QUEENSLAND’S top young talent is continuing to grow, with 2018 promising to be another busy year for the Brisbane Lions Academy. The Lions have a number of talented prospects they will develop and showcase across the season.

Lions Academy manager Luke Curran was kind enough to give AFL Draft Central his time in discussing what lies ahead for the academy this season.

The Academy already had its first hit outs across last weekend, featuring three games played by the academies Under 18 girls and male Under 16 and Under 18 squads. The Brisbane Lions Under 18 Female Academy played against the Gold Coast Suns Under 18 Female Academy in a curtain raiser to the AFLW, between Brisbane and Collingwood at the Moreton Bay Sports Complex recently.

Curran was pleased with the performances of the Academies’ male and female teams over the weekend in wet conditions.

“The three academy games were really good. The girls had a win (37 points) over the Gold Coast Suns in their first practice game,” Curran said. “We also had the U16s and 18s boys in difficult conditions. The boys and girls’ teams both played well considering the conditions.”

The Lions Academy also had eight players play in the Lions’ North Eastern Australian Football League (NEAFL) squad in their practice match against Aspley last weekend. By all reports the academy players acquitted themselves well in the match.

“Feedback from the NEAFL match from the coaches was really good,” Curran said. “The boys slotted into that team well and all performed their roles as required. We’ll be using players from our U19 NEAFL development program and U18s regularly throughout the year to make up numbers in the NEAFL main squad.”

The under 18s and 19s in the Lions Academy all aspire to get drafted later in the year. Curran identified some of the top prospects with high potential to be drafted onto an AFL list.

“Ben Sloan had a reasonable season last year, going through again this year as a 19 year-old with the hope of good performances to put him in contention,” Curran said. Jack Tomkinson is a tall ruckman and key position player that’s stepped up over summer playing good footy. “From the 18 year-old’s you’re looking at guys like Tom Matthews who played in the Under 17 all star game last year. Connor McFadyen, Kiedean Coleman and Jesse Quint. There’s a fair few in the 18s we are happy with now.”

Fans will have the opportunity to see these young stars in action throughout the year. Academy players will be committing to play both academy/representative games, alongside matches for their local clubs depending on their week-to-week schedule. Fans can find the clubs of academy players on the Brisbane Lions website.

The key competitions for the Lions academy prospects this season include the AFL Under 18 Academy Series in April, followed by the Division 1 National Under 18 Championships.  Academy players will be looking to put a good foot forward in the Academy Series to stamp their spot in the Allies side at the national championships. Curran stressed that the players should not rely on the Academy series to perform their best but rather do so on a week-to-week basis in club and NEAFL games.

“We find the NEAFL games are important as well playing with and against AFL listed players on a regular basis,” Curran said. “Every game is important, the boys will fluctuate week to week but hopefully they can put consistent performances together. From our point of view, we are more worried about performance and development rather than outcomes of the games.”

The Lions Academy will have two more practice games over the next fortnight against the Gold Coast Suns Academy and the Wilston Grange QAFL side in preparation for the Academy Series. To keep updated and learn more about the Lions Academy just check out the Brisbane Lions website.