ANY eager fans who have popped along to see how their club is progressing in the first week of 2008 might be wondering about the identity of a couple of the fresh-faced youngsters on the track.
While new recruits can be hard to make out at this time of year, the first week of January also throws up a couple of curve balls for supporters given it is the one opportunity members of the AIS/AFL Academy get to train with AFL clubs.
Each year 30 of Australia’s most promising junior footballers are offered Academy scholarships and, as well as receiving access to the best facilities and coaching techniques on offer throughout their 12-month experience, they also get a first-hand feel of what life is like at the top level.
And AIS/AFL Academy High Performance Coach Alan McConnell said this week’s experience might be a sneak peek at a future home for some players.
“There’s been a bit of a history of boys finishing up at the clubs where they’ve spent time,” McConnell said.
“Not a massive number but certainly it does give the clubs an insight into what they’re going to get, and I guess it means the coaches can have a better understanding of the boys and what skills they’re going to bring should they recruit them to their club.”
Last year, Trent Cotchin spent a week at Punt Road in early January and was later drafted by Richmond with the No.2 selection in the NAB AFL Draft, while Jack Grimes (Melbourne) and Sam Reid (Western Bulldogs) were other 2007 Academy graduates to join the club where they had spent a week earlier in the year.
Following this week’s experience at their AFL clubs, scholarship holders will gather in Melbourne for a five-day long camp – one of the few times they get together for the year.
“We start off with a review of their week, which is usually pretty insightful, and then go into another week of football and personal development,” McConnell said.
“The kids can complete that back in their home states between now and when we go to South Africa around Easter.”
While not all the current crop of scholarship holders are certain to be drafted, the Academy’s success rate is on the up.
In the 2007 NAB AFL Draft, 13 of the first 14 players selected were former graduates of the AIS/AFL Academy. Meanwhile 22 per cent of AFL lists comprise players who have at some point been through the AIS/AFL Academy.
Where AIS/AFL Academy members are spending this week
Adelaide – Alex Carey, Tyson Davis-Neale, Matthew Thompson.
Brisbane – Declan Bevan, Jesse Haberfield.
Carlton – Nic Heyne, Tom Hill.
Collingwood – Jack Fitzpatrick, Jack Ziebell.
Essendon – Steele Sidebottom, Jackson Trengrove.
Fremantle – Clinton Garlett, Michael Walters.
Geelong – John Butcher, Nick Suban.
Hawthorn – Tom Scully, Liam Shiels.
Kangaroos – Michael Hurley.
Melbourne – Tom Lynch.
Port Adelaide – Matthew Broadbent, Lewis Johnston.
Richmond – Sam Blease, Ben Griffiths.
St Kilda – Liam Jones, Jack Watts.
West Coast – Kieran King, Kane Lucas, Anthony Morabito.
Western Bulldogs – Ayce Cordy, Jake Melksham.
Note: No players are training with Sydney as there are no NSW/ACT players in the 30-man Academy. Scholarship holders are assigned to train with an AFL club in their own state.
