Swans chat 2025 Academy Games.

[dejavoodoo44]

The academy season kicks off tomorrow, when the male and female U18 teams take on the U22 Canberra sides, in the not very well named Summer Series. Team sheets and a streaming link can be found in this article.

https://www.sydneyswans.com.au/news/1723311

[dejavoodoo44]

Academy game just starting and has actually got a commentator. Although, he does seem to be a fair way from the microphone.

[dejavoodoo44]

Swans in front 14-2 at the first break. Goals to Max King and Henry Meaney.

[dejavoodoo44]

Increased our lead to 33-11 at half-time, with goals in that quarter to Chamberlain, Titmuss and Guy Jenkin. The Jenkin twins are both having pretty good games. If they fill out over the next 18 months, they could both find themselves playing AFL.

Chamberlain and King have been fairly quiet, playing forward in a side that spent a fair amount of time turning it over coming out of defence. However, they've done a few nice things. Chamberlain's goal was a strong grab near the posts, while King's was the result of him burning off his opponent on the lead.

McNamara had plenty of touches in the back half. Jans and Hardman have been handy around the ball.

[dejavoodoo44]

In front 41-23 at three quarter time, with our only goal coming from a nice bit of roving by Henry Meaney. Although, Chamberlain did try for goal of the season. He got the ball on the defensive wing, raced forward until he got to about 40 out, but lost the handle on his 5th bounce. He also put the ball high into the post, from about 55 out. King spent a bit of time on the ball in that quarter and looked classy.

[dejavoodoo44]

A good tough win 63-25. Although it was a generally scrappy game, our lads did well to pressure a bigger bodied Canberra side into plenty of mistakes.

The goals in that quarter were to Guy Jenkin, who earned a free after a chase down tackle, James O'Loughlin, who found a bit of space on the right half forward flank, and Lincoln Chambers, who marked on the line, after Max King went on a Leo Barry style adventure through the Canberra midfield and then pumped the ball forward from just outside the 50.

Going through the lines, I thought Harry Kyle, Wilson Baade and William Morahan did some good things in defence, while Kaiden McNamara seemed to be the back half organiser. He got plenty of touches, used it pretty well and looked classy when he occasionally moved into the midfield.

I thought it was a really even effort in the middle, with perhaps Ned Hardman being our best? And now that I think of it, that really is an appropriate name for an in and under midfielder. On the flanks, Guy Jenkin was our best, with two goals, plenty of possessions and plenty of pressure. Will Jenkin and Leon Titmuss were also useful. And when moved into the midfield, Max King showed his class.

He also had a couple of nice touches when playing forward, as did Noah Chamberlain. While Henry Meaney deserved his couple of goals, one from a strong grab and the other from a nice bit of roving.

[BFG]

Thanks deja. Appreciate your academy reporting, cheers

[dejavoodoo44]

Thanks deja. Appreciate your academy reporting, cheers

Ta.

[dejavoodoo44]

Our female academy side had an even bigger win against Canberra on the weekend, 126-7.

https://central.rookieme.com/afl/2025/03/03/2025-nsw-act-summer-series-round-1-scouting-notes-swans-academy/

Seems a few promising players. Perhaps even a handy backup to Ally Morphett?

[dejavoodoo44]

A report from Rookie Me on our game against Canberra.

https://central.rookieme.com/afl/2025/03/04/scouting-notes-swans-make-winning-start-to-summer-series/

[dejavoodoo44]

Teams for the U18 games on Saturday, against the AFL Sydney U22s at Blacktown.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DG1yqglvItH/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=c2beecc0-f80f-436b-a4c1-c9b007764636&ig_mid=BDD9BF96-9EAC-4217-9107-AE52FE00F426&img_index=3

The male team looks to be noticeably stronger than last game, with some notable inclusions. The overagers Joe Harrison, Nicholas Andreacchio and Tom Ryan are back. The third of our possible first round picks for later in the year, Lachlan Carmichael, also returns. While there's also a couple of additions from the underage contingent. Cody Beavis, who's a promising kpd and Aidan McCartney, who has shown some eye catching form at the other end of the ground, but is likely to be chased by North as a F/S.

[imuninformedtwo]

Teams for the U18 games on Saturday, against the AFL Sydney U22s at Blacktown.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DG1yqglvItH/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=c2beecc0-f80f-436b-a4c1-c9b007764636&ig_mid=BDD9BF96-9EAC-4217-9107-AE52FE00F426&img_index=3

The male team looks to be noticeably stronger than last game, with some notable inclusions. The overagers Joe Harrison, Nicholas Andreacchio and Tom Ryan are back. The third of our possible first round picks for later in the year, Lachlan Carmichael, also returns. While there's also a couple of additions from the underage contingent. Cody Beavis, who's a promising kpd and Aidan McCartney, who has shown some eye catching form at the other end of the ground, but is likely to be chased by North as a F/S.

Out of interest Deja. You watch it more closely than most. If you had to rank the three Academy prospects, how would you and who do they play like?

[dejavoodoo44]

Out of interest Deja. You watch it more closely than most. If you had to rank the three Academy prospects, how would you and who do they play like?

I'd only really be going on last year's form, so anything that I say now, might seem quite nonsensical by season's end. So I might just keep myself to brief sketches.

King probably has the most upside and could be taken very high. He has plenty of pace, a high leap and is elusive in traffic. He's also a pretty good kick and appears to see the field well. However, his high draft position probably depends on a couple of things. Firstly, staying injury free, especially avoiding another concussion. Secondly, spending an increased time in midfield, which might cause draft experts to muse on whether he's the next Bontempelli.

Then it's probably Chamberlain. The club obviously has a good opinion of him, as they gave him a couple of U18 games, when he was still eligible for U16s. How high he goes, probably depends on how much time he spends playing as a genuine KPF. If he starts regularly clunking marks in the goal square and manhandling defenders, then he could get the recruiters excited. But at the moment, they might be looking at him more as a Jack Gunston type forward, or a physically imposing winger?

Carmichael is not far off, but he's more an efficient accumulator, who usually runs around the half back line. He can play midfield well, though, so if he spends more time in there, his draft stocks might rise?

I also think that McNamara isn't far behind that trio. He's a classy ball user coming out of defence. It might also be handy for his prospects, if he spends more time around the ball. The small amount of time that I've seen him in there has impressed me, as he seems to have composure in traffic and tends to choose good options.

[Nico]

So if King and Chamberlain are rated highly (say top 10) how do they stack up against Heeney and Mills at the same age?

[dejavoodoo44]

So if King and Chamberlain are rated highly (say top 10) how do they stack up against Heeney and Mills at the same age?

Somebody else might need to answer that, since Heeney and Mills went through the system before I started watching academy games. And possibly before academy games were streamed? However, Rookie Me rate both King and Chamberlain as a chance of being taken at number one. But obviously ratings can change a lot throughout the year. Certainly, form in an academy practice game, counts less than Talent League games, and likewise, Talent League games count less than National Championship games.