FREMANTLE Next Generation Academy prospect Liam Henry has been identified as a top draftee in the years to come after impressing while on tour in China with the Flying Boomerangs.
Fellow WA Boomerangs members Cox Khai-Arn and Tarkyn Brogan-Henry are other players who have turned heads on the trip.
The teenager will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of former Boomerangs captains Jy Simpkin and Sam Powell-Pepper, who were drafted inside the top 20 of the 2016 NAB AFL Draft.
Simpkin joined North Melbourne with pick No.12, while Port Adelaide pounced on Powell-Pepper with selection No.18 in the draft.
Henry was one of 25 participants from the Boomerangs program who toured China as part of a cultural awareness and leadership development camp.
The Boomerangs visited Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City, competed in a time trial along the Great Wall of China and trained with up to eight of Port Adelaide's highest-profile players in Shanghai.
The Flying Boomerangs program is a personal development and leadership program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young men aged 14-15 years old.
Dual premiership player Mathew Stokes said the benefits of the program were evident for the youngsters learning about the required professionalism.
"What's really important to us is to give them some exposure to what playing in the AFL is like," Stokes told AFL.com.au.
"Having them on this trip, we've treated them like an AFL club – we've trained and the boys have done recovery, they've got to really look after their diet.
"When or if they do get to an AFL club they know what to expect when they arrive."
Ali Fahour, the AFL's head of multicultural and indigenous partnerships and programs, said the Flying Boomerangs program was making the transition to the elite level far smoother.
"If it wasn't for this program these players wouldn't be able take the next step because they might not have been exposed and prepared for what is required at that elite level," Fahour said.
"We get them in a culturally safe environment and teach them the skills and provide the support that they need to feel apart of an elite talent program."
Henry even caught the eye of Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley during one of the sessions that was conducted in Shanghai, with the Boomerangs also playing games against the Port Adelaide Aboriginal Academy and the AFL China side.
"To have nine Boomerangs drafted from this group three years ago demonstrates how powerful this program is," Fahour said.
"We certainly believe we've got another 10 or 12 in this group now who have the capability of joining those nine guys on an AFL list.
"The difference in talent between Sam Powell-Pepper and Jy Simpkin and these boys isn't too great, but we've stressed to them that the hard work starts now.
"The individuals who are prepared to put in the hard work now are the ones that will make it through."
