THREE youngsters with prominent Halls Creek bloodlines are heading to the SANFL in a bid to continue the success of the AFL's most remarkable football factory.
With Halls Creek – home to just 1500 people – already boasting six players on AFL lists, the latest trio from the remote WA town intend to only increase the incredible strike rate.
Ash Johnson, the half-brother of Adelaide AFL recruit Shane McAdam, has signed with the club's SANFL side and the pair could form an explosive combination in the front half as McAdam awaits senior selection.
Having followed the same path to the SANFL as McAdam via Adelaide amateur club Scotch Old Collegians, the spring-heeled Johnson will look to impress in front of AFL recruiters.
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He will be joined at West Lakes by Jy Farrer, the cousin of Carlton's Sam Petrevski-Seton, while Petrevski-Seton's half-brother Marcus Hamilton, 22, has signed at Sturt.
Farrer, 22, was on the Western Bulldogs' radar in this year's draft before dislocating his ankle, while 21-year-old Johnson broke his forearm flying for a mark in Scotch's premiership victory.
Hamilton was considered a draft hopeful in 2014 before he was ultimately overlooked, after strong form for a Northern Territory state team that included Geelong's Nakia Cockatoo.
Johnson, Farrer and Hamilton have all played in various parts of Australia prior to lobbing in Adelaide and have been brought together through former Essendon player Shane Radbone.
Radbone has provided accommodation in Adelaide for a dozen East Kimberley youngsters in recent years.
"They learn to kick a football before they can write or spell up there," Radbone said of Halls Creek.
"Football and basketball is in their DNA there.
Halls Creek and the whole East Kimberley region produces extraordinary athletes … I don't know how you describe it.
"They're also quite lean and tall. If you look at McAdam and Ash Johnson for example, they've all got exceptional leaps on them.
"The AFL's only just starting to tap into it."
McAdam joins Petrevski-Seton, Brisbane's Cedric Cox, Essendon's Irving Mosquito, West Coast's Francis Watson and Melbourne's Toby Bedford on AFL lists out of Halls Creek, 500km inland from Broome.
Cox was drafted out of Victoria's south-west via Perth, while Mosquito moved to Victoria as an 11-year-old and was snapped up out of the TAC Cup along with Bedford.
Irving Mosquito is one of Halls Creek's six AFL-listed players. Picture: AFL Photos
Watson, like several players from Halls Creek, spent time at WAFL club Claremont before he was selected by the Eagles.
Radbone, who enjoys several trips to the Kimberley each year, said there were plenty more success stories to come.
"Some of them don't mature until they're older," Radbone told AFL.com.au.
"Someone like Shane (McAdam), who has amazing ability, he had his own challenges when he was 18 adjusting to the demands."
Now 23, McAdam found his way to the Crows as part of a swap with Carlton, the Blues on-trading him as part of their right to two mature-age players during the NAB AFL Trade Period.
Having moved out of Radbone's house after two years, McAdam will live with Brodie Smith in 2019.
Radbone's next crop will be buoyed by the SANFL's 2018 draft haul, with seven mature-age players finding their way onto AFL lists from the 22 drafted from SA in total.
Others Radbone identified to keep an eye on include Cox's brother Dale, who will join Scotch Old Collegians in 2019 in the SA amateur competition after playing with TAC Cup side GWV Rebels this year.
And if Irving Mosquito's name wasn't the best in the land, his teenage brother Freddy Mosquito caught his attention five years ago, "with freakish ability just kicking the footy in the street."
Carlton's Sam Petrevski-Seton is another Halls Creek product. Picture: AFL Photos
