THE NSW/ACT Rams claimed the Division 2 title at the NAB AFL Under-18 Championships with a convincing 37-point victory over Tasmania at Docklands on Wednesday.

The Rams led from start to finish, with a host of options in attack helping them to an impressive 13.6 (84) to 6.11 (47) win.

As a result, NSW/ACT will finish with the best record of all the Division 2 sides despite Queensland and the Northern Territory to play immediately following Wednesday morning’s opening clash.

For the Rams, Dylan McNeil – who plays for the Murray Bushrangers in the TAC Cup – was the gamebreaker. The 178cm goalkicker showed his class by switching between the goalsquare and the midfield and slotting four majors.

NSW/ACT booted three goals to nil in the opening term and by half-time it was 6.1 to 0.5.

Tassie briefly looked like challenging in the third term but the Rams responded on each occasion.

Trent Stubbs (two goals), on an AFL Scholarship with Hawthorn, displayed his strong hands as did fellow half-forward Chaz Sargeant.

Will Langford, the son of former Hawk great Chris, also got better as the game wore on and floated forward to kick a nice goal late in the match.

Tasmanian ruckman Cameron Milne worked hard (27 hit-outs) while running defender Marcus Davies (17 disposals) was also impressive. He failed to finish his good work on a couple of occasions but showed aggression and good judgement to help set up several forward thrusts.

While Sam Rundle and Jack Boon tried hard for Tasmania, its best player was Josh Green. He collected 22 touches, drove the ball inside 50 five times and worked hard both ways to show he might be a player of the future. He finished with 1.4 and it could have been far more if not for some wayward kicking near the sticks.

But the Rams were by far the better side and thoroughly deserved their win.

DETAILS
Tasmania 0.4 0.5 3.9 6.11 (47)
NSW/ACT 3.1 6.1 10.5 13.6 (84)

GOALS
Tasmania: Archer, Boon, Green, Groenewegen, Mott, Rundle
NSW/ACT: McNeil 4, Emery 2, Stubbs 2, Duncan, Hancock, Langford, Sargeant, Tutt

BEST
Tasmania: Green, Davies, Milne, Rundle, Crichton, Mott
NSW/ACT: McNeil, Young, Stubbs, Kirkwood, Tutt, Lawton, Williams