Far left: Dandenong Stingray and Berwick resident Tom Scully and NSW/ACT opponent Josh Duncan tussle for possession in round four of the AFL under-18 national championships at Casey Fields on Saturday.By Marc McGowan
ALMOST 3000 captivated spectators watched Australia’s best football talent battle it out in round four of the AFL under-18 national championships at Casey Fields on Saturday.
All the big guns were on show, including potential number-one draft picks in West Australian ruckman Nicholas Naitanui and Victoria Metro key forward Jack Watts.
Dandenong Stingray and Berwick resident Tom Scully showed he also deserved to be held in that exalted company with another stellar display for undefeated Victoria Metro in its 51-point win over NSW/ACT.
Scully, 17, is too young to be drafted this year, but his strong performances have put him in contention for an All-Australian berth.
He joined Stingrays team-mates Steven Gaertner and Berwick’s Ashley Smith in the Victoria Metro side on the weekend.
Dandenong stars Aaron Purves and Matthew Clark also competed for Victoria Metro earlier in the carnival.
The triple header on Saturday followed the Cranbourne East ground’s hosting of four AFL under 18 Division Two national championships matches in May and the final day of last year’s AFL under 18 Division One national championships.
On top of Victoria Metro’s victory, South Australia accounted for Victoria Country by 44 points and Western Australia thrashed Tasmania by 10 goals.
Casey Scorpions general manager Brian Woodman was extremely pleased with the turnout.
“Nearly 3000 people attended, which is fantastic.
“There was the who’s who in AFL circles in terms of recruiting and importantly on the hill were (Melbourne Football Club president) Jimmy Stynes and (Melbourne football manager) Chris Connolly, watching some hopefuls who might also be running around here next year,” he said, in reference to the expected alliance between the Scorpions and Melbourne.
While the stakes were high for all the players in action, Stingrays regional manager Darren Flanigan said their performances at the championships would only form part of AFL recruiters’ opinions of them.
“No AFL club makes a decision based on one game; they’ve been watching these kids for three years,” he said.
“Chris Judd spoke to the group last year and said there are some blokes here no matter how good they play (at the national championships) they won’t get drafted and there are other blokes here that no matter how badly they play will still get drafted.
“Playing well at this carnival is not the be all and end all. They need to understand it’s a team game and team success comes first and individual honours will come later.”
But no matter what the ultimate outcome is for the players, their experiences at the championships will be memorable, according to Flanigan.
“It’s fantastic for the kids to travel interstate and be exposed to a higher level of footy, and the camaraderie and friendships they’ve developed over this year will last a lifetime for them,” he said.
“Footy clubs do that to you and this is a fairly elite footy club.”
Flanigan is still undecided about the benefits of running the championships over six weeks rather than the previous week-long format.
“I was talking to a couple of recruiters the other day about the fact kids find it hard to maintain their form over a length of time at that level,” he said.
“The kids who were in really good form when the squad was selected may have tapered off a bit, while others who missed out because they were not in good form may have come on a bit.
“There are certainly some advantages to it, but I think it’s probably a little too long.
“The powers that be will do a big review of it at the end of the year and it will be interesting to see what they come up with.”
The fifth and final round of the championships was played yesterday (Wednesday) at the Telstra Dome, but scores were not available when the News went to press.
