THROUGHOUT the remainder of the 2008 NAB AFL under 18 championships, AFL youth and high performance coordinator and former AFL star Jason McCartney will give afl.com.au his thoughts on the players who caught his eye.
Here are his assessments after New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory pulled off a magnificent come-from-behind five-point victory over Victoria Country at Henson Park in Sydney on Saturday.
NSW/ACT v VIC COUNTRY
NSW/ACT
Ranga Ediriwickrama – Ranga continued his great form throughout the carnival with 25 disposals and seven hard-ball gets. He has a terrific work-rate and he's got that ability to win his own footy. He's also got a really good mix of winning contested and uncontested footy and he's starting to use the ball a lot better.
At times, he hasn't been as polished with his disposal, but he's continually working at that and I wouldn't list that as a negative, simply because of the way he gets it and he really does set it up for NSW/ACT. He's been a real barometer for his side and their results have been largely due to Ranga's performances.
Mitch Clisby – Mitch played on the wing. He really worked hard both ways – in defence and carrying the ball through the midfield and inside 50. He was really good against Vic Country. He worked hard with 17 disposals and five inside 50s. He was quite prominent.
Mitch Frail – Mitch continued to do a few things again to show he has a future in the game. His third quarter set the game up for NSW/ACT. He kicked two of NSW/ACT's six goals during that period and was playing in the ruck and up forward at the time.
He took a really good overhead mark, backing back with the flight. He then went back and kicked the goal. He also got another goal from a free-kick. It was quite breezy and, although NSW/ACT was kicking with the wind, when he kicked those two goals, it really did lift the team. Once again, he was very good below his knees. He also distributed well by hand and finished with 11 disposals and four clearances for the game, as well as his two goals.
Kade Klemke – Across half-back, he continually read the play well. He seems to have a really good head on his shoulders and I would think he has got really good leadership capabilities as well.
His decision-making has also been good, although he did make one poor decision late in the game, when he played on from deep in defence. He went to dish off and Vic Country intercepted and got a goal out of it. But he was really solid all day and held his side's backline together. He finished with 16 disposals.
Vic Country
Jamie Sheahan – He's a boy from the Murray Bushrangers and is schooling at Assumption College. In the first quarter, he was matched up against Ranga Ediriwickrama, but they played off each other a fair bit. He's a really nippy midfielder and is a good disposal of the ball.
He's got a few tricks and has a good sidestep, so he was quite prominent for Vic Country. Jamie finished with 21 disposals. He took a couple of contested marks. So for his size at 178cm – he actually knows how to use his hips really well in a marking situation and he provided some good drive and had five inside 50s.
Steele Sidebottom – He's one of our AIS/AFL Academy boys. Steele just loves a contest – there's no doubt about that. He's a really good clearance player and he started at half-back in the first quarter and finished the match with seven clearances. He also spent a bit of time in the midfield and across half-forward as well. He had 22 disposals, seven hard-ball gets and seven loose-ball gets.
Steele also has nice balance and he is clever around the stoppages. His disposal, however, was not always polished in this match, but he was still one of Vic Country's better players.
Jack Ziebell – Jack was very prominent in our AIS tour and won the Ben Mitchell Medal, awarded by the players, and the coaching staff also votes on three games. It was Jack's first game in four weeks after a quad injury, so he'd be reasonably happy with his first performance back.
He has good disposals – is a really good kick with both feet – and he's a good decision-maker and reads the play really well. Jack played half-back/midfield and Vic Country used him forward late in the game. He claimed 15 disposals and five rebound 50s.
He's one of the leaders of the group and he was pretty disappointed with the result after the game, but he's only going to get better from that performance after a month on the sidelines.
John Butcher – He's another AIS boy. John kicked four goals and he was really dangerous early on when Vic Country was getting the ball in quick. He looked like he was going to take the game by the scruff of the neck but then the supply really dried up.
He was good in the air and at ground level. He probably missed two gettable goals, but he's a really good target for the Vic Country boys. He's 197cm and he's got reasonable agility and if he plays in front and has his arms up, it's very difficult for the opposition to get the ball away from him.
