A NUMBER of talented junior footballers have put their hand up for the NSW/ACT squad to take on Tasmania in June after some impressive showings in the recent Youth Girls Northern Academy Series.

Players were divided into two sides in the series, representing the GIANTS and Sydney Swans. While Brisbane Lions won the overall series, the GIANTS pushed them all the way in the opening game, falling one-point short of victory. The GIANTS did pick up a win – against the Swans – with a five-goal victory in a high-scoring contest. The Swans did not win a game but were competitive in each outing and showed promising signs of improvement throughout the tournament.

AFL NSW/ACT Youth Girls Assistant Coach Nicola Barr told the AFL NSW/ACT website that the series was a great experience for the aspiring AFLW players.

“The Northern Academy Series over the weekend in Coffs Harbour was a huge success,” said Barr. “It was great to see how much the girls seemed to develop in such a short space of time. “The girls were really competitive and acted in an elite manner throughout the weekend, which sets them up well in terms of a pathway towards AFL Women’s.”

Barr said while all the girls played well, it was Georgia Breward and Tash McKay who caught her eye across the weekend.

“Breward is a small player whose skills, courage in the game and decision making skills were a real stand out. I also loved McKay’s ability to know when to leave her opponent in the back line to take an intercept mark – she is also really strong in her attack on the footy.”

Magical Murray a Rising Star

He was a huge topic of conversation during last year’s AFL Trade Period, but Collingwood running defender Sam Murray is beginning to silence the critics. At the time, many pundits questioned why Collingwood had traded a future second round pick for an unproven player who was yet to crack it for a game in Sydney.

The 20 year-old has already shown Collingwood fans – and indeed the rest of the competition – why the Pies had faith in him. Murray has added line-breaking speed and composure to a Collingwood back six that has been crying out for exactly that for some time. He replaces the retired Ben Sinclair and delisted Jackson Ramsay who had played Murray’s role in past years. The former Henty product always had talent but had to do it the hard way to make it into the AFL system.

After being unsuccessfully tried as a forward, Murray won Team of the Year honours at North Eastern Australian Football League (NEAFL) level last season, and caught the eye of Collingwood recruiter Derek Hine. The Pies took the punt on Murray with a second round pick and exchange of later picks, which could prove to be a bargain at the end of the season. If his Round 3 Rising Star nomination is anything to go by, Murray could prove a great steal for the Magpies.

Swans win ‘Battle of the Bridge’ over GIANTS

Sydney Swans have bounced back from their loss against Port Adelaide in Round 2 to knock off cross-town rivals the GIANTS. In what was an entertaining game, Sydney defeated the GIANTS 16.7 (103) to 12.15 (87), thanks to an inspired performance by Lance Franklin. ‘Buddy’ kicked a miraculous goal – one of two for the night – but racked up 22 disposals and 10 marks, playing further up the ground and impacting the contest. Callum Sinclair had 45 hitouts, but was beaten by Jon Patton who played the best game of his career with 19 hitouts, but seven clearances, 10 tackles, six inside 50s and a goal from 19 disposals.

Others who impressed were Callum Mills (26 disposals, eight rebounds), Josh Kennedy (25 disposals, eight clearances) and Isaac Heeney (23 disposals, six marks). For the GIANTS, Stephen Coniglio continued his good form with 27 disposals, five clearances and four inside 50s, while Callan Ward (24 disposals, seven inside 50s) and Nick Haynes (28 disposals, eight marks) were among the other players to impress for the losers.