NINE Peel Thunder under-16 players will play a trial selection fixture at Claremont Oval tomorrow to compete for a state team position in the AFL National 16s Championships.
Talent manager John Deitz said five boys from Mandurah and four boys from the South-West were chosen after they played a six round series of matches.
“We recently finished our 2018 WAFL Under-16s Carnival and we had nine boys from that picked for the trial day,” he said.
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Deitz said the carnival began mid December, a few sessions were held before Christmas and training would then continue from the middle of January to April.
“Following the trial game this Saturday , the state selectors will select a squad who would then represent WA and train over an 11 week period,” he said.
“They would then play one game in Adelaide and two games in Queensland, at the National Championships in July.
“It’s been pleasing to see how these kids have developed over these months and its been positive, as they transition over the next couple of years into the colts program.”
When asked how the boys would rough the talent day on Saturday, Deitz said he was happy with Peel’s under-16’s efforts.
“It’s hard to say as we don’t know a lot about the other clubs yet,” he said.
“We’re happy with how our boys have gone over the carnival this year and they will put their best foot forward on Saturday and will perform really strongly.”
This year, the WA Football Commission requested renewed focus on player development following the establishment of a new WA Talent model.
According to Deitz, the talent model would introduce best practice and consistency within the nine WAFL clubs.
“All the talent in WA comes under the banner of the WA Footy Commission which has minimum standards and bench marks,” he said.
“There’s been no real change with Peel as the club is already strongly aligned with our senior club.
“Our aim is to always keep developing our junior players and get them to join our senior programs, and we’ve had a few boys do so this year.
“We really want to keep promoting the player pathway within our footy club.”
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