00:00and one side that will be playing uh the allies who they're always a big talking point ever since
00:05probably that what 2023 premiership or championship side whatever you want to call them when they went
00:10undefeated with an absolutely stacked lineup and and that's really seen some of those bottom ages
00:14of that year were performing really well and it's flowed on the momentum's been really strong for
00:19this for the allies over the last few years and talk about the the northern states and the the
00:23prospects that have come through um new queensland and new south wales in particular over the last
00:28few years and then you add in what tazzy have been doing and maybe a big focus on their bottom
00:32ages
00:32for for this for this year's squad this is uh this is a group that could fly under the radar
00:37a bit like what happened in 2023 when uh while they went undefeated it did catch many by surprise
00:42yeah i think the i think one that i want to highlight is reese thompson 192 centimeter forward
00:48um mobile marking target and has great hands so yeah he's one that can get high up the ground made
00:55his brisbane vfl debut on the weekend alongside cooper hodge cooper hodge and archie hill both
01:00playing in that game they both got coaches votes so both played well cooper hodge with the 20 disposals
01:05archie hill with the 25 and two goals but reese thompson's a little bit of a dark horse that's
01:09starting to generate some interest with his athletic profile looking forward to seeing him in action for
01:13the allies and yeah brisbane's academy in general is one that if you're gonna say the allies might fly
01:18under the radar i think they might be really symbolic of that with cooper hodge in there kayla murray the
01:23speedster who can play across any line and um archie watts and matthew owen as well so yeah they
01:29played some really high level footy through the talent league and those players although not the
01:33biggest names yes we've heard a fair bit about cooper hodge given his surname but although not
01:37having the most established reputations in the draft class uh i think we've seen them play some quality
01:42footy and they could be ones that are at the forefront of what the allies do yeah and if if
01:46we
01:46want to kill off obviously the gold coast were a great discussion last year and like you said brisbane
01:50the one probably from that queensland uh representative group uh who are leading the
01:55way this year but sydney once again um seem to have a few names uh coming through lachie price and
02:00and
02:00guy jenkin been big reasons why they're undefeated in the talent league mason mcgrote yeah big guy
02:06speed to burn off of halfback so um yeah a few of the swans boys are always going to be
02:10exciting like
02:11i said cooper hodge is one of the club type boys who will have some affiliation with the uh victorian
02:16side
02:16with the hawks fans will be closely watching just as well as as brisbane fans uh and then you do
02:20go
02:20over to ethan matthews who's been a player who have mentioned most weeks this year given his form in
02:25the talent league level and uh his rise up uh our power rankings as well so a few names there
02:30for
02:30their midfield group too uh some familiar names too and someone like jackson bridge uh taj murray good
02:36to see him in that mix as well yeah so that's taj murray from the northern territory not the gold
02:40coast
02:40bottom major taj murray who's on tazzy's watch list he's had a slightly interrupted start to the
02:44year the gold coast taj murray brother of dry murray and just misses this squad someone who is in this
02:49squad that i want to highlight though hugo timms taj murray's uh northern territory teammate he was
02:53one of the standouts of the under 16s championships which we'll talk about a little bit later
02:58on monday now how can you be in an under 16s champ squad and an under 18s champ squad well
03:03when you won
03:0396 centimeters and you're a key position player and you're still developing they do give you the opportunity
03:08to play as an overager at the under 16s from time to time and he took the game for the
03:13northern
03:13territory by the scruff of the neck even though they were comprehensively beaten was one of the
03:16most impressive players on the day as a marking target who's very skilled he's also in the allies
03:2118 squad so is he one that could be a little bit of a dark horse and get some games
03:25i think he's one
03:26certainly to watch for the 2027 draft crop there you go there's a few there certainly for allies
03:30jack beams and archie divine probably leading the way for tassie with hugh mccallum out injured
03:34obviously and uh obviously archie divine's another one who's got ties to obviously the devils but uh
03:40north melbourne as well mentioned him last week on the show and jake beams has been one of the
03:44form bottom age players uh in the talent league with what he's been doing out of defense for the
03:49devils so far this year so yeah for the allies again not one you want to underestimate by any
03:54means given i won't say it's unknown talent but they certainly don't get the same recognition that
03:59that you would see with a lot of the victorian talent league side so hopefully it can all come
04:03together because it is a tricky mix as well bringing a lot of players from a lot of different systems
04:07into one where uh some talent leagues a bit more uniform in how they go about things
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