GREATER Western Sydney (GWS) has kicked off the Northern Academy portion of this year’s National Development Championships in style, defeating the Sydney Swans Academy by 67 points on Saturday afternoon.

The Under 16 group capped off a successful double-header for the Giants’ next generation, with their Under 17s enjoying a 22-point victory, also over Sydney in the earlier game at Blacktown International Sportspark. GWS’ Charlie Mahar was best afield in that game with three goals.

Though with a whopping 17 goals from 31 scoring shots throughout 23-minute flat quarters, the Giants’ 16s had a day out. They kicked away to a three-goal head start within 15 minutes, before the Swans joined in on the scoring. A goal-for-goal flurry saw the home side lead by 20 points at the first break.

The Giants also posted an unanswered trio of goals to start term two, and set up the victory with their 34-point half time buffer. It was only a matter of time before the floodgates opened, and GWS poured on seven more majors in a third quarter shootout, which saw 11 scored all-up.

That left the final period to be played with much of the sting taken out of the contest, and GWS rode out the 17.14 (116) to 7.7 (49) triumph comfortably. Four of the Giants’ seven goalkickers snared upwards of three majors; namely Lukas McNeil, Henry Holdom (both four), Lachlan Hogan and Noah Harper (both three). Cooper Bell, Harvey Odgers, and Joshua Cresswell were also among the prominent players.

>> REPLAY: GWS Giants U16s vs. Sydney Swans U16s

Elsewhere among the Under 16 academies, Brisbane and Gold Coast locked horns on Sunday ahead of their official championship opener on Wednesday, June 29. Earlier in the month, Vic Metro defeated its Country counterpart by 27 points to kick off the Division 1 carnival.