00:00A new segment that we're going to run across the course of the Under-18s Carnival is our Under-18s
00:05Champs chart. So similar to how power rankings work across the season, this is going to work
00:09across the next five or so weeks. Top 10 prospects during the Champs and that order will certainly
00:17shuffle as we have obviously Vic Metro play their first game this week and then everyone will get
00:22obviously their three, four games under their belt by the end of the Champs and we'll see who
00:27really the best performers were. Now the bit of criteria to it is more, there is a little bit
00:31on expectation but a lot of it is how I guess prospects enhance their stocks across the
00:36course of the Champs. Yeah, no absolutely. So yeah, Ethan Matthews are clear number one. I think like
00:42you said the most dominant Champs game we've seen for some time, certainly the most dominant Champs
00:47game on the weekend by a considerable margin. You talked about his work rate, for me it was just
00:52his kicking, the ability to be at whether it was at full speed and in space and then steady and
00:57then
00:57kick or whether it was in traffic to spot up a target, make the right decision and hit the target.
01:02Yeah. Both of them were exemplary and a massive reason why the allies were as competitive as they
01:09were for as long as they were. Number two, a need for Steed because Leo Steed had been one of
01:14probably
01:14the more talked about prospects, at least on craft of the draft out of WA with his form across the
01:19trials period in that six game stretch. And yeah, he was, he was number one for WA by some margin.
01:24He's hitting that kind of drop zone from, from off bench event ruin at speed. And then what he was
01:32able to do with it, whether it was quick, quick disposal use straight off from collecting his own
01:35footy, or if it was getting onto the outside and, and bursting away from stoppage was, was a big tick
01:41for him. So he was another one who just really wanted to see where his game was going to be
01:46at
01:46from an under 18s Champs point of view and God, he delivered. He did. And I, he was one that
01:50probably
01:50received some feedback for not putting him in my top 30, uh, for June. And he was just outside of
01:56that top 30, despite some really strong trial game form, because at the time I was probably just
02:00curious about, is he a midfielder at the next level of 176 or does he have to play forward? And
02:05I think
02:05the competitiveness that he showed on Saturday, uh, certainly lended itself to being a midfielder.
02:11And I know there's been some comparisons drawn between himself and Caleb Sorong, who is a similar
02:15height, but I think he's got the ability to go forward and kick goals more than Sorong certainly
02:19does. So yeah, a really impressive game. Number three, he's right-hand man and co-captain George
02:24Gale, who can play anywhere, played on a wing, he's running power, his transition and his kicking,
02:30um, was, was really impressive for mine. Yeah. The Gale force. He was, he was absolutely immense.
02:34He's got such great size. And when you put him on a wing as well, uh, I think a lot
02:39of AFL clubs do this
02:40a little bit, trying to get that, that size difference. If you've got a player with an aerobic capacity,
02:44uh, who can suit that outside role, but also bring a bit of size as a one-on-one aerial
02:49threat and then
02:50breaking away as well. He was, yeah, he was a dominant force. And those, like we said, those
02:54two together were, were really hard to stop for SA from, from the word go. So yeah, there were two
02:59big ticks there through their midfield and yeah, two players who have brought in some strong form.
03:03So it was great to see them capitalize, uh, in the opener against SA. We've mentioned Ethan Draver a
03:08little bit, uh, but he's number four on our champs chart. Yeah, he is. So I think the important thing
03:14to
03:14note here is there aren't too many sort of top 10 guys on the champs chart. And that's because I,
03:19like you said, there's an element of expectation here. So if you're already viewed in that top 10
03:23realm, and it's the reason that Marlon Neoclius just sort of misses out for me as impressive as
03:27his game was, you kind of, you've come to expect that from him. He set such high expectations for
03:32himself. Whereas Ethan Draver, although he has rocketed into the top 10, it was important that he's
03:36has a good chance because he hasn't done it at this level yet. And has carried a GWV midfield to
03:43start the
03:43year. But the fact he's been able to transfer that running power and that real gritty grit one,
03:49but also the outside presence was, um, really, really important because when he burst away from
03:53contests, there's no stopping him at GWV level and he replicated it for the country.
03:57Yeah. As you mentioned, it can be interesting sometimes when you've got a real standout at one
04:00level and when they have to join a mid, in this case, a midfield group, whereas players of equal
04:06quality around you and how you can still stand out in that regard. So yeah, he did that, um, very
04:10nicely.
04:10And his teammate Keenan Boye comes in at number five on our under 18s champs chart for week one.
04:16And I mentioned him earlier, just his creativity, his ball use, uh, his pressure, um, tackling off on,
04:22off possession. And, um, yeah, as I mentioned, his delivery in particular was really impressive.
04:26I thought, yeah, I wrote a story yesterday on zero hanger about Keenan Boye. So go check that one out.
04:31Hawthorne next generation Academy prospect. He's one that, yeah, was really, really impressive.
04:36Those watching probably, um, that I draft followers may not know as much about him because he has been
04:42a little bit more unheralded, but certainly the scouts that were there were really, really enamored
04:46with what he produced. I think, yeah, you've touched on it earlier, but that blend of speed
04:50and size, the ability to power through a contest. I think speaking to his coach, Chris Pendlebury,
04:55he says that, yeah, the ability to keep his feet is something that's really, really good. And it allows
04:59him to get those shots on goal at the fall of the footy. So a really impressive player and yeah,
05:06had a really impressive preseason and a great six week block. So I think he's built into this
05:09season perfectly. And it's no surprise to see him go as well as he did yesterday. And the defensive
05:14stuff, um, for the country was really good as well in the first half. So a great Saturday,
05:19great Sunday at the office morning, uh, Jake army out of SA comes in number six, as we mentioned,
05:23a good solid game, you know, the back half for SA will melody, who we said spearheaded, uh,
05:29that big country tall pack as well. Anything you want to say on his game? Because I thought,
05:34yeah, he's, he's one who's, he's maybe fluctuating in some form. I thought the AFL academy game,
05:37he certainly got on the goals, but it was more of those out the back and easy.
05:41Yeah, I know what you mean. And I thought he certainly was able to hit up the ball and take
05:45his moments and have bigger moments, uh, at the champs level than he'd had it at other
05:48representative levels. Yeah. I think the important thing to note is he's dealt with hamstring and groin
05:53concerns to start the season. So he's been playing through a little bit and hasn't gotten some
05:57continuity, played some games and then had to miss. He's obviously now played for four teams
06:01this year with the AFL academy, Vic country, Caulfield grammar and Gippsland. Uh, but yeah,
06:06really important that he is getting up the ground. And I think that's sort of what he's added to his
06:10game is the ability to get the ball in his hands really, really well. Cause I think last year,
06:14he was sort of averaging five or six touches and a couple of goals a game this year, getting up
06:18the
06:18ground more, providing a target. He's leading patterns really strong. And it was good to see him
06:21actually late in the game, get back in defense and take a strong intercept mark. So that's
06:26symbolic of the work, right? Yeah. Memphis web coming in number eight. So the second
06:30essay boy we have on this list. And when you talk about expectation, there probably wasn't these
06:34we probably weren't expecting the performance he did have. So he was the best midfielder and he
06:39would have been the fourth or fifth in line to be the best midfielder. Yep. Yep. Lockie McLade at
06:43number nine, obviously it's a few of those front half threats for WA, but he was probably the standout.
06:48Yeah, he was, I think. Yeah. Great blend of speed and pressure. That was the other thing
06:52we maybe didn't touch on at length before from those WA small forwards, but he was at the forefront
06:57of that. So that allowed them to lock the ball inside 50, get repeat stoppages. And at those
07:01stoppages is where players like McLade and Pereira got on the move and were really hard to contain
07:05with how dynamic they were. And to wrap it up, just sneaking into the top 10 of our under 18s
07:10champs chart is Henry Meany. Yeah, he is. So a real surprise packet in the midfield for me. He's
07:16done some things for the Swans Academy as we touched on. And yeah, I think he complimented
07:21when you talk about a one, two punch in the midfield, Ethan Matthews and Henry Meany probably
07:25complimented each other really well. But yeah, has those modern day football traits.
07:30Yeah. Another one actually we didn't mention in Alice was actually Watts. I thought his game was
07:33quite solid too on the weekends. That is our under 18s champs chart after week one. As we mentioned,
07:39we've got two more games this weekend, including the arrival of Vic Metro. And obviously,
07:43unlike our normal seasonal power rankings, we could include some bottom ages in this,
07:47if there are strong enough performers. So that is something to certainly look out for.
07:50So we'll keep that up week to week throughout the carnival, and we'll see where it ends up
07:54after that all Vic game next month.
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