Oakleigh Chargers Talent Manager Jy Bond gives his thoughts on the club’s upcoming NAB League Boys season.

2018 FINISH: Runners-up (12-6-1 record)

2018 GRAND FINAL BEST-ON-GROUND: Matthew Rowell

2018 BEST AND FAIREST: 1. Jack Ross / 2. Isaac Quaynor / 3. Matthew Rowell

2018 TEAM OF THE YEAR SELECTIONS: Noah Answerth, Riley Collier-Dawkins, Will Kelly, Isaac Quaynor

2018 AFL DRAFTEES: Isaac Quaynor (Collingwood), Riley Collier-Dawkins (Richmond), James Rowbottom (Sydney), Xavier O’Neill (West Coast), Will Kelly (Collingwood), James Jordon (Melbourne), Jack Ross (Richmond), Noah Answerth (Brisbane), Ben Silvagni (Carlton), Atu Bosenavulagi (Collingwood), Will Golds* (Hawthorn)

OTHER FORMER PLAYERS ON AFL LISTS:

  • Selected in 2005: Marc Murphy (Carlton) 249 games
  • 2006: Todd Goldstein (North Melbourne) 212, David Mackay (Adelaide) 202, Robbie Gray (Port Adelaide) 199, Nick Smith* (Sydney) 211
  • 2007: Andy Otten (Adelaide) 106
  • 2008: Luke Shuey (West Coast) 177, Daniel Hannebery (Sydney/St Kilda) 208/0
  • 2009: Jamie Macmillan (North Melbourne) 139
  • 2010: Andrew Gaff (West Coast) 175, Ryan Lester (Brisbane) 117
  • 2011: Dom Tyson (GWS/Melbourne/North Melbourne) 13/94/0, Adam Tomlinson (GWS) 115, Toby Greene (GWS) 126, Lin Jong* (Western Bulldogs) 61
  • 2012: Jackson Macrae (Western Bulldogs) 118, Jack Viney (Melbourne) 98
  • 2013: Jack Billings (St Kilda) 85, Luke McDonald (North Melbourne) 96, Tom Cutler (Brisbane) 63, Jay Kennedy-Harris (Melbourne) 34, Darcy Byrne-Jones (Port Adelaide) 64, Jake Kelly* (Adelaide) 53
  • 2014: Jordan De Goey (Collingwood) 71, Darcy Moore (Collingwood) 54, Daniel McKenzie (St Kilda) 34, Toby McLean (Western Bulldogs) 60, Marc Pittonet (Hawthorn) 5, Jack Sinclair* (St Kilda) 64
  • 2015: David Cuningham (Carlton) 16, Jack Silvagni (Carlton) 43, Tom Phillips (Collingwood) 50, Ben Crocker (Collingwood) 23, Dan Houston* (Port Adelaide) 39
  • 2016: Jordan Ridley (Essendon) 3, Ed Phillips (St Kilda) 7, Josh Daicos (Collingwood) 12, Patrick Kerr (Carlton) 4, Nick Larkey (North Melbourne) 2, Taylin Duman* (Fremantle) 10
  • 2017: Ed Richards (Western Bulldogs) 21, Jack Higgins (Richmond) 20, Toby Wooller (Brisbane) 0

2019 AFL ACADEMY:

  • Level 2 (18yo): Noah Anderson, Trent Bianco, Matthew Rowell, Dylan Williams
  • Level 1 (17yo): Finlay Macrae, Will Phillips, Samuel Tucker, Jamarra Ugle-Hagan

2019 HEAD COACH: Leigh Clarke (third season)

2019 SEASON START: vs Eastern Ranges @ RSEA Park, Sunday March 24 (CLICK HERE for full fixture)

 

 

TOP 2019 AFL DRAFT PROSPECTS

Noah Anderson (local club – Booroondara Hawks): “Noah is almost physically ready to step into an AFL program. His work rate is elite and his ball use and decision-making also makes him as close to ‘ready-to-go’ as you could be. He’ll play in the midfield this year and I’d like to see him go forward as he can be very damaging. He’s a very good leader and an impressive young man.”

Matthew Rowell (Canterbury, pictured): “Matt’s work rate and dedication to training is elite. He’ll play in the midfield for us this year, but he can play anywhere on the ground. He and Noah seem to have primed themselves for the next level already in the way they prepare. Matt leads by example and I’m not sure there’s a more professional player in the NAB League Boys this year.”

Dylan Williams (Surrey Park): “The upside to a player like Dylan is really exciting. He’s a lively personality and I think his football is lively too. There’s not much he can’t do in the forward line – he has a lot of tricks – but we’ll use him in a variety of positions to show what he can do this year. We just have to work on his aerobic running a bit.”

Trent Bianco (Doncaster): “Trent is a smooth-moving, classy ball-user and link player. He certainly works hard on the track and takes his footy seriously. He’s a good character and will be in our leadership group this year. We’ll have him playing for us all season given that he’s finished school.”

 

POTENTIAL DRAFT SURPRISE PACKETS

Nick Bryan (Glen Iris): “Nick is a developing tall player. He’s worked hard over the pre-season and his early practice match form has been promising. He’s very lightly framed at the moment, but he has very soft hands in the ruck and an elite vertical leap. He’s 200cm tall and could still be growing.”

Josh May (Surrey Park): “I’m expecting some good football from Josh this year. He’s 190cm-plus and skinny, but he’s going to grow into his body and we’ve been grooming him to play as an outside midfielder who can also play as a tall. He played for Vic Metro in 2015 and 2016.”

 

BOTTOM-AGER TO WATCH

Jamarra Ugle-Hagan (Scotch College): “We’re very fortunate that Jamarra has come to our program this year from the GWV Rebels while he boards at Scotch College. He’s a developing tall player with great reach and great hands and he moves the ball well.”

 

LEADERSHIP MATERIAL

“Noah Anderson (see above) and Matthew Rowell (see above) are rounded kids who lead by example. It’s exciting to have them in our program for the other kids to learn off, and when they’re at training the group feeds off their intensity. Trent Bianco (see above) is a good character and Lucas Westwood (18yo in 2019, Doncaster East) has a good relationship with the group as well. We’re blessed with a lot of good leaders in the program.”

 

FAMOUS FOOTBALL RELATIONS

Zac Hart (19yo, Old Xaverians): Son of former AFL player Ben Hart – 311 games for Adelaide.

Lachlan Johnson (18yo, Scotch College): Son of former AFL player Chris Johnson – 264 games for Fitzroy/Brisbane.

Tom Graham (19yo, Old Scotch): Son of former AFL player Mark Graham – 223 games for Hawthorn/20 for Richmond.

Daniel Romero (18yo, St Kevin’s): Son of former AFL player Jose Romero – 89 games for North Melbourne/122 for Western Bulldogs.

Noah Anderson (see above): Son of former AFL player Dean Anderson – 83 games for Hawthorn/67 for St Kilda.

Harrison Free (17yo, Camberwell): Son of former AFL player Tony Free – 133 games for Richmond.

Finlay Macrae (17yo, Kew Rovers): Brother of current AFL player Jack Macrae – 118 games for Western Bulldogs.

Other famous sporting relations:

Brayden Fleming (17yo, Surrey Park): Son of former Australian cricketer Damien Fleming.

 

TEAM STRENGTHS

“We’re just a very even team with no glaring gaps across the field. We’re fortunate to have talent that we can play in a variety of positions – many are athletically able to run through the midfield and physically strong enough to hold down key positions. We only lost the Grand Final by six points last year and we had 11 players drafted, so hopefully we’ll continue on from where we left off in 2018.”