But 12 months on from the 2011 NAB AFL Under-18 Championships, many of the same teens will perform football feats that create thunderous walls of noise at the same venue.
The smattering of parents and close friends who braved the elements on a miserable Melbourne night to make it to the safety of the enclosed arena made for an at-times eerie backdrop to the finale of an event that is so important to these talented young men with lofty AFL dreams.
AFL crowds aren't accustomed to hearing much from players in the heat of battle, but onlookers seated in even the loftiest of perches on Wednesday could clearly hear Vic Metro onballer Mitch Wooffindin's teammates barking like a pack of playful dogs as they repeatedly called out his 'Woof' nickname; begging for the ball against Vic Country in the first game of the final round of the Division One series.
That most certainly won't be the case if Wooffindin's dreams come true and he finds himself looking for an option up the field next year wearing the navy blue of Carlton, the purple of Fremantle or the charcoal and ochre of Greater Western Sydney.
Seventy-five of the young men who played in last year's championships made their way onto an AFL list via the national or rookie drafts at the end of the 2010 AFL season.
Thirty-five of the same youngsters have made their AFL debuts before round 16 this year.
Many AFL fans have already heard of towering, prospective No.1 draft pick Jonathon Patton, who has impressed despite some kicking issues in leading the Vic Metro attack, and talented-but-torn Western Australian onballer Stephen Coniglio, who must choose between his two sporting loves in cricket and AFL.
But next year they'll know lion-hearted big man Billy Longer, will-o'-the-wisp Liam Sumner, courageous ball winner Chad Wingard, clever mid Dom Tyson and chatty, goal-kicking onballer Devon Smith.
That's the joy of the championships - they're a sneak peek into the AFL's near future.
Joel Selwood was part of an AFL premiership team at Geelong the year after he starred for Vic Country in 2006.
Vic Metro took out this year's championships and coach Rohan Welsh had players like Will Hoskin-Elliot, Toby Greene, Hayden Crozier and Jack Viney to call on in addition to skipper Longer, giant forward Patton and ball magnet Tyson.
Although he admits he had plenty of individual talent at his disposal, Welsh maintains singular brilliance didn't decide this year's national under-age competition.
"The main thing for me was to try and create a footy team," Welsh says.
"You get kids from six different [TAC Cup] clubs and it's a matter of trying to get the balance between their individual brilliance and the team and that's what we managed to do from the word go.
"Brady Rawlings [the North Melbourne midfielder who joined Metro's coaching panel in his spare time] said to me today that he couldn't believe how much of a team they seemed to be - he said that they looked like they'd played together for years.
"I've always said to the guys that I would never try to take away their individual brilliance. I wanted them to showcase what they could, but to do it in a team environment and not to step outside that."
You could forgive a young lad a moment of weakness with every AFL recruiter in the land looking on, but the joy on all 22 of their faces was proof enough that Welsh's approach had been effective as they belted out the team song with 'Vic Metro' replacing 'North Melbourne' or 'Victoria' as they sang of coming out to play.
The parents that crowded into the change room beamed with pride after their kids had sung the song, with only a slight whiff of half-smiling censure rippling through the gathering as coach Welsh used a word that most likely wouldn't have met with the approval of the mothers present as he addressed their young sons in victory.
Welsh's language, while only briefly colourful, represented the depth of feeling the individuals of this group has for each other.
"Some of us have been training together since December," says Oakleigh Charger Dom Tyson, who lined up alongside players from TAC Cup opponents Eastern Ranges, Western Jets, Sandringham, Northern Knights and the Calder Cannons.
"Although it is a representative side you do still spend a lot of time together. We travelled to Perth together and that just helps you gel. The coaches put a big emphasis on that because we knew that's what would get us the win."
Coniglio was awarded the Larke Medal as best player of the carnival, but was left to ponder what might have been.
However, he could still grasp what the Vic Metro lads, and all the players from the other teams for that matter, were experiencing as the showcase for the nation's brightest young AFL talent drew to a close.
"A lot of these boys will be your mates well into the future," Coniglio says.
"I really hope we can all remain friends and I can watch them as they become really good AFL players."
Well, they may not all make it, Stephen, but they'll certainly give it their best try.
