2025 Academy Games.

[imuninformedtwo]

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.

Thanks. Appreciate that a lot can change in a draft year. Was it Josh Rayner who was viewed as a top 10 contender coming into his draft year about 2018, who then just all but vanished? My memory is it was more a question of whether he wanted to play professional football than raw talent. And good to hear about McNamara, who I hadn’t really tracked at all.

[dejavoodoo44]

Thanks. Appreciate that a lot can change in a draft year. Was it Josh Rayner who was viewed as a top 10 contender coming into his draft year about 2018, who then just all but vanished? My memory is it was more a question of whether he wanted to play professional football than raw talent. And good to hear about McNamara, who I hadn’t really tracked at all.

Yes, and I think Billy King was another one who had a lot of hype, but he possibly picked up an injury before the season and then struggled to show anything vaguely draftable.

And on McNamara; with the AFL screwing us with the new points system, I think it's possible that he could end up as some sort of consolation prize for us. That is, unless we get a couple of high picks from trading Chad, we might end up taking King with our first pick, then miss out on Chamberlain and Carmichael, but be able to take McNamara late or with a rookie pick.

[dejavoodoo44]

Because of a couple of days without power, I didn't get around to watching the game against AFL Sydney, until last night. The game can be watched via this link. If you plan to do so, it might be best to ignore all the spoilers that follow.

https://www.youtube.com/live/c8w5bU9iL68?si=qhlpTxOM1kRR9RCb

It was a tough, competitive game, against an U22 AFL Sydney side, that included quite a few former Swans academy players. They even had a couple of guys that are currently on our VFL list, in Cabor and McLennan. The academy did well to eventually get on top of their older opposition and win 50-31, in a game that had plenty of physical contests, because the strong crosswind made fluent ball movement difficult.

I was pleased with the form of the three players selected for an overage academy season; Harrison, Andreacchio and Ryan. Harrison was probably BOG, with a tough inside mid performance. Andreacchio spent more time inside than he did last season and was quite polished. While Ryan possibly impressed me the most. Last year, his two strong points were clunking marks when the ball was in his area and kicking straight once he got it. But I thought that he was in that unfortunate area, where he wasn't quite mobile enough to be drafted as a KPF and wasn't quite tall enough to make it as a ruckman. However, he does seem to have improved his pace and agility in the off-season. So, if he keeps playing like he did yesterday, he could easily get an overage spot in the Allies team.

Our best draft year prospects also did pretty well. King showed his potential, leaping in front of packs to take a few strong marks. However, after one of those marks, he did produce the clanger of the day, by going back for a set shot and kicking it straight into the man on the mark, from about ten metres out. Chamberlain was energetic and classy, playing largely as a high half forward. However, he was concussed late in the game, so he'll probably miss the next game or two. Carmichael was Mr Efficiency in defence. He got plenty of ball and used it well. James O'Loughlin played the best game that I've seen from him. Not sure if he's likely to get drafted, but he did some really creative things in traffic and managed to kick the sealer.

Of the younger ones, Jenkin and Jenkin, were their usual busy selves on opposite wings, while I thought that Cody Beavis did almost everything right, when the ball came into his defensive areas. I do hope he makes it, as he could be our biggest cult hero since LRT.

[dejavoodoo44]

Rookie Me have put out their scouting notes for the game.

https://central.rookieme.com/afl/2025/03/11/scouting-notes-bolstered-swans-stay-undefeated-in-summer-series/

[crackedactor 01]

Rookie Me have put out their scouting notes for the game.

https://central.rookieme.com/afl/202...summer-series/

Any supporters worried about the future should have a look at the replay. I was shocked by the high standard of football on display. There was at least 6 Swans academy players I was impressed by. Future does not look that bad.

[dejavoodoo44]

Any supporters worried about the future should have a look at the replay. I was shocked by the high standard of football on display. There was at least 6 Swans academy players I was impressed by. Future does not look that bad.

Yes, plenty of talent coming through. Shame that the AFL has screwed us with the new points system.

[dejavoodoo44]

There's four academy games against GWS at Blacktown today, starting with the u16 female side at 10am. It looks like all games will be streamed by Sportscast Australia on YouTube. The squads have been posted on instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DHILDkmPGAS/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=315295df-08ea-4a82-bd3c-597821877fc2&ig_mid=60EAB6B9-C95F-4AE2-8654-4F9D57567172

As expected, Chamberlain will be missing from the u18 match, after being concussed in last week's game. Harrison and Ryan are also missing from the squad. Which leaves room for a few guys who performed well in last year's u16 championship: Isaac Luke, Conrad Blackwell-Smith and Ben Pignatelli. Luke is a speedy small forward, with plenty of skills. Blackwell-Smith was probably our best inside mid, while Pignatelli kicked some important goals. Chamberlain and Ryan being out, should mean that McCartney will be more prominent, after being quite anonymous last week.

[dejavoodoo44]

I've quite enjoyed my first look at this year's u16 crop. We're in front of GWS 40-20 at half-time. I'm still working out who is who, but Marcus Hammoud might have got three of our goals, one of them a snap under pressure, deep in the right pocket. He does seem to have skills. I've also quite liked Joel Badger when he was in the ruck. Usually got his hand to the ball and had some useful follow-up efforts.

[dejavoodoo44]

Never really looked like losing and ended up winning 82-48. It was an energetic team performance, that generally outpressured GWS. I don't really want to get too carried away after my first look, but a few players caught my eye.

I think Marcus Hammoud ended up with four goals. Looks to be medium size, and if he was a soccer player, you'd say he has striker's instincts. In a couple of his goals, there seemed to be only a fraction of a second, between him getting the ball and him kicking it through the big sticks. Monty Cairns and Henry Lamond both got a couple, and both could develop into key forward prospects.

I thought that Sebastian Mok was our best midfielder on the day. He looks elusive in traffic, and the speed of his chase down pressure caused plenty of problems for GWS.

While in defence, I thought Edward Redfern and Levi Macri provided a fair amount of zip on the rebound.

Obviously too early to form concrete opinions on the team's prospects, but I generally liked what I saw.

[dejavoodoo44]

Ahead 19-3 at quarter time. Our pressure has caused GWS to be quite fumbly. The highlight of the quarter was King gathering the ball on the defensive side of the square, then taking off on a three bounce run, one of which was dodgy, so he had to take a detour, but he still burnt off his pursuers, before goaling on the run from about 45m out.

[dejavoodoo44]

46-10 at the main break. Once again, GWS couldn't really handle our pressure. All of our midfield have been good, with possibly Andreacchio being the best. He's looked classy slicing through traffic and generally used the ball well.

One example of him using it well, was when he escaped his pursuers, then put it on to the chest of King, who was leading at him at a rapid pace. King then just managed to nail the set shot from the 50. The other King goal that quarter was also classy. He roved it front and centre, then headed towards the boundary, before dribbling it through from about 25m out. The Isaac Luke goal also had a touch of class. He was also roving front and centre, but instead of taking possession in traffic, he volleyed it through a congested goal square.

[dejavoodoo44]

61-31 at three quarter time. GWS were more coherent that quarter, while we perhaps showboated at a bit. Perhaps the highlight was Guy Jenkin finding King leading into the pocket, for him to add to his goal tally. McNamara was useful that quarter and took a couple of nice marks floating around the midfield.

[dejavoodoo44]

Ended up winning 83-40 in what I thought was a very good performance. I missed a couple of goals, but the goal kickers that I saw were, five to King and one each to Clifton, Luke, O'Loughlin, Lenarduzzi and McCartney.

The (at least) five goals to King, should have recruiters and pundits taking even more notice. All of them had a touch of class. He can burn defenders on the lead, crumb at pace, convert long shots and sneak through snaps in traffic. He also spent a bit of time in midfield, where he won contested possessions and evaded the opposition.

Almost everyone else played well. The midfield put GWS under pressure for most of the day and often used the ball creatively. It's hard to single out players, because there were a lot of rotations and all did their job when rotated. Though I will mention Oscar Clifton, who I thought had a very strong game in the ruck. It looked like he should have been outmuscled by his opponents, but he kept on winning taps, and was also good when the ball hit the ground.

[dejavoodoo44]

By the way, I went back and checked who kicked the goal that I missed at the start of the third quarter. It was King. So he got six, with the first goal of the game still undetermined, because the stream started late.

[KSAS]

Early days yet, but would it be safe to say King is on a trajectory to be a top 10 pick? He looks very exciting. We might have in the making the largest batch of AFL quality players in a single year. Thanks for the update Deja.