2025 Academy Games.

[dejavoodoo44]

Quite an enjoyable game, so far. However, SA have been a little bit more efficient in the front half and lead 51-36.

Of our players, King and Carmichael have probably been the ones to maintain their draft prospects. King has marked the ball well and done a few nifty things in traffic. While Carmichael has been creative and effective when rebounding.

[dejavoodoo44]

Should be an enjoyable final quarter, with the SA lead cut to 68-62. One little thing about Carmichael that I liked in that quarter, was even though he turned it over, by missing a kick at half forward, he did rapidly get back to half back to clean up the ensuing mess.

[liz]

Should be an enjoyable final quarter, with the SA lead cut to 68-62. One little thing about Carmichael that I liked in that quarter, was even though he turned it over, by missing a kick at half forward, he did rapidly get back to half back to clean up the ensuing mess.

I noticed that passage of play. Chamberlain had a similar moment in the fourth quarter.

[dejavoodoo44]

SA won a hard fought game 83-76. Perhaps the difference between the two teams, was that SA had a couple of lead up games, and consequently, seemed a little bit more assured moving the ball.

Of our Swans, Carmichael did the most to enhance his draft prospects. He wins most of his defensive contests, is a quick decision maker, usually hits targets and was involved in many of the Allies better rebounding efforts. King did a few things to capture the attention of the scouts in the first half, but only had a couple of possessions in the second. Chamberlain was quiet, when he was generally playing half forward in the first three quarters, but had a good last quarter, when he appeared to be playing on the wing. McNamara and Kyle also had pretty good last quarters, but didn't quite do enough to impress.

[liz]

Very happy for King to just have moments here and there. He looks a talent, and one I’d be happy for us to draft, just not with a top ten pick.

Our current form indicates we could have a pick early in the top ten. Errol might ruin that late in the season, but on today’s showing there is some good tall talent available. I’ll keep watching the Allies to see if that game from Murray was a flash in the pan or not. Ruck heighten players shouldn’t be able to snap like that, or dribble like that. And that dribble was no fluke. He knew exactly what he was doing.

[dejavoodoo44]

Just a few thoughts on the non-Swans players. Taj Murray possibly was the one who did the most to boost his draft stocks. He's an athletic 199cm ruck, who managed to kick four goals. One of them was a dribbled snap from the pocket, which emphasised his skill set. I also really liked the look of Patterson from the Suns academy. He's a classy mover off the half back flank. Another couple of Suns, Coulson and Addinsall, got plenty of touches in midfield. Also in midfield, Annable looks like he's going to be another, in the increasingly long line of midfielders, that the Lions have got through F/S and academy selections.

For SA, both Schubert and Marsh impressed, with four goals each, which were largely the result of strong marking. In the midfield, Sharp showed why he's rated a top ten prospect, with some excellent ball use. Also in the midfield, LRT's cousin, Noah, did enough to suggest that there might be another Roberts-Thomson in the AFL.

[liz]

Yes, I was wondering if we should invoke the cousin-cousin rule.

Sam Cumming is another strong SA mid. He wasn’t dominant today, though did have some nice moments. I’ve read him being compared to Heeney, probably mostly due to size and marking ability.

[imuninformedtwo]

Thanks for all the reports. Do you happen to know if the game is on replay anywhere?

[liz]

Thanks for all the reports. Do you happen to know if the game is on replay anywhere?

https://www.afl.com.au/u18cb/matches/7866

I’ve no idea if they make replays available anywhere. But above is a link to a five minute highlight reel. I haven’t watched it but I imagine it will mostly just be the goals.

[dejavoodoo44]

The Rookie Me scouting notes for the game. Carmichael and King get a mention.

https://central.rookieme.com/afl/2025/06/02/scouting-notes-2025-afl-u18s-allies-vs-south-australia/

[dejavoodoo44]

SA just made a mess of Vic Metro, winning 100-39. So perhaps the close loss by the Allies, had a bit more merit than it seemed? Looking at the stats, it seems that Dyson Sharp further enhanced his case to be taken very high.

[KSAS]

Not sure if this is the right thread to post this and apologies if this is late news, but i"ve just come across a Facebook article highlighting James O'Loughlin (son of Mickey), Skout Kirk (2nd son of Brett), Jordan Davis (son of Nick) and Marley Buchanen (daughter of Amon) are all in the Swans Academy.

Their Fathers are all members of the famed 2005 premiership team.

James is 17yo and Mickey reckons he is working much harder than he did at the same age.

[liz]

Not sure if this is the right thread to post this and apologies if this is late news, but i"ve just come across a Facebook article highlighting James O'Loughlin (son of Mickey), Skout Kirk (2nd son of Brett), Jordan Davis (son of Nick) and Marley Buchanen (daughter of Amon) are all in the Swans Academy.

Their Fathers are all members of the famed 2005 premiership team.

James is 17yo and Mickey reckons he is working much harder than he did at the same age.

James is draft eligible this year but he has a very late birthday and his junior career seems to have been injury interrupted. Last year he played in the U16s as an overager. This year he played in the U18 academy series and (I think) some Coates League matches but his contributions were more just flashes of skill than anything to mark him as a stand out draft chance. He didn’t make the U18 Allies squad.

i think he’ll need to go around next year as a (slight) overager and hope he has a bit of a growth spurt. He’s not too small for AFL but he’s not got his father’s height at the same age. Generally speaking, the shorter a player is, the more important it is that they are super quick or super tough or super skilled (two outta three ain’t bad). From what I’ve seen of him, James could be super skilled but needs to show it more often. He’s not lightning quick (though he’s no slow coach) and he’s not got the physique to be a tough nut. But I’ve not seen that much of him and he’s got time to develop. Glad to hear he’s working hard on his game.

[crackedactor 01]

James is draft eligible this year but he has a very late birthday and his junior career seems to have been injury interrupted. Last year he played in the U16s as an overager. This year he played in the U18 academy series and (I think) some Coates League matches but his contributions were more just flashes of skill than anything to mark him as a stand out draft chance. He didn’t make the U18 Allies squad.

i think he’ll need to go around next year as a (slight) overager and hope he has a bit of a growth spurt. He’s not too small for AFL but he’s not got his father’s height at the same age. Generally speaking, the shorter a player is, the more important it is that they are super quick or super tough or super skilled (two outta three ain’t bad). From what I’ve seen of him, James could be super skilled but needs to show it more often. He’s not lightning quick (though he’s no slow coach) and he’s not got the physique to be a tough nut. But I’ve not seen that much of him and he’s got time to develop. Glad to hear he’s working hard on his game.

Surprised that James has not excelled. When he was Playing under 15 football , there were some good reports about him. Maybe he is just a slow developer.

[liz]

Surprised that James has not excelled. When he was Playing under 15 football , there were some good reports about him. Maybe he is just a slow developer.

Maybe a combination of some injury interruptions and the fact he’s not that physically developed (yet). His dad was a very skinny - albeit taller - 17yo.