We at Bound for Glory News are excited to announce that we will be expanding on what we have worked to achieve so far, launching a brand new section of the website, Rising Stars.

Rising Stars is an idea we have been sitting on for some time. As far as coverage of the TAC Cup, National Championships and the drafts go, a lot of major news outlets are understandably preoccupied with the top tier of Australian Rules. It is not unusual to hear next to nothing about the year’s crop of developing players, aside from the usual two or three standouts, until very late in the season.

A small team of Bound for Glory News writers and contributors have come together to make sure that we can provide detailed and accurate reports on the development of the future generation of football. This has all been made possible by the cooperation of those involved at TAC Cup clubs, Melbourne-based universities and AFL Victoria.

Throughout the course of the season, we will be providing weekly updates on all TAC Cup teams which will include results, standout players, injuries and match highlights to keep you up to date with all that is happening in the AFL’s dominant under-18s development competition.

In addition to weekly reviews, we’ll be pinpointing the players to watch throughout the TAC Cup season as well as top performers, making sure that you’ll be prepared for the drafts.

We will also be providing coverage of the National Championships later in the year, ensuring that our draft coverage doesn’t solely stay within Victoria. Although the TAC Cup has produced some serious quality in the past, state leagues, especially those based outside of Victoria, are still an excellent source of future AFL stars and mature-age recruits.

As Bound for Glory News provided in 2012, we will also be bringing back our phantom draft, complete with player profiles, previewing the best potential draftees in each area of the ground and highlighting the draft priorities of each club.

Although there is generally not much interest in the draft with the regular season taking the attention, as it should, Rising Stars will act as an archive for those that want to catch up on the weekly development of the year’s crop of potential draftees.

The season ahead is shaping up to be an exciting one not only in the AFL, but in the TAC Cup and come draft time. With the expansion clubs in Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney’s access to the majority of the best young talent decreasing, the prospect of other AFL clubs receiving an injection of talent come year’s end is certainly exciting for all fans.