We preview and reveal the selected teams for the Round 3 NAB AFL Under-18 Championships double-header in Adelaide, with the Allies taking on Western Australia and South Australia playing host to Vic Metro.

ALLIES vs WESTERN AUSTRALIA 

Saturday June 22, 10.30am (ACST) @ Alberton Oval, Adelaide

RECENT HISTORY

The Allies will be looking to rebound from a 97-point loss to Vic Country at University of Tasmania Stadium, Launceston in their first outing of the 2019 Championships two weeks ago. Western Australia defeated Vic Metro by 17 points at Perth’s Lathlain Park in its first Championships match on the same weekend, before falling to South Australia by 11 points at Optus Stadium last Saturday.

The Allies have been defeated by WA in each of their three years participating in Division 1 of the carnival, losing by 17 points at Subiaco Oval in Perth in 2016, by 40 points at Leederville Oval in Perth in 2017 and by seven points at Marvel Stadium last year. Current Allies squad member and Tasmania Devils ball-winner Mitch O’Neill was among the team’s best players in that 2018 loss, along with subsequent AFL father-son draftees Nick Blakey (Sydney) and Bailey Scott (North Melbourne).

COACH COMMENTS

ALLIES

Comments from head coach Luke Power:

LAST TIME

“The loss to Vic Country wasn’t great, but all you can do is learn from it and hopefully grow. In the Allies’ history, the team has always improved as the Championships have gone on, so that’s something we can look forward to. We were pretty happy with our preparation for the match, but we came up against a pretty decent side and it just reaffirmed how challenging it is when you have to pull a group together than doesn’t usually get to train together.”

THIS WEEK

“We just need to free our players up a little bit to take the game on and show what they can do, and hopefully that energises them. We’re looking for the players who stay in the team to make the biggest impact and create a really good environment for the players that are coming in... and we’ve made a lot of changes, so personnel-wise we’re a bit different. We’ve hopefully picked a team that will match up OK against WA, who are generally a bit smaller and quicker than most of the sides in the Championships.”

IN FORM

“I thought Tom Green (GWS Giants Academy - pictured, left) fought admirably on the ball and Mitch O’Neill (Tasmania Devils) gave us a little bit of drive on the wing against Vic Country, on a day when it was pretty hard to record high numbers given the opposition controlled so much of the play. I also thought Connor Budarick (Gold Coast Suns Academy) showed he could carry the ball and break the game up at times. I’m pretty comfortable we have some strong characters in the group that will be up for the fight this week.”

PLAYERS TO WATCH

“We’re bringing in more speed up forward with Hewago Paul Oea (Gold Coast Suns Academy) and Josh Gore (Gold Coast Suns Academy). We’ll also look to get our leaders around the ball a lot more and throw some players around positionally. I think Connor Budarick will play more around the ball and we’re hoping he’ll be able to give us some drive in our midfield. Braeden Campbell (Sydney Swans Academy) will probably move from the back line to give us something up forward, and we’ll also play a few of our 19-year-olds down back to try to strengthen us and provide some calmness down there.”

SELECTED TEAM

ALLIES

In: D. Koenen, N. Brewer, J. Peatling, J. Gore, J. Lucas, H. Oea, S. Gaden, J. Jeffrey, A. Crossley

Out: N. Murray, J. Barling, M. Conroy, S. Collins, J. Rayner, O. Davis, B. Reville, W. Chandler, S. Ryan

SOUTH AUSTRALIA vs VIC METRO

Saturday June 22, 12.50pm (ACST) @ Alberton Oval, Adelaide

RECENT HISTORY

Vic Metro has suffered two losses to start the 2019 Championships, falling to Vic Country in the opening match of the carnival by 13 points at the MCG before a 17-point defeat at the hands of Western Australia at Lathlain Park in Perth two weeks ago. South Australia started its Championships title defence with an 11-point defeat of Western Australia at Optus Stadium last Saturday.

SA prevailed in these teams’ last encounter, triumphing by 55 points in what was effectively a playoff for the 2018 title at Marvel Stadium. Subsequent Gold Coast AFL draftee Ben King (ex-Sandringham Dragons) booted four goals that day, while current Metro leaders Matthew Rowell (Oakleigh Chargers) and Jack Mahony (Sandringham Dragons) were prominent. Metro previously claimed victory over SA by 67 points at the Docklands venue in 2017.

COACH COMMENTS

VIC METRO

Comments from head coach Brett Allison:

LAST TIME

“The game against WA was probably in the same vein as the Vic Country outing – we were outworked and our effort to defend and win the ball back off the opposition wasn’t at the level required. We were able to get within striking distance of the lead, but at times our pressure and defensive set-ups let us down. We certainly trained very hard in that area during the week prior and we’re doing the same before this week’s game.”

THIS WEEK

“I think SA will be pretty well organised and structured; they’ve played a number of trial games already with their group. They have a lot of strong, big-bodied players who are hard at the ball, so we can expect a real combative contest. We’ve played well enough to have a chance of winning both games so far, but I don’t think we’ve played anywhere near the potential of the group as a whole, so we’re looking for a lift across the board this week.”

IN FORM

“The consistency of the group has been a little bit down, but the ones who have been at the forefront are Matt Rowell (Oakleigh Chargers), Fischer McAsey (Sandringham Dragons) and Josh Worrell (Sandringham Dragons - pictured, right) – who is our leading goalkicker over the two games (following four goals against WA). Josh has the versatility to play as a defender or a taller winger, but we were really impressed with him as a forward last time out. I think he’ll spend some more time inside 50 in the remaining games too.”

PLAYERS TO WATCH

“Jamieson Rossiter (Eastern Ranges) and Emerson Jeka (Western Jets) will come in for their first games of the Championships after some injury concerns and will play in the forward line. Andrew Courtney (Sandringham Dragons) and Adam Carafa (Northern Knights) return after missing the last game and Nick Cox (Northern Knights) will also come in for his first Metro game. He’s a bottom-ager who’s 197cm tall but very mobile and runs and carries the ball really well. You’ll see him through the wings and off half-back.”

SELECTED TEAM

VIC METRO

In: E. Jeka, A. Courtney, J. Rossiter, A. Carafa, N. Cox

Out: O. Lewis, J. Bell, J. Honey, C. Dean, J. Ross (all rotated)