National Under 18 Championships - 2016

[Whispering_Jack 30,678]

This year's National Under 18 Championships are being conducted under a different format which looks to add to the interest in this competition, particularly in light of the growing influence of the academy system.

The Second Division of the Championships which has already started, involves the same states but at the end of that competition an Allies team will be selected to compete in the First Division.

Here are some articles from last week's opening round of Div 2 ~

GWS academy prospect Kobe Mutch impresses in big win

NSW/ACT 2.5 6.5   11.5   18.6 (114)

QUEENSLAND 2.3   4.10   7.11   9.13 (67)

GOALS

NSW/ACT: Marshall 4, Spargo 3, Maguire, Byrne, Davis, Sproule 2, Perryman, Lynch, Fisher

Queensland: Scheer, Kempe 2, Bowes, Allison, Mason, S.Watson, Williams 

BEST

NSW/ACT: Lynch, Mutch, Baker, MacDonald, Carroll, Perryman

Queensland: Rolls, Scheer, D. Watson, Kempe, Williams, Bowes

Brandon Parfitt impresses in NT's big win over Tasmania

NT 6.4 11.9 14.11 17.12 (114)

TASMANIA 3.2 4.2 4.2 6.9 (45) 

GOALS

NT: Bricknell 3, Frank 3, Hagan 2, Grant 2, Shannon 2, Olango 2, Farrell-Nelson, Totham, Lawrance

Tasmania: C Smith 2, L Smith, Clifford, Burchner, Pearton

BEST

NT: Parfitt, Grant, Hampton, Frank, Long, Armstrong

Tasmania: Auckland, Tyrrell, Thompson, Palmer-Hughes, Gadomski, Clifford

 

DIVISION TWO ROUND ONE WRAP

[whatwhat say what 22,949]

Marshall no longer tied to the GWS aAcademy - should be a top 10 selection this year.

[spirit of norm smith 16,589]

There is a lot of NSW and Queensland talent already tied to Swans, Giants, Lions and Suns through the academy system.

Demons will look for competitors !! 

 

[Whispering_Jack 30,678]

Results from the second week of the Div 2 championships ~

U18s: Suns academy product Jack Bowes stars in big win

Queensland 5.1 11.6 14.8 22.9 (151)

NT 0.5 2.9 5.10 7.12 (54)

GOALS

Queensland: Rolls 3, Allison 2, Bowes 2, Dawson 2, Himmelberg 2, Perry Warren 2, Simington 2, Charlesworth, Gordon, Kempe, Mason, Scheer, Watson, Williams

NT: Farrell-Nelson 2, Olango 2, Bricknell, Jeffrey, Taban

BEST

Queensland: Bowes, Scheer, Allison, Rolls, Kempe, Dennis

NT: Lockyer, Grant, Taban, Jeffrey, Abbott, Armstrong

U18s: Hot prospect Marshall solid as NSW/ACT thumps Tasmania

NSW/ACT 4.0 8.2. 14.6 21.11 (137)

Tasmania 3.3 3.4 4.5 5.6 (36)

GOALS

NSW/ACT: Davis 4, Maguire 4, Fisher 3, Brown 2, Marshall 2, Bance, Cumming, Highmore, Mutch, Perryman, Sproule

Tasmania: Farrow 2, Edmunds, Hinds, Maple

BEST

NSW/ACT: McGuire, Perryman, Byrne, Bance, Sproule, Powell

Tasmania: Thomas, Farrow, Dixon, Hanslow, Auckland

[Whispering_Jack 30,678]

The third round of Div 2 was completed at the weekend.

U18s: Top draft prospect Jack Bowes shines again

QUEENSLAND       4.2    9.6    13.10  18.11 (119)

TASMANIA            2.1    3.1    3.5       4.7 (31) 

GOALS

Queensland: Ballenden 5, Bowes 5, Williams 2, Allison 2, Charlesworth, Gordon, Dennis, Crossley

Tasmania: C Smith, Buechner, Wylie, Dixon 

BEST

Queensland: Bowes, D Watson, Ballenden, Scheer, Williams, Foster

Tasmania: Hinds, Atkin, Farrow, Hanslow, Norton, Thomas

U18s: Setterfield, Sproule star as NSW/ACT down NT to seal title

NSW/ACT                  6.5     13.10   18.15   23.20 (158)

Northern Territory     1.3     1.4       4.6         5.9 (39)

GOALS
NSW/ACT: Sproule 4, Davis 4, Mutch 3, Lynch 3, Maguire 2, Powell 2, Marshall, Carroll, Byrne, Brown, Fisher

NT: Frank 2, Taban, Olango, Mummery

BEST

NSW/ACT: Setterfield, Carroll, Perryman, Davis, Maguire, Byrne

NT: Long, Armstrong, Jeffrey, Abbott, Lockyer, Lawrence

 

[Whispering_Jack 30,678]

The Allies squad has been chosen and it's dominated by NSW which augurs well for the two Sydney clubs when it comes down to drafting academy talent -

Rams dominate Allies squad for U18 titles

[RalphiusMaximus 6,090]

I picked up a tiny snippet from the u18s last season.  I was being pummeled by a physio who does some work with the u18 sides and we were chatting about how injuries can impact draft chances.  He was of the opinion that it doesn't really impact as the clubs have a pretty good idea by then of who they want.  He cited an example of a lad last year who hurt his leg.  While they were assessing him, a Melbourne recruiter appeared and told them not to worry or rush back too quickly as they had already decided to take him in the draft. 

[La Dee-vina Comedia 16,909]

23 hours ago, Whispering_Jack said:

The Allies squad has been chosen and it's dominated by NSW which augurs well for the two Sydney clubs when it comes down to drafting academy talent -

Rams dominate Allies squad for U18 titles

Glad to see Baker and Rolls in the same team. Makes sense.

[Deeman 1,513]

1 hour ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

Glad to see Baker and Rolls in the same team. Makes sense.

Can't wait to see the latter kick a sausage too.

[daisycutter 29,743]

tassie looked at bit disappointing, lost easily to nsw, qld and nt.  no-one in allies squad of 35

need an academy there badly or was there another reason.....nasher?

[Whispering_Jack 30,678]

The Division 1 National Under 18 Championships start tomorrow with five squads  including Vic Metro, Vic Country, SA and WA as well as the Allies representing the best of the rest of Australia. Here are some of the players to watch:-

U18s: Callum Twomey picks 20 young guns to watch this year

AFL Under 18s Championships 2016: Ones to watch, fixtures, best draft prospects — Ultimate Guide

[Return to Glory 8,448]

If in doubt pick the Brighton Grammar boy.

[pineapple dee 2,892]

15 minutes ago, Return to Glory said:

If in doubt pick the Brighton Grammar boy.

Or the Marcellin college one. That's been a rich vein of late. 

[Whispering_Jack 30,678]

The first round of the National Under 18 Championships took place at the weekend with SA and WA coming out on top of the Allies and Vic Country.

Graham leads SA to a commanding win

South Australia 2.3.15 7.7.49 10.11.71 15.11 (101)     

Allies 2.5.17 4.8.32 5.9.39 8.9 (57) 

Goals

South Australia Fogarty 4, Stengle 3, Bedford 2, Hayward 2, Pitman, Lee, Lebois, Coleman-Jones

Allies Bowes 2, Perryman, Fisher, Ballenden, Davis, Sproule, Marshall

Best

South Australia Graham, Fogarty, Stengle, Pitman, Lee, Ladhams

Allies Perryman, Mutch, Rolls, Fisher, Williams

Powell-Pepper's power on show for WA

Western Australia 4.1.25 8.4.52 12.8.80 19.11  (125)

Vic Country 4.0.24 7.1.43 9.4.58 10.4  (64)

Goals

Western Australia Strnadica 4, Powell-Pepper 3, Wright 2, Baker 2, Bolton 2, Zurhaar 2, Guelfi, Waterman, Fisher, Clarke

Vic Country Battle 4, Poholke 2, Jok, Brodie, Fowler, Blair 

Best

Western Australia Powell-Pepper, Guelfi, Wright, Fisher, Waterman, Baker

Vic Country McCluggage, Atley, Jok, Brodie, Battle, Poholke

[Whispering_Jack 30,678]

Highlight player - Will Brodie

... and this ...

Under 18 wrecking ball wreaks havoc

 

[Pennant St Dee 13,305]

I attended the WA vs Vic Country game and posted the below in the AFL Draft thread

 

WA vs Vic Country

Headed to this game today expecting WA to put in a solid effort against a Vic Country side who I felt would be the stronger side.  Was very surprised the WA WA stood up and pretty much dominated the contest winning the clearances and Goddard dominating in the ruck.  An impressive 10 min burst by Vic Country in the first quarter saw them get back into the hunt and that period from late in the first to halfway through the 2nd quarter was there most impressive period in the game with Josh Battle certainly having many recruiters licking their lips with an eye catching display from limited opportunities

1st Quarter

Goddard used his big frame and size to win the early hitouts with Powell Pepper, Guelfi, Fisher and Baker winning the ball at ground level and dominating play.  Strndica and Waterman working well in tandem to open up space and pull players away from the danger zone leaving each with space to run into.  WA got the first goal of the game before Will Brodie showed fantastic poise  crumbing off a contest to bring VC back into it before WA made the most of their midfield domination to get out to a 4 goal lead and were cruising.  As they headed into time on it became the Josh Battle show with Atley and Jok getting busy and Leek starting to get the better of  English in the centre.  WA rested Powell-Pepper and Baker in their rotations and in the space of 3 mins

22nd min Battle leads early after backing Atley to win a contest on centre wing Atley quickly gets the ball to Fowler who delivers in to Battle who had enough space on his opponent to mark with clean hands down low.  Really sweet set shot off the boot straight over the umpires head

23rd min Meek wins tap Atley goes in long Poholke and Battle go up in the contest and Rotham spoils and surprisingly Battle is the most agile of those inside 50 who is quick on his feet gathers and instinctively snaps truly with his left foot

24th min Another quick inside 50m to the top of the square where Battle gives a strong contest the ball is punched to the pocket and as the WA defender gathers and Battle is first to apply pressure forces congestion and eventually VC gather ball and quick handpass finds Battle who has peeled loose in forward pocket hugging boundary and banana's an opportunists goal from the boundary on a tight angle

Best:

WA - Guelfi, Goddard, Powell-Pepper, Baker, Strndica

Vic Country - Battle, Brodie, Jok & Meek

2nd Quarter:

Great start by Vic Country after gaining momentum late in first quarter and Goddard having a rest and Mcarthy getting the better of English in the taps which saw Atley, Mcluggage and Jok gain the ascendancy in the middle.  Pretty even contest with both sides turning the match into a game between the arcs with some poor delivery inside 50m.Watermans workrate is of note certainly has the appetite to work hard to either lose an opponent, creat space for a team mate or to get to a contest and make an impact  Notes made of particular moments

1st minute Mcarthy wins a tap and not sure but think it was Atley who finds space and delivers inside 50m to the strong leading Battle who shows strong hands to hold off defender and kicks truly from set shot

3min Wright reads a Mcarthy tap perfectly and breaks from the clearance to score an opportunist goal

5min Wright again breaks clear from centre square and delivers to HFF where Waterman has worked hard to lose opponent and turns well for a big player and delivers a beautiful pass to chest of leading Strndica who goals from set shot

6th min Clarvino gathers in congestion in defensive 50 doesn't panic shows poise and calmness before delivering 50m pass to chest of leading HF inside centre square

10th min having not done a lot English shows the potential with really good hands down low and gathers quickly to feed off before being hit high and earning a free kick

18 min Baker sharks another Mcarthy tap quick 1-2 handball with Fisher before delivering into 50 where strong contest see ball drop around 30m out and Powell Pepper quickest to react with crumbing snap for a goal

20 min Jok clean hands in congestion gut runs to receive and deliver quality pass into path of leading forward giving Rotham no chance of spoiling

Best 

WA - Fisher, Baker, Wright, Waterman

Vic Country - Mcarthy, Mcluggage, Jok, Cavarino

  

3rd Quarter:

Vic country started well and battled hard to stay in the contest when WA on occasion looked like getting away as they continued to dominate from the centre.  Goddard, Powell Pepper and Wright were the engine room giving WA first use of the ball and it was only when Meek went up against English that Vic Country got the better of the clearances with Mcluggage and Atley working hard.  Battle started the quarter like a quality leading forward and Clavarino showed some calmness and anticipation down back repel many WA attacks.  Some points of note through the quarter

4min: Vic Country locked into their defensive 50 for sustained period and eventually get the ball clear only for Rotham to take a strong contest mark and deliver a quality pass back into Waterman who misses 

6th min Vic Country manage to get the ball up to centre wing after sustained pressure and in resulting contest Bolton shows great acceleration and evasion to escape from congestion before putting ball to hot spot at top of square which leads to WA goal 

7th minute WA hemmed into defence attempting to escape and defender delivers and overshot pass to HB which looks like being intercepted by Blair of VC Powell-Pepper reads danger accelerates to take contested mark and bounds off as he lands to deliver pinpoint pass to Clark Powell-Pepper continues to gut run looking for handball receive but poor delivery of HB by Clark leads to turnover 

11min Poholke VC strong contest inside forward 50 gathers and stands up in tackle to snap goal

12 min Rotham again intercepts with great anticipation and reading of the play, delivers at pace inside 50m but easy mark dropped by Young

14min Powell-Pepper leads strong to HFF takes strong contested mark and immediately kicks to top of square from 60m

15min Levein good body on body with bigger VC player possibly Blair holds him off and toe pokes the ball into space on the wing for WA to get another inside 50m, ball is intercepted and VC break with numbers and ball ends up in 2 on 1 with VC forward chipping over top for what should be an easy mark and set shot, but Levein has left his man and gut run to give a contest and force ball out of play

20min, long ball inside 50m ends up top of VC square Poholke again shows strength to gather in heavy congestion holding off two tacklers to get ball to boot and goal

21min Clarvino backing in bravely taking strong defensive mark

23 min Powell-Pepper presents to HFF carries and invites pressure of two players before feeding HB to free teammate Fisher who delivers indie 50 which leads to goal from Clark

25 min Goddard wins tap long ball inside 50 from Fisher or Baker not sure but ends up with Powell-Pepper keeping feet from contest gathering and goaling from 30m on tight angle hugging boundary

25 min Goddard again to Fisher ball goes long again Powell-Pepper gathers quick hands to Wright who has continued run from centre bounce gathers and kicks on teh siren

Best

WA - Powell-Pepper, Goddard, Wright, Rotham

Vic Country -  Poholke, Meek, Clavarino, Mcluggage

4th Quarter:

WA put the icing on the cake with a dominant display in the final quarter, English started to work well in the ruck and showed some real poise and good skill set.  A lot of laconic Watts about the way he goes about things.  Vic Country fell away dramatically in the last 10 mins for the game to blow out.

1st bounce of the quarter, Wright reads Meeks ruck tap and delivers to Powell Pepper who gathers on the run and goals at pace, make him down top 10 pick has skill, aggression and just a smart footballer.

2min Fisher gets a strong clearance and kicks to HF where Baker takes a strong contested mark for a smaller player, delivers a perfect pass to the chest of Strndica who goals

Guelfi sling tackles Atley at next clearance and is reported, Atley shaken for a few minutes but continues to go hard at it

5min, Baker takes and intercept mark as VC attempt to clear from defensive 50 and goals - game over

7min quick hands between Wright and Powell-Pepper sees Powell-Pepper get away and deliver inside 50 where Clavarino backing in takes a strong mark in front of Young

English starts to show his athleticism with sting gone out of the game and Wright, Narkle and Fisher starting to dominate all centre clearances 

13 min Claravino again takes strong contested mark

17 min Baker again takes strong mark smallest in group at HFF but judges ball better and delivers a quality pass which makes Bolton run to the right area to mark but he misses

Put the book away for the last 10 mins and just watch the game play out

Powell-Pepper - no chance for us unless we trade up really quality player who I first say play 6 years ago and have kept an eye on him ever since, will go Top 10

Baker - size is the only worry for me not a big lad and took a massive hit late from Kirby but showed courage all day to put his head over the ball, good ball user and marks well for a player of this size

Waterman - will be picked up by Meth Coast as F/S has the appetite to play at the next level and works hard for team mates

Rotham - smart defender who reads the play well, will go late because he sin't big will make a handy 3rd defender

Goddard - dominant ruckman today but I wonder is he a man child who will be found out at higher level, will be picked up not sure how far he can go'

Atley - hard at it and uses the ball well, never shirks a contest and has a good workrate

Battle - limited opportunity an opportunist with plenty of tools in the bag is another 1st rounder

Wright - like Baker undersize but pure class and works really hard to provide options, has some nice pace to get away from the contest and find space, Won teh Colts B & F in the WAFL last season

Clavarino - good size defender who reads the play well and is one of those defenders who doesn't look flashy but just shows class. Brave and smart will be drafted

Mcgluggage - worked hard all day and despite being beaten by numbers in terms of opponents rotating through the middle the recruiters will have liked what they saw    

Korehwa - wasn't in the game a lot but this kid was brave and hard as they come attacked and impacted plenty of contests and if he didn't win the ball his opponent didn't either.  Needs to get rid of the Tom Alvin haircut but some potential in what I saw today

Berry - highly rated but had a bad day IMO disposal was not great looked rushed at times and kicked into the man on the mark on 2 occasions 

Mcarthy - showed a lot for a young ruckman nice hands in the tapwork and smarter AFL conditioned players would benefit from his ruckwork

Both Brodie and Fowler had flashes during the game and whilst being in th elosing side and up against it showed glimpses which I am sure recruiters will have noticed.  Good ball users

 

[ChaserJ 5,157]

Vic Country v Vic Metro streaming on AFL website now:

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-06-13/top-prospect-ben-ainsworth-back-for-vic-metro-after-ban

[Whispering_Jack 30,678]

The second round games -

U18s: Scharenberg stars as SA downs Sandgropers

South Australia 3.3.21 7.6.48 11.8.74 12.10 (82)

Western Australia 0.4.4 2.5.17  3.7.25 6.9 (45) 

Goals

South Australia: Hayward 2, Fogarty 2, Stengle, Jarman, Bedford, Slimming, Villis, Lee, Coleman-Jones, Ladhams

Western Australia: Strnadica 3, Bolton, Zurhaar, Waterman 

Best

South Australia: Graham, Walker, Scharenberg, Pitman, Jarman, McPherson

Western Australia: Fisher, Strnadica, Zurhaar, Powell-Pepper

U18s: Magpie father-son prospect Cal Brown stars as Vic Metro prevails in thriller

Vic Country 5.2.32 6.3.39 12.4.76 14.8 (92)

Vic Metro 1.4.10 6.6.42 8.8.56 14.10 (94)

Goals 

Vic Country Ainsworth 4, McCluggage 3, Drew 2, Poholke 2, Worpel, Battle, Blake
 

Vic Metro Taranto 3, Clarke 2, Larkey 2, Brown, Bunker, Gallucci, Duman, Venables, Lynch, Brown

Best

Vic Country Brodie, McCluggage, Poholke, Worpel, Ainsworth, O'Brien

Vic Metro McGrath, Brown, Clarke, Taranto, Gallucci, Higgins

Vic Country forward Ben Ainsworth stars in national under 18s championships for AFL draft prospects

[Whispering_Jack 30,678]

One of the Under 18 championship games is being televised on Foxtel today (503). It's the game between Western Australia and the Allies.

The teams:-

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

B: Anton Scotney (29), Aaron Naughton (31), John Levien (20)
HB: Jake Patmore (19), Griffin Logue (36), Josh Rotham (23)
C: Shai Bolton (8), Matt Guelfi (9), Sam Petrevski-Seton (7)
HF: Brandon Starcevich (34), Jake Waterman (27), Cameron Zurhaar (22)
F: Liam Baker (2), Luke Strnadica (40), Quinton Narkle (13)
FOLL: Tim English (37), Sam Powell-Pepper (24), Zac Fisher (1)
I/C: Tarir Bayok (4), Jeremy Goddard (50), Bailey Banfield (17), Stan Wright (3), Noah Hura (10)
EMG: Calvin Thorne (5), Kristian Morisey (32)

ALLIES

B: Ryan Garthwaite (25), Declan Watson (27), Angus Baker (15)
HB: Jamie Hampton (17), Harrison Macreadie (29), Isaac Cumming (11)
C: Jack Rolls (12), Harry Perryman (13), Fletcher Carroll (2)
HF: Will Setterfield (23), Zac Sproule (30), Benjamin Davis (19)
F: Mitchell Maguire (1), Todd Marshall (31), Brad Scheer (16)
FOLL: Tony Olango (35), Kobe Mutch (14), Jack Bowes (18)
IC: Daniel Charlesworth (22), Brandon Parfitt (6), Jacob Allison (26), Rohan Armstrong (3), Nathan Richards (32)

[Whispering_Jack 30,678]

A story about two favourites for this year's draft:-

PLAYER FOCUS: WILL BRODIE & HUGH MCCLUGGAGE

[Whispering_Jack 30,678]

The Western Australians prevailed over the Allies yesterday in a tight, hard-fought game.

U18s: Fisher inspires WA to victory over Allies

Western Australia 3.3.21 6.5.41 9.8.62 10.9 (69)

Allies 1.1.7 2.4.16 4.6.30 7.10 (52)

Goals

Western Australia Waterman 2, Wright 2, Logue, Powell-Pepper, Fisher, Baker, Guelfi, Bolton

Allies Marshall 2 Sproule, Maguire, Allison, Davis, Hampton

Best

Western Australia Fisher, Guelfi, Baker, Petrevski-Seton, Rotham

Allies Mutch, Perryman, Scheer, Marshall, Sproule, Macreadie

There's a big game on today between Vic Metro and SA. The Croweaters have been doing well in these championships and victory would place them in a good position to take out the title.

Match preview here -

Rd 3 U18 Champs: Vic Metro v SA preview

 

[Whispering_Jack 30,678]

Vic Metro came from a long way behind to win against SA and therefore remain undefeated in the series. Both of its wins to date have been by narrow margins.

U18s: Elite runner leads Vic Metro to come-from-behind win

South Australia  2.1.13  6.3.39 10.4.64 10.6 (66)

Vic Metro 0.5.5 2.9.21 3.11.29 9.15 (69)

Goals 

South Australia Hayward 3, Houlahan 2, Lebois, Nixon, Graham, Fogarty, Pitman

Vic Metro Kerr 4, Venables, Florent 2, Clarke

Best

South Australia Pitman, Hinge, Walker, Villis, Slimming

Vic Metro McGrath, Clarke, Venables, Romensky, Kerr

[spirit of norm smith 16,589]

Venables, Mcgrath and Clarke looked AFL prototypes.  Good speed and know how to get the footy.  May be available at our 2nd rounder at around pick 26-29.

[Demi Dee 578]

12 hours ago, spirit of norm smith said:

Venables, Mcgrath and Clarke looked AFL prototypes.  Good speed and know how to get the footy.  May be available at our 2nd rounder at around pick 26-29.

Venables? Sounds like a soccer player. 

Son of Terry?

[Bluey's Dad 3,419]

Hugh Mcluggage. Brilliant name.