For me that's a yes and no. I know for a fact a scouter that lives there linked to Celtic - he's not particularly active these days but he has people's ear, and if you're good enough to get him to roll out of bed on the weekend and watch you he can get you to Scotland. There's a bit of an inner circle thing going on in Canberra with some of the core football fraternity we identify as Sydney figures actually being Canberra residents. It's very much a case, indeed as you say, that there's talent in among rubbish. You need to be at a couple of decent clubs and know the right people to get scouted there. In my own experience I would say 5 scouters are capable  (as in, I saw the proof of one player they got o/s). In each case these guys aren't actively involved in the NPL clubs, they just have the connections because they're migrants from o/s.

The big fish small pond mentality works against players who don't have connections, and like NPL football in general there's nowhere to go if you're good enough to rise but have no stepping stone. I tried for a good 12 months to get a young kid into one of the big Capital football teams - African kid with massive potential. It only turned out half way though this all that he played U18 Development League in England for a bloody big EPL club. And that wasn't him telling us, that was us doing our own research trying to find a way to fill the blank bit in his resume that looked like he'd never kicked a bloody football in his life. Bit of a "could've fkn told us mate" there. But as it goes with a lot of kids - no stepping stone and a doctor father riding him to get a real job meant career over. And this kid was a more complete package than Awer Mabil when Adelaide United took a punt on him.