AFL YOUTH and high performance co-ordinator Jason McCartney shares his observations on 10 members of the Australian under-17s squad from games against VFL club Williamstown, South Africa and WAFL club Peel Thunder.

Name: Joshua Toy
DOB: 18/1/92
Height: 183cm
Weight: 85kg
Club: Calder/Aberfeldie
Josh was absolutely outstanding. He played extremely well against Williamstown. Normally a half-back flanker, but we played him full-back on Scott Welsh, a premiership player and senior player with the Western Bulldogs.
A powerful athlete, he’s really good one-on-one, very attacking and he’s got such penetration with his kick. Against Peel Thunder he was winning the contested footy, running and receiving and more importantly, running through the corridor. He was outstanding, and rewarded later on that evening when he was voted the Ben Mitchell Medallist by his peers.

Name: Jack Darling
DOB: 13/6/92
Height: 188cm
Weight: 88kg
Club: West Perth
Jack played his junior football predominantly as a centre half-forward but at his height, will need to learn how to play midfield. Against Peel he was able to play off half-back and then play through the midfield. An outstanding competitor, really good one-on-one and was a lot cleaner and quicker with his hands. He loves the physical contest.

Name: Trent McKenzie
DOB: 3/4/92
Height: 188cm
Weight: 72kg
Club: Western/Williamstown
In cricket terms, Trent’s a bit of a Mark Waugh type. Coaches will ride him a bit because he has got a laid back attitude. He’s a left footer with a great penetration, kicks the ball extremely well and just moves so well. He’s one of the quickest boys in the program, though you wouldn’t think it because he just does it so easily. He generally plays wing/half-back and we set him the challenge to play fullback against Peel Thunder. It forced him to really lock in and focus on just beating his man.

Name:
David Swallow
DOB: 19/11/92
Height: 185cm
Weight: 80kg
Club: East Fremantle
Brother of (North Melbourne’s) Andrew, David is just the ultimate professional. He’s got a massive work rate and wins a really good mix of contested and uncontested footy. We played him at half-back. He has great endurance, uses the ball really well and is good in close.

Name: Koby Stevens
DOB: 18/6/91
Height: 187cm
Weight: 81kg
Club: Gippsland/Lucknow
Koby is extremely hard the way he goes about it. Every contest is live-or-die for him. He’s just desperate to succeed and is one of the leaders of our team. Every game he played, even the first game where we got beaten pretty comfortably, he was one of our better players. He just gets in and wins the contested footy, that’s all he knows – see the ball, regardless of what’s around, he goes for it. He’ll figure quite highly in this year’s draft.

Name: Jordan Gysberts
DOB: 11/6/91
Height: 189cm
Weight: 79kg
Club: Eastern Ranges/Norwood
For me, Jordan is one of the standouts of the whole tour. He wins his mix of contested and uncontested footy, he’s very clean in traffic, wins the footy one touch and is able to release very quickly. He showed great courage on numerous occasions, whether it was head over the ball or going back with the flight. He was probably the most consistent player across all three games.

Name: Steven May
DOB: 10/1/92
Height: 191cm
Weight: 94kg
Club: Southern Districts
Originally from the Northern Territory, Steven now attends Melbourne Grammar. He has had stress fractures in his back, so we have been managing his training and game time. He looked really sharp in the game he played in South Africa at both centre half-back and centre half-forward. He’s a strong young man, it’s great to see he’s got his movement back and he’s not even fit yet. Exciting, very strong overhead and is a left footer who kicks the ball quite long distances. It’s a big ground at Subiaco and he was presenting well and feeding off constantly.

Name: Luke Russell
DOB: 24/1/92
Height: 184cm
Weight: 72kg
Club: Burnie Dockers
Luke played half-forward and through the midfield. He presented very well and for his size, and is very good overhead for his height. Very good with his hands and uses the ball well by foot. He was pretty consistent over his three games.

Name: Alex Keath
DOB: 20/1/92
Height: 196cm
Weight: 82kg
Club: Murray/Shepparton Bears
Alex is at Melbourne Grammar on a cricket scholarship, he captained the Victorian under-17s and has been selected for the World Cup under-19s squad for Australia next year. Coming into this tour he would have kicked the football in a training environment maybe four times. At 196cm he’s extremely athletic so we played him as a key forward. He played less than a half in his first game against Williamstown, but the way he presented stood out. He presented up against quality opponents and had a great work rate. He is really good overhead.

Name: Scott Lycett
DOB: 26/9/92
Height: 201cm
Weight: 91kg
Club: Adelaide/Thevenard
Scott is our No.1 ruckman and for a big lad he’s got really good mobility. He’s strong, his ruck work was very good in all the games he played, even against the biggest senior opposition at Williamstown. He’s got good hands and can go forward and be dangerous – that’s what you need at AFL level. You’d think he’d be a definite first-rounder.

Name: Jack Hutchins
DOB: 20/2/92
Height: 191cm
Weight: 87kg
Club: Sandringham/Haileybury
Jack has had limited football preparation this year due to the fact he’s an elite swimmer. He hasn’t kicked the football much but he’s a very powerful athlete. He plays half-back and wasn’t bad in his first game, got a bit better as he went on and was at his best against Peel Thunder. He’s a great competitor, an outstanding leader and really strong at the footy. As a backman he’s bold, he takes risks, runs off and tries to generate that run and flow you want off half-back. He’d be one to look out for.

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.