- 2 weeks ago
A number of AFL Draft prospects impressed in Western Australia's win over South Australia to start the U18s National Championships.
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00:00And as always, next to me is a man who was in the thick of the action
00:02calling some of the game in the opener on Saturday, WA versus SA.
00:06How was it?
00:06Yeah, no, it was a very, very good game.
00:09I think there were plenty of players from WA that put their names up in lights.
00:14I think there was a great surprise that WA emerged as Victor's South Australia,
00:18as we talked about last week,
00:19viewed as one of the stronger teams in the carnival.
00:23But yeah, WA with the big upset.
00:24And then the following day, I thought it was a really well-thought-out game,
00:27a high-octane, high-speed game between Vic Country and LA.
00:30So plenty to discuss.
00:32We'll start with WA against South Australia.
00:35And I think it's something that you referenced in particular, Mitch.
00:38They looked like a team that had played together for six games,
00:41as opposed to South Australia.
00:42They've just had the two games intermittently together across the last month.
00:46A really strong squad.
00:47Took them some time.
00:48I think by the second half, they were the stronger team,
00:50but they left themselves too much to do too late,
00:52whereas Western Australia put it together
00:54or put together a more complete four-quarter performance.
00:57Yeah, it'll be interesting to see if other programs follow in
01:00and just how much of a workload that WA had put together.
01:04And obviously, we'll see the benefit of that throughout the next few weeks,
01:07not just to start, but how they started the game.
01:09And yes, as you mentioned, SA pulling it back into it.
01:12But yeah, that was very impressive from the WA group
01:15to start their under-18s champs.
01:17As you mentioned, we're probably more of an outsider coming into the contest.
01:21SA certainly would not tip for the title.
01:23So plenty of standouts, plenty to take away from it.
01:26But we'll get into some of maybe their top performers a little later
01:28into the show with a new segment.
01:30We're happy to unveil on Craft the Draft today going forward
01:33for the national champs.
01:33But I guess a big, big part of WA was that front half,
01:37the speed, the threat, the pressure.
01:41And I don't think I can remember an under-18 chance
01:44getting off to a more electrifying start than a backflip from Cam Maynard
01:47after that goal.
01:48That was a big highlight.
01:50No, it certainly was.
01:51And the speed to get to that ball as well.
01:54It didn't look like it was his ball to win.
01:55Got that first goal and that really set the tone.
01:57So Lachie McGlade, a West Coast Next Generation Academy prospect.
02:00I thought he was one of the better players on the day.
02:02Kicked the three goals and was also a part of that small forward fleet.
02:06Finlay Yeo, the Freo Next Generation Academy prospect.
02:09Did some really nice things, as did Kain Pereira.
02:11Kain Pereira, probably a little bit of a surprise packet.
02:13But credit needs to go as well to some of their tools
02:16for bringing the ball to ground level.
02:18Someone like a Fraser Rickson, I thought, played an important game
02:20because we know South Australia have that strong fleet of interceptors.
02:23Mitch Harris, Kyle Matthews Hampton, Harry Franz at the forefront of that.
02:27But as soon as it came to ground level
02:29and those sort of tall WA forwards were able to create those contests,
02:33there was no one to go with the speed of some of those aforementioned smalls.
02:37Yeah, it was such a complementary forward line with, as you mentioned there,
02:40rotating rocks forward.
02:41Fraser Rickson, who's obviously got another year under his belt
02:43than most others on the field and his size is just such a big difference maker
02:48for his game and it was great to see him spearhead that forward line somewhat
02:53and get on the end of a few, which was a big tick.
02:56And then, yeah, at the ground level and float on through the midfield as well,
03:00some of the link-up play and overlap and handball games.
03:03So, Maglade, yeah, Yeo, Maynard and Pereira in particular
03:06are going to be causing big headaches going forward
03:08if that's just a taste of what's to come for WA.
03:12And then, yeah, you can kind of obviously look at some of the bottom majors
03:15as well were among the standouts, which is another big tick
03:18when you start thinking, not too far ahead, but when you start thinking
03:21about what WA's 2027 crop could look like after what we saw
03:24from Finn Tomasini, James Artemis might have actually been one
03:28of probably the standouts for WA across the field.
03:31Maxim Collins was probably worth a mention, just had some good moments
03:35behind the ball.
03:35And then that's all coming with Axel Walsh battled and battled hard
03:39and Richardson got forward and got some goals.
03:43And then this is all coming with no Rafe Williamson, Campbell Creek,
03:47Sheldrick in there as well.
03:48So, they're looking like they could have a pretty good group for next year too.
03:51Yeah, they are.
03:52There is great excitement about what WA could do next year.
03:55And obviously, like we said, we'll touch on Leo Steed and George Gale later.
03:58They were probably the two standouts, the co-captains leading from the front
04:01in the midfield and got things going their way, particularly in the first quarter.
04:04I think Benji Van Rooyen, another one that deserves a lot of credit
04:07for helping that cause.
04:09Probably the one member, one ruck possibly that's flown under the radar
04:14or been overshadowed a little bit this year with Ethan Herbert
04:16having such a strong start to the year.
04:18Everyone's been so high.
04:19Harry Van Haddam as well.
04:21And I think what we saw on the weekend from Benji Van Rooyen
04:25was a great reminder of his skill set and his aggression.
04:29He set up that midfield group expertly.
04:32Yeah, well, he's obviously a player who's been there and done it
04:34with having taken on that first-string ruck role in the Champs last year.
04:38And we talk about what Rickson was able to provide as an overager
04:41and a player who's played senior footy.
04:42For Benji, he went up against some pretty big names last year for the Champs.
04:47And he's been able to come in this year.
04:49He certainly added a bit of size over the preseason.
04:51And we saw that in his first game at Claremont with what he was able to do
04:54and just putting up big numbers on the board from not only a ruck perspective,
04:58but if he needed to go forward and aerially as well.
05:00So that was a big tick for him and how he was able to kind of take on that game.
05:05And then Lucas Robinson, as if we keep talking about guys with experience
05:08at either a senior level or Champs level, he's certainly worthy of a mention
05:12given it was kind of the game we expect from him.
05:15And I'm hoping we're not putting too high of an expectation on him
05:18just given the road he's had into the National Champs.
05:21But that was a very nice game from Lucas Robinson.
05:23I think it's flown under the radar a touch.
05:24Yeah, it was a very Lucas Robinson game for me.
05:27So it was a very important game to contribute to the victory
05:30and contribute to the way the game was played.
05:33But yeah, just the three kicks out of his 25 disposals.
05:36So the next iteration, as we've been really hot on here at Craft of the Draft,
05:39is if he's going to sort of push into that next upper echelon of players,
05:44in my view, he needs to be having greater balance between contested and uncontested.
05:48He was the best contested player on the day pretty comfortably, I thought,
05:51but just didn't have enough balance, didn't show necessarily the ability
05:55to get on the outside.
05:56And that happens on some days.
05:58But yeah, it'd be great to see a greater balance from him going forward.
06:01For our next generation Academy prospects,
06:03there's certainly one regardless to get excited about
06:05because, yeah, like you said, he's done it at senior level
06:07and was really important to the result.
06:11Move on to some of the South Australian boys.
06:15Memphis Webb from North Adelaide, really good story.
06:18So ACL injury last year kept him out for most of the season
06:21and clearly interrupted his lead into this season as well.
06:25But I thought when South Australia started to turn the tide
06:28through the middle of the game, he was at the forefront of that
06:30with his powerful contest work.
06:32Yeah, like you said, in and under, and then also his work rate to get back.
06:35I think he was one of the leading players for exits out of defensive 50.
06:38So no downhill skier by any means.
06:42He worked really hard on the defensive end when, you know,
06:46they were certainly under the pump early SA.
06:49And yeah, he was one right from the go that really tried to tame the game
06:53back in SA's favour.
06:54And now Harvey Croker, another one who we flagged as one to watch
06:56ahead of the champs.
06:56That was a nice start for him, playing a lot of wing, hard working,
07:00covered the ground really well and just seemed to pop up,
07:02move the ball forward and then almost be part of the next chain
07:05after that as well.
07:06So I think those two in particular, we knew there were going to be
07:08some big names for SA, particularly around that midfield group.
07:11But those two were certainly ones who did their stocks no harm at all.
07:16Absolutely.
07:16And another one along similar lines is Jake Imey
07:19off the halfback line of Central District's prospect.
07:23So an interesting story here.
07:24So he does have some Indigenous heritage.
07:27However, and Adelaide are trying to get access to him at the National Draft.
07:31However, that is looking unlikely.
07:32So it's looking like he's going to be an open pool prospect,
07:35which is a little bit of a blow for the Crows
07:37because he's one that people from South Australia
07:39were expecting a big national championships from him.
07:41And he certainly produced that, well, in the first game at least.
07:45I think his run off the halfback line was as dangerous as anyone's.
07:48With South Australia forced to withstand so much pressure
07:51and so many entries, he was one that I think every time
07:54that he got the ball in his hands,
07:55it looked like something would happen.
07:56Unfortunately, he continued to get intercepted up the ground.
07:58Didn't necessarily amount to much in the first half.
08:00But, yeah, run, dash, speed, athletic profile, kicking, perfect.
08:05Not a perfect game, but not far off it.
08:07It's good to see Sam Tassone as well play it
08:09and certainly look comfortable at the level
08:11and play at the level he did after what's been a quick rise for him this year.
08:15And for Crows fans, it's not all doom and gloom
08:17because Anthony Long was what we were hoping to see from him.
08:21He's built his season really nicely over at West Adelaide
08:24as quite a midfield forward force.
08:25We knew he'd played more of that deeper role at the champs level.
08:29And, yeah, he was a constant headache when the ball went his way.
08:32Just with his physicality, his speed, his eye for goal as well.
08:36That was a nice taste as well just with his first game.
08:39So he is a member of Adelaide's NGA
08:41and one we're going to see a bit more of over the next few weeks.
08:44Yeah, for me, some of his leading pattern is really good as well.
08:46I was able to take some easy marks out in front
08:48as a result of some of that craft.
08:51Interesting to note that Ethan Herbert spent the first half forward.
08:54So I think there was expectation that we were going to see him
08:57at the first centre bounce and maybe some conjecture over what WA would do.
09:00But in the end, yeah, South Australia went that way,
09:03perhaps with a view on the fact that at the next level
09:07he's maybe seen by many as a key position player as opposed to a ruck.
09:11They put Jobe Janeway in the ruck instead.
09:13206 centimetres obviously got more size, more of that pure ruck.
09:16And then I thought when Ethan Herbert did go into the ruck,
09:19coincided with when South Australia started to get back into the game.
09:22So he's clearly got that expertise and acumen in the ruck,
09:25was probably starved of opportunity in the first half.
09:27But yeah, one will keep an eye on to see if they can extract the most
09:31out of him at these national champs.
09:32Yeah, and sometimes the national champs can be a bit about opportunity.
09:35Obviously for Jobe, like you said, he's more of a traditional ruckman
09:38where a lot of people are keen to see what Ethan can do across the field.
09:40And as you kind of hinted at before, I think a lot of people were wondering
09:43what WA were going to do with their rucks,
09:45given Axel Walsh and Rixon supporting Benji Van Ruyen
09:48and who would start there.
09:49But it was a bit of a surprise at the opening bounce, as you mentioned.
09:52And one just want to tap on is Harvey Chapman.
09:55I thought he didn't have the big game numbers-wise,
09:57but certainly had some big moments and some key marks
10:00when the game was still up for grabs late.
10:04So as a bottom major, and you talked about Franz and Harris earlier too.
10:08I thought he was one who had some nice moments throughout that game,
10:12albeit in a loss for SA.
10:20So I thought he was one who has a bad game,
10:21and she was one who had so many times in the game,
10:22maybe not until then.
10:22And I thought he was a good one that did have some good play.
10:22I thought it would be a good one.
10:22So I was going to say,
10:22maybe I should be the one who wanted me to play the game right now.
10:23And then in the game,
10:23the game was a good one.
10:23And I was going to say,
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