The memorable final day at Telstra Dome was played in sunny but cold conditions, with the roof open to capitalise on the rays.
One veteran recruiting manager later described it as the best day he's enjoyed in over 20 years in the business – the conditions, the standard of football, the players on display and the obvious comfort for the scouts, who never before enjoyed the premier and intimate viewing of the championships at the Dome.
All of the teams in division one were able to take something out of the 2008 championships.
Victoria Metro's title gave it eight out of 12 years under retiring coach David Dickson – a remarkable performance.
'Dicko' has survived the test of time and maintained a difficult balance: managing a team to win a championship, while selecting and providing opportunities for those players more likely to appeal to the AFL Scouts, who are in search of future draftees.
Dickson's contribution has been outstanding – over 200 players have been drafted under him – including Sydney's Jude Bolton, Brisbane Lions' Luke Power and Travis Johnstone, Collingwood's Ben Johnson, Carlton's Kade Simpson and Marc Murphy, Port Adelaide's Steven Salopek and St Kilda's Luke Ball, who achieved All-Australian Under-18s honours.
Western Australia's performance, although not reaching the dizzying heights of 2007, was solid with 10-goal-plus wins over South Australia, NSW/ACT and Tasmania. But the Sandgropers went down to both Victorian teams, including a shock loss to Vic Country at home.
They certainly produced the player who did the most to publicise the championships – Nick Naitanui, who not only showed his remarkable athleticism, but displayed maturity and class off the ground in dealing with the media.
South Australia recovered from its scratchy early form to finish with three wins, including impressive victories over Vic Country by 34 points and NSW/ACT by 80 points at Telstra Dome. Coach Brenton Phillips could be pleased with the progress and improvement of his squad.
Victoria Country had the most highs and lows of any of the team in the championships – succumbing to a last-kick-of-the-game defeat against Vic Metro at the MCG, followed by that loss to the less fancied NSW/ACT team in Sydney. But a stirring victory over Western Australia at Subiaco was memorable.
A disappointing 34-point loss to South Australia, followed by a 98-point win over Tasmania in Vic Country's final two matches in Melbourne,highlighted the inconsistent nature of its championships.
NSW/ACT should be well satisfied with their foray into division one.
Wins over Tasmania – the Apple Isle pipped the Rams earlier in the year to win the division two title – along with its stirring win over Vic Country at Henson Park showed NSW/ACT could compete at this level.
Injuries to key players towards the end made it difficult to be as competitive in the final two games, but the endeavour and spirit remained strong.
Tasmania may take some time to sum up its championship. It certainly won plenty of football in its matches (Champion Data statistics supported this with Tasmania winning more possessions than NSW/ACT and within 10 per cent of all teams), but it failed to penetrate inside-50 often enough to produce winning scores.
Individually, Tassie had one of the outstanding players of the championships, Mitch Robinson, who continued his great form on from the qualifying series.
The final chapter of the championships is the announcement of the All-Australian under- 18 team, which will be broadcast nationally by Fox Sports on the AFL Under-18 championships wrap.
It's never an easy task, but it was one I had great support from in AFL recruiting managers Stephen Wells (Geelong), Barry Prendergast (Melbourne), Merv Keane (Essendon) and Graham Wright (Hawthorn), along with AIS/AFL high performance coach Alan McConnell.
After much debate and analysis, this is the team for 2008. Quite a number of young players can consider themselves unlucky not to be included.
B: Nick Suban (Vic Country), Michael Hurley (Vic Metro), Clancee Pearce (Western Australia)
HB: Stephen Hill (Western Australia), Jordan Lisle (Vic Metro), Rhys O’Keefe (South Australia)
C: Mitch Robinson (Tasmania), Matthew DeBoer (Western Australia), David Zaharakis (Vic Metro)
HF: Hamish Hartlett (South Australia), Lewis Johnston (South Australia), Tom Scully (Vic Metro)
F: Tyrone Vickery (Vic Metro), Jack Watts (Vic Metro), Michael Walters (Western Australia)
Foll: Nicholas Naitanui (Western Australia), Jack Ziebell (Vic Country), Ranga Ediriwickrama (NSW/ACT)
I/C: Daniel Rich (Western Australia), Shaun McKernan (Vic Metro), Kade Klemke (NSW/ACT), Steele Sidebottom (Vic Country)
Coach: David Dickson (Vic Metro)
Assistant Coach: Danny Stevens (NSW/ACT)
