NSW/ACT Rams at Under 18's Champs

[bigswan]

Saw the Under 18's over the past two weekends. The Rams lost two games by narrow margins but were thumped by the powerful Queensland side. They showed plenty of spirit and commitment despite lacking some skill. Some of these boys who may end up on a rookie list were Craig Bird who was easily the Ram's best. He is small (177,75) but knows where the ball is and bores in hard. He had 28 possessions in the game against NT. He delivers the ball well. Tim McIntyre, a younger boy, but slightly taller (181, 72) showed similar qualities. Ed Wilson (202, 94) was injured but shows a bit and his size means he must be considered. Jay Koehler(191, 85) from Howlong played well in defence in the first two games but at 191 and 85 he needs to grow a bit but does have another year at Under 18's. Another who will have another go at Under 18's was James Wilsen (193, 93) a mobile ruckman who showed out against NT. Ben Woods (182, 72) is another youngie who showed promise. Of the others Myles Aalbers (186, 72) a forward, Leigh Prior (191, 98) , a stronly built backman with good hads and Todd @@@@inson(180, 72) a clever midfield type might be chances.

Did anyone else have a look?

[Legs Akimbo]

Re: NSW/ACT Rams at Under 18's Champs

Originally posted by Richard Davis
Saw the Under 18's over the past two weekends. The Rams lost two games by narrow margins but were thumped by the powerful Queensland side. They showed plenty of spirit and commitment despite lacking some skill. Some of these boys who may end up on a rookie list were Craig Bird who was easily the Ram's best. He is small (177,75) but knows where the ball is and bores in hard. He had 28 possessions in the game against NT. He delivers the ball well. Tim McIntyre, a younger boy, but slightly taller (181, 72) showed similar qualities. Ed Wilson (202, 94) was injured but shows a bit and his size means he must be considered. Jay Koehler(191, 85) from Howlong played well in defence in the first two games but at 191 and 85 he needs to grow a bit but does have another year at Under 18's. Another who will have another go at Under 18's was James Wilsen (193, 93) a mobile ruckman who showed out against NT. Ben Woods (182, 72) is another youngie who showed promise. Of the others Myles Aalbers (186, 72) a forward, Leigh Prior (191, 98) , a stronly built backman with good hads and Todd @@@@inson(180, 72) a clever midfield type might be chances.

Did anyone else have a look?

I like the sound of Todd @@@@inson

[bigswan]

@@@@inson

[Piobaireachd]

I guess you weren't allowed the name @@@@ Davis?

[liz]

I saw the odd bit of games from the Championships but none of NSW's games. Did Malcolm Lynch play this year. I remember him from last year as an underage player and he did a few eye catching things. Is he still in the mix for an AFL career?

[bigswan]

Lynch didn't play. May have been injured. Didn't play any of the lead up games.

[SimonH]

Not having seen the games myself, the know-it-alls on BigFooty reckon that Evan Duryea (180cm, 73kg, not sure what position but presumably a midfielder, from beautiful Woolgoolga) is the best bet. Sadly, the linked story reveals that Evan has had to travel up to the Gold Coast to develop his footy. Given the young talent flooding out of that state now, it seems like NSW/ACT has a lot to learn from Qld about junior development.

The good news for us is that captain and best player Craig Bird, being born in January 1989, is eligible to play U/18s footy again next year. (I think he is eligible for the 2006 draft, but with so much attention elsewhere in this so-called 'superdraft' he'd not be massively likely to be taken when clubs know they can take a look at him for another year.) And so with another year of top-level competition behind him, could develop into a very useful player indeed.

If you look at the NSW/ACT squad for the championships, an amazingly small proportion of the kids come from Sydney. We continue to produce most players from the ACT, Wagga and Riverina areas where Aussie rules has always been strong-- but Sydney is still a black-spot relative to its potential.

As for Malcolm Lynch: played both NSW/ACT and schoolboy footy for Riverview in 2005 to no small acclaim, and went on an Indigenous Youth Team trip to South Africa at the start of this year. Impossible to believe that he would no longer make the NSW/ACT team. So: injured? Study commitments took priority? Anyone know what's happening? I tell you what: he's no dill. Many footballers would struggle to repeat the phrase "the cultural paradigm of South African society and the political problems that arise when social inequality occurs" if you wrote it out for them phonetically, let alone think of it themselves. (See the above story.)

[Northern_Swan]

Originally posted by SimonH
Not having seen the games myself, the know-it-alls on BigFooty reckon that Evan Duryea (180cm, 73kg, not sure what position but presumably a midfielder, from beautiful Woolgoolga) is the best bet. Sadly, the linked story reveals that Evan has had to travel up to the Gold Coast to develop his footy. Given the young talent flooding out of that state now, it seems like NSW/ACT has a lot to learn from Qld about junior development.

From what I have heard about Evan, the fact that he is playing on the Gold Coast has a lot to do with its proximity to Woolgoolga rather than the learning from Qld about development. I'm pretty sure if he lived in Bathurst he'd be playing in Sydney if you catch my drift

Originally posted by SimonH
The good news for us is that captain and best player Craig Bird, being born in January 1989, is eligible to play U/18s footy again next year. (I think he is eligible for the 2006 draft, but with so much attention elsewhere in this so-called 'superdraft' he'd not be massively likely to be taken when clubs know they can take a look at him for another year.) And so with another year of top-level competition behind him, could develop into a very useful player indeed.

Craig Bird is eligible both for the Draft and eligible to play next year at Under 18 level. Having watched him play quite a few times for Nelson Bay, he is already a very useful player, and proves quite a handful for the players in the BDAFL.

Originally posted by SimonH
If you look at the NSW/ACT squad for the championships, an amazingly small proportion of the kids come from Sydney. We continue to produce most players from the ACT, Wagga and Riverina areas where Aussie rules has always been strong-- but Sydney is still a black-spot relative to its potential.

I guess many people would say that it is due to the way the Sydney AFL is run that this is the case?
The results from the Sydney teams at the TPP Under 18 level did not warrant the selection of the number of players that got selected. IMHO Sydney was over-represented in the RAMS this year, given the talent on offer elsewhere.



It is interesting to note that both Craig Bird and Evan Duryea both played for the Northern Heat at the TPP championships. After all the years of campaining from people North of the Hawkesbury to get the powers that be to have a look at the talent on offer, a simple change of staff at the head of the talented player program has led to two diamonds in the rough being found already.

Congratulations Darren Denneman!!

[liz]

Originally posted by Northern_Swan



Craig Bird is eligible both for the Draft and eligible to play next year at Under 18 level. Having watched him play quite a few times for Nelson Bay, he is already a very useful player, and proves quite a handful for the players in the BDAFL.

Which also means he will be ineligible to be rookied next year.

Given his size he'd have to be exceptional in a couple of aspects to be drafted straight onto a senior list. Mind you, his clearance stats from the U18 Championships certainly sound impressive.

[wedge.maverick]

Re: NSW/ACT Rams at Under 18's Champs

Originally posted by Richard Davis
Saw the Under 18's over the past two weekends. The Rams lost two games by narrow margins but were thumped by the powerful Queensland side. They showed plenty of spirit and commitment despite lacking some skill. Some of these boys who may end up on a rookie list were Craig Bird who was easily the Ram's best. He is small (177,75) but knows where the ball is and bores in hard. He had 28 possessions in the game against NT. He delivers the ball well. Tim McIntyre, a younger boy, but slightly taller (181, 72) showed similar qualities. Ed Wilson (202, 94) was injured but shows a bit and his size means he must be considered. Jay Koehler(191, 85) from Howlong played well in defence in the first two games but at 191 and 85 he needs to grow a bit but does have another year at Under 18's. Another who will have another go at Under 18's was James Wilsen (193, 93) a mobile ruckman who showed out against NT. Ben Woods (182, 72) is another youngie who showed promise. Of the others Myles Aalbers (186, 72) a forward, Leigh Prior (191, 98) , a stronly built backman with good hads and Todd @@@@inson(180, 72) a clever midfield type might be chances.

Did anyone else have a look?

I watched all of the games and was very disappointed with the quality of the side.Bird is a hard worker and should be a big chance as a NSW rookie next year.McIntyre is too small and not all that quick.Ed Wilson would have had 1 possession in 2 games and is just too slow.Jay Koehler will be alright next year but was forced to play a lot in the ruck after Wilson and Louis failed.Woods looks O.K for 2007 as does Aalbers who was very good on day 3 and @@@@inson was very consistent over the 3 days but lacks the size as well.Prior was O.K on the highly rated Tippett but had his colours lowered other than that game.James Wilsen is already a Kangaroos scholarship holder so he's probably headed there,he has a big body but is still very young.That's how I saw it anyway.