YOUNG Queenslander Ben Keays stamped himself as a player to watch after an exciting four-goal performance against Tasmania at Bankstown on Saturday morning.
Queensland were comfortable 29-point winners of first division-two game of the 2014 NAB AFL Under-18 Championships, giving new coach Adrian Fletcher his first win.
Queensland had more contributors than Tasmania and led from start to finish.
Matt Hammelmann took 12 marks and kicked four goals, and defender Harris Andrews, who rebounded well, was a solid contributor.
Young Ram stars in big win over Northern Territory
Tasmanians Caleb Hislop, with 27 disposals, and Tim Jones with 33,m battled hard but they could not overcome Queensland's pressure.
At siren time, Keays, a bottom-age player from Morningside who was Queensland's best player in last year's under-16 championships, had set tongues wagging.
He began the second half with an exciting banana goal and repeated the dose early in the final quarter. Not only did he finish well, but he won plenty of disposals through the midfield.
Highly rated Queenslander Lachie Weller (15 disposals) was relatively quiet while Liam Dawson (18 disposals) did enough without dominating.
Queensland plays Northern Territory at Visy Park next Saturday, while Tasmania takes on NSW/ACT at the same venue.
QUEENSLAND 2.3 6.3 9.6 11.10 (76)
TASMANIA 1.2 3.3 5.4 7.5 (47)
GOALS
Queensland: Keays, Hammelman 4, Cameron-Reeves, Dawson, Uebergang
Tasmania: Dickenson 2, Pitchford, Fox, Burk, Rainbird, Halton
BEST
Queensland: Keays, Andrews, Hammelman, Stevenson, Bertoli-Simmon
Tasmania: Burk, T.Jones, Hislop, O.Jones, Dickenson, Fox
