World of Sports the reaction was Victorian clubs was ‘unnecessary’.

Click PLAY to hear Chris Fagan’s FULL extended interview with Sam McClure and Matthew Richardson

“We need those academies in those developing states because we’re up against Rugby League,” he said on 3AW.

“There’s hundreds of kids in Melbourne (playing in the Coates League)…to me it’s a bit of a carry on that’s unnecessary.

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