{"id":66026,"date":"2020-03-26T18:49:19","date_gmt":"2020-03-26T07:49:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/afl.draftcentral.localhost\/?p=66026"},"modified":"2020-03-26T18:49:19","modified_gmt":"2020-03-26T07:49:19","slug":"get-to-know-sanfl-u18s-wwt-eagles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/2020\/03\/26\/get-to-know-sanfl-u18s-wwt-eagles\/","title":{"rendered":"Get to know: SANFL U18s – WWT Eagles"},"content":{"rendered":"

WOODVILLE-WEST TORRENS lays claim to a couple of exciting potential Port Adelaide father-son prospects eligible over the next two seasons, with Taj Schofield<\/strong> (Jarrad<\/em><\/strong>, 131 games) and Jase Burgoyne<\/strong> (Peter<\/strong><\/em>, 240) tied to the Alberton-based club. Both of their fathers were part of Port’s 2004 premiership side, making the link even more profound for either player and fans alike.<\/p>\n

A top-ager this year, Schofield represented Western Australia – where he had lived for most of his life – at Under 16s level before transitioning to the South Australian state system as his father, Jarrad moved into a coaching role at Port Adelaide. The zippy small was part of the Croweaters’ State 18s squad last year and despite not yet running out in the tri-colours, is one of five Eagles to be part of the 2020 hub system. Schofield was part of the Eagles’ Under 18 premiership side last season, while also running out in the Under 17 All Star grand final curtain raiser, and playing part in Henley High’s losing tilt at the Open Schools Cup title.<\/p>\n

Burgoyne, a smooth-moving outside midfielder, was also a member of the Eagles’ 2019 Under 18 premiership team and is looking to crack a Reserves debut in this, his bottom-age year. Having represented South Australia at last year’s Under 16 national carnival, there is plenty to like about Burgoyne – who currently sports a look similar to his old man. With all the experience of his champion father, uncle (Shaun<\/strong><\/em>, Hawthorn), and recently-rookied brother (Trent<\/strong>, Port Adelaide) to lean on, the latest Burgoyne on the scene has shown plenty of promise despite still being a raw prospect.<\/p>\n

The pair spoke to Draft Central<\/em> at this year’s South Australian pre-season testing day hosted by Rookie Me<\/em>, on a bunch of topics ranging from their on-field roles, to goals, the importance of family in their journeys, and more. Get to know two of Woodville-West Torrens’ brightest draft prospects.<\/p>\n

SCHOFIELD ON…<\/strong><\/h4>\n

PRE-SEASON AND TESTING:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been pretty hard but I feel like I\u2019m getting fit and all the boys are getting fit so hopefully it leads into a big year, it should be good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I went alright in the agility (test) and hopefully I do good in the Yo-yo test, but we\u2019ll see how we go…\u00a0I\u2019m a small player so those sort of tests (20m sprint and agility) do show my sort of game so it\u2019s good.\u201d<\/p>\n

THE TRANSITION FROM WA TO SA:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been good. Obviously Dad got the role at Port Adelaide so we had to move over but all the boys have been really welcoming and it\u2019s really helped my footy. Obviously the SA game-style is a little bit different to WA but it\u2019s really developed my footy as well.”<\/p>\n

DAD AS A MENTOR:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cHe definitely is (an important mentor). He knows what he\u2019s talking about and really helps me out when he can, but he tries to stay out of it a little bit now. But he\u2019s really helped me and is really useful to me as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

2020 ROLE:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI think I\u2019ll still roll through the midfield but also play that half-forward and wing position as well, so just changing it up a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

2020 GOALS:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cProbably just small things like making state teams and playing (well) week by week and hopefully the end-goal is to get drafted.\u201d<\/p>\n

MOST IMPORTANTLY…<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Yeah, I\u2019m a Port fan… we\u2019ll see what happens, we\u2019ll make that decision during the year.”<\/p>\n

BURGOYNE ON…<\/strong><\/h4>\n

TESTING DAY:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI started off a little slack like everyone else because we got here at 8:45am, but once we got into it, it started off pretty good for everyone and I think it\u2019s gone well… I feel like I showed (my pace) in the 20m sprint (3.03 seconds) and the vertical jump (86cm running). I had a few shots so hopefully I got a good time.\u201d<\/p>\n

ON-FIELD STRENGTHS:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d say my run-and-carry (are my strengths). I showcased that a little bit in the 16s, but in the 18s last year when I played up it wasn\u2019t there. But hopefully I can come out and show a little bit of flair and x-factor.\u201d<\/p>\n

IMPROVEMENTS:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cObviously my body-size, I\u2019m a pretty skinny kid. And my contact and inside work, that\u2019s the stuff I\u2019m looking forward to.\u201d<\/p>\n

FAMILY INSIGHTS:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cObviously it\u2019s great, they give me insight into what it\u2019s like to make the AFL and how hard it\u2019s going to be. They pushed me hard to get where I am right now, so if I get there I can fit in perfectly and won\u2019t have to do anything extra to try and fit in. So hopefully if I get there I\u2019ll fit in fine.\u201d<\/p>\n

GOALS:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThis year I\u2019m looking to maybe try and get a Reserves game, that\u2019s the goal for me that I\u2019ve set for myself so hopefully it\u2019s the one that I can go ahead and accomplish.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WOODVILLE-WEST TORRENS lays claim to a couple of exciting potential Port Adelaide father-son prospects eligible over the next two seasons, with Taj Schofield (Jarrad, 131 games) and Jase Burgoyne (Peter, 240) tied to the Alberton-based club. Both of their fathers were part of Port’s 2004 premiership side, making the link even more profound for either […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":66037,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,8,3130,15],"tags":[10162,11293,4470,11292,3600,1696,9281,11256,4255,3981,1948,11291],"class_list":["post-66026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-championships","category-news","category-south-australia","category-state-leagues","tag-draft-central","tag-jarrad-schofield","tag-jase-burgoyne","tag-peter-burgoyne","tag-rookie-me","tag-shaun-burgoyne","tag-south-australia-under-16s","tag-south-australia-under-18s","tag-taj-schofield","tag-trent-burgoyne","tag-woodville-west-torrens","tag-wwt-under-18s"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66026","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66026"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66026\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}