THE 2022 NAB League Boys season is set to kick off at the start of April, with genuine excitement surrounding the latest crop of AFL Draft prospects. The 13 full-time regions are again set to compete in Australia’s most prolific talent pathway, and we preview each squad as season proper approaches. Next up, the Geelong Falcons.

“A bit of a mixture” is what Falcons coach Paul Corrigan says his region will bring in terms of talent this year. Lead by skipper and top prospect Jhye Clark, Geelong lays claim to four Vic Country hub members and has approached its list makeup with the philosophy of building a balanced squad.

“We really broke down the list and identified that we wanted to have a mixture throughout that list, and not just the best 50 players in the region,” Corrigan said. “You’ve got to accommodate for different positions and what that looks like.

“We’ve tried to accommodate as many talls as we could throughout the region which we think we’ve got a really good mix of them at both ends and with our ruck stocks. We’ve got a good mix of inside mids to compliment our talls, and then we just try to filter around with some good outside players as well.”

With what looks like a clean bill of health aside from a few “niggles here and there”, the Falcons are primed for a fresh test in Round 1. The Gold Coast Suns Academy awaits on Sunday, in a clash Corrigan says will showcased plenty of talent on both sides.

Looking at that of the Falcons, Clark earned AFL Academy honours on the back of Most Valuable Player status in last year’s Vic Country Under 17 side, and fronts a three-man leadership group. Corrigan says he has been the region’s preseason standout, building on what he was able to achieve as a bottom-ager.

“He’s grown again over preseason,” Corrigan said. “He’s really grown into that leadership role around the club in getting the group together and I think the way he displays himself on the field and in training will really set him up for a big year. He’s super competitive inside, but he’s also got some really good traits on the outside where he’s good in the air and makes good decisions by hand and foot.”

Joining Clark in leadership positions are midfielder-forward Ted Clohesy (vice-captain) and ruck-forward Olivier Northam (deputy vice-captain), both of whom made the cut for this year’s initial Vic Country hub. Will Parkhouse is the region’s fourth member of that squad, adding to the depth of tall talent at Geelong’s disposal.

“With Parkhouse we’ll probably look at him as a key back for the majority of the year,” Corrigan said. “He’ll take the majority of the best key forwards that we come up against each week.

“Ollie Northam will play a mixture of ruck and moving forward throughout the year, also to keep developing him as a little bit more of a versatile player. And ‘Teddy’ will play through the middle for us, also across half-forward like he did in his 17th year last year.”

Supporting the Falcons’ top-age talent are five returning 19-year-olds looking to remain on the radar of AFL clubs. With the opportunity to get an uninterrupted season under their belts, one is signed to the Geelong Cats VFL program with eyes on impressing early in the season.

“We’ve got one, Tom Gillett who’s signed to the VFL team at the Cats so he’ll probably play early on with us and then build his form and hopefully get opportunities with the Cats throughout the year,” Corrigan said. “We’re looking forward to what they can bring, especially with their experience within the list.”

With Vic Country commitments, the girl’s finals campaign, and the boy’s preseason to juggle over the last couple of months, Corrigan also sought to shout out the Falcons’ staff who have done everything in their power to give the region every chance of producing more top talent it has long been renowned for.

“From our perspective it’s more been that all our staff involved in the boys program; from the coaches to obviously ‘Domsy’ (Tom Lonergan) as a talent lead, but also our medical and high performance staff and our volunteers have been super throughout the preseason,” he said. “They’ve really taken everything on board to give ourselves the best opportunity for this year.”