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 Western Australia ran away from New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory by 70 points at Subiaco Oval on Sunday.
WESTERN AUSTRALIA v NEW SOUTH WALES/AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY
Western Australia
Matthew DeBoer - He stood out and was the leading possession winner for Western Australia with 24 disposals. He also had three tackles and seven inside 50s. Matty was eligible for the draft last year - as a 17-year-old - but chose not to nominate. He played through the wing and midfield and displayed a terrific work ethic. He created and used the ball well, going inside forward 50 and he's also had some senior experience this year at Claremont, showing some good form. He had experience at under-18 level last year and was very good first-up.
Kane Lucas - I've been super impressed with Kane for a while. He just continued on with the way I've seen him play during the AIS series. He played wing/half-forward and gained 21 disposals and four clearances. He uses the ball very well. More importantly for Kane, he's a great decision-maker and it looks as if he's got a lot of time with the footy when he's got it in his hands.
Michael Walters - Another AIS boy, Michael was quality. He didn't waste a possession after starting in the midfield in the first half and spent the second half up forward. He's extremely creative and booted three goals. He also ended up 20 possessions and had a really good game.
Lance Daly - He showed a little bit and kicked five goals. I hadn't come across Lance before, but he played predominantly as a key forward and at 191cm, he presented really well. He looked like a good forward and played the percentages all of the time. It will be good to see how he progresses through the carnival. Lance showed natural goalkicking instincts and he really looked the part.
John Bennell - John was another player I hadn't seen much of. He's an indigenous boy and he kicked four goals and showed great agility, pace and forward pressure. He's typical of the indigenous boys coming through and is exciting with the footy in his hands. It was a really good, consistent first up game from him.
Nick Naitanui - One of the big guns only had the eight disposals, but he had 20 hit outs and six tackles. He is unique. I haven't seen many players with that type of agility and ability to jump in the ruck. Also at ground level, his second and third efforts and the way he follows up is fantastic. The way he picks up the ball, sidesteps and takes on the opposition is great. But the thing for me in this match was to see him chase and tackle and not many of those tackles were in-close grab-'em tackles. They were chase downs of small, quick midfielders. So you can see why everyone gets excited and there is definite potential there. Nick's footy education is also coming along, but we mustn't forget he's still new to the game. We probably got to try and keep a lid on him a bit, even though he is a freak athlete.
Daniel Rich - The other big gun was solid without being outstanding. He had the 15 possessions and being a senior premiership player at WAFL level last year, he had a pretty tight tag placed on him. He wouldn't have rated his game as outstanding, but it was solid.
New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory
Ranga Ediriwickrama - Ranga's performance was so pleasing. He won 25 disposals, 10 hard-ball gets and five tackles. His workrate is phenomenal, even though he turned the ball over a bit. He was up against elite company and found plenty of the footy. I think Geelong would be absolutely delighted to have picked him up via the scholarship scheme. And he's a real quality kid to back it up with. The word 'can't' is not in his vocabulary. He continually works and works, so it was good to see him go about his business.
Dylan McNeil - Playing through the midfield, he provided great ball use and I was really impressed with his work in close. He gained 18 disposals and had seven hard-ball gets. His ability to get in there and win the hard-ball was impressive, so he can hold his head high with his performance.
Kade Klemke - He looked really good. He played across half-back and read the play well. He used the ball efficiently and had 18 disposals and took eight marks. It was the way he read the play that impressed. He got into position well to receive the switch. He looked very assured as well.
Mitch Frail - He had the massive job of running around for a lot of the game with Nick Naitanui. Mitch is in his first year of footy, but he just did a couple of things that suggested to me that there might be a future there. His footy education is a long way back, but he wasn't overawed at the task of playing on Naitanui. Probably because he doesn't know a lot about footy, it may not have meant a lot to be playing on Nick. He's very athletic Mitch and presented when he went forward and won the ball a few times. His got nine touches, but there is a bit to work with, particularly with his size at 198cm, even though he is living to his name and at 74kg is frail. With time, he could be OK, because he has good agility. He'll learn a lot from this series.
Mitch Clisby - Mitch had 16 touches, but he was good with his ball use.
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
