WESTERN Australia (division one) and NSW/ACT (division two) have emerged as the only unbeaten teams after two rounds in the 2007 NAB AFL Under-18 Championships.
They are now in the box seat to win their respective division titles.
Western Australia defeated Vic Country by an impressive 43 points on Friday at MC Labour Park to follow up its 47-point win over Vic Metro last weekend at Subiaco Oval to take a stranglehold on the championship.
Once again, midfield trio Rhys Palmer (36 disposals), Cale Morton (24 possessions and 10 marks) and Chris Masten (31 touches and nine grabs) provided consistent supply for their forwards.
Western Australia's defence only allowed Vic Country three goals in very cold conditions in Melbourne, with Tayte Pears and David Myers leading a well drilled defensive unit.
The Sandgropers have only won division one at the national championships twice in its 30-year history.
Back in 1985, when the entire championships were played in Perth, a team including the likes of John Worsfold, Guy McKenna, Peter Sumich, Chris Waterman, Paul Peos, Chris Lewis and Scott Watters – who became the backbone of West Coast – won its first title.
It was then 14 years later in Brisbane in 1999 when Western Australia saluted again with Paul Hasleby, Darren Glass, Joel Corey, Adam Hunter, Chance Bateman and Leon Davis the stars who reached the pinnacle for the second time.
NSW/ACT Rams are in a similar position in division two and they look capable of going through unbeaten to give them their fourth title in 12 years since the championships went to under-18 level in 1996.
The Rams' performance is a triumph for first-year coach Danny Stevens, who has been able to overcome the travel factor to assemble a cohesive team unit, which is playing for each other.
The team's best have come from all parts of NSW/ACT including Nelson Bay (Craig Bird), Pennant Hills (Ranga Ediriwickrama), Coolamon (Simon Drum), North Broken Hill (Taylor Walker), Eastlake (Aaron Bruce) and Corowa-Rutherglen (Tim McIntyre).
If NSW/ACT wins over Tasmania on Tuesday it will not only win another title, but continue to build on the profile of the AFL code in Australia's most competitive talent market of greater Sydney.
The final round of division-two matches will now be played at Windy Hill, Essendon on Tuesday, July 10.
Queensland will play Northern Territory (11am) and Tasmania takes on NSW/ACT (1.30pm).
The division-two scenarios under the round robin format are as follows.
1 – Should NSW/ACT win its match over Tasmania, it will win the championship outright as the only unbeaten team.
2 – Should Tasmania beat NSW/ACT and Queensland defeat Northern Territory, then Tasmania will win the title as the rules provide 'where two teams are tied for first position, the team that won the match played between them shall be declared the winner'.
3 – Should Tasmania defeat NSW/ACT and Northern Territory beat Queensland, the division-two title win be decided on percentage with three teams tied on two wins.
On Wednesday, July 11, division-one matches will return to MC Labour Park.
Vic Metro will tackle Vic Country (11am) before the championships conclude with Western Australia taking on South Australia (1.30pm).
Again there are three scenarios which will decide division one.
1 – Should Western Australia win its match over South Australia, it will win the division-one title as the only unbeaten team.
2 – Should South Australia defeat Western Australia and Vic Country beat Vic Metro, then South Australia will win the title (if two teams are tied – the winner of their match wins the title).
3 – Should South Australia beat Western Australia and Vic Metro defeat Vic Country, the division-one title will be decided on percentage with three teams on two wins.
