Unfortuneley can only see the games v NT and Brisbane going ahead, Qld government just today warned Qlders going interstate and the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney are about to be hotspots ie Potts Point, also Jeffery and Lake will play for NT not Gold Coast
Potential top-10 Swans draft pick to feature in Academy series
The AFL will stage its Northern Academy Series in August with plenty of young stars on showwww.afl.com.au
Academy: Gold Coast SUNS Gun Factory
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I dont believe NT have a side in this series as its for the Northern Academy clubs. no mention of NT in the fixture.
think they were told they will play NT in the third week , dont think any NT kids were named in squad , could be wrong
Queensland will close borders to people from Greater Sydney
Queensland will close its border to people from Greater Sydney, the state's premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has announced.
Looks like its over , basically it will be Sydney v GSW , Brisbane v Gold Coast and NT v Qld teams
very disappointing
If we are lucky not to follow in NSW steps and then Victoria steps.
Today, we reveal the best underage and over-age players who are on the club’s radar.
AUSTIN HARRIS:
Age: 17.
From: Cairns.
Club: Broadbeach Cats.
An under-17 All-Australian last year, Harris is a Cairns product relocated 12 months ago and has been living with a host family on the Gold Coast. A midfielder who oozes class on the outside and on the wing. Over time Harris, a left footer who breaks lines, will put on more size and be able to shift into a more inside midfield-type role. Similar to 2019 draft pick and academy member Connor Budarick, who played a lot of underage football in the midfield before going down back, Harris will likely spend his early stages in an AFL team playing in a different position other than in the middle. Harris’s ability to use the ball well means he could make the shift into a small forward or defensive role.
WILL BELLA:
Age: 17
From: Mackay
Club: Palm Beach Currumbin.
The brother of Gold Coast Suns AFLW ruckman Lauren Bella, Will is also originally from Mackay. He made the shift with his family when Lauren came down to the Suns and is part of the Palm Beach Currumbin State High School excellence program. Bella is a key position player who played at centre half-forward during some trial games. He is a good overhead mark, has ample power in his legs, is quick off the mark and can take a strong pack mark. Add to that he has a penetrating kick and Bella is quite the package deal.
I saw Jen post this in another thread and I know both Bella and Harris have big wraps on them coming through the junior ranks as a part of the 2021 draft class so I figured I'd have a look into how they are going. What I found is they are both currently playing QAFL Colts competition with Broadbeach (Harris) and Palm Beach (Bella) respectively. Excitingly, Bella has played three Colts games this year to date and has been best on in each of those games! I can only assume he'll find his way into PBC's reserves team soon if he continues to post best on ground performances each week. Harris has played two games for Broadbeach this year and was named in the bests last week.
Another 2021 academy prospect a lot of people are excited about is Jye Lockett (Tony's nephew) who now lives in Ballarat but is still a part of our academy. Here is a Q&A with Jye where he talks about his plans to continue to take part in our academy program instead of transitioning into the Vic Country program:
Q&A: Jye Lockett (GWV Rebels/Queensland)
AS the postponement of all seasons commenced over the last few weeks, we head back to the pre-season where we sat down with a number of athletes across the country. In a special Question and Answer (Q&A) feature, Draft Central‘s Michael Alvaro chatted with Greater Western Victoria (GWV) Rebels’...
afl.draftcentral.com.au
Jen2310
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Yeah, he talks about that was the plan to do the Allies next year. But with this covid, I wonder whether that's changed his mindset. Is it a bit wierd to be in a QLD academy if you're living/going to school in Vic? He still qualifies?I saw Jen post this in another thread and I know both Bella and Harris have big wraps on them coming through the junior ranks as a part of the 2021 draft class so I figured I'd have a look into how they are going. What I found is they are both currently playing QAFL Colts competition with Broadbeach (Harris) and Palm Beach (Bella) respectively. Excitingly, Bella has played three Colts games this year to date and has been best on in each of those games! I can only assume he'll find his way into PBC's reserves team soon if he continues to post best on ground performances each week. Harris has played two games for Broadbeach this year and was named in the bests last week.
Another 2021 academy prospect a lot of people are excited about is Jye Lockett (Tony's nephew) who now lives in Ballarat but is still a part of our academy. Here is a Q&A with Jye where he talks about his plans to continue to take part in our academy program instead of transitioning into the Vic Country program:
Q&A: Jye Lockett (GWV Rebels/Queensland)
AS the postponement of all seasons commenced over the last few weeks, we head back to the pre-season where we sat down with a number of athletes across the country. In a special Question and Answer (Q&A) feature, Draft Central‘s Michael Alvaro chatted with Greater Western Victoria (GWV) Rebels’...
It's definitely unusual for a Queenslander to do it but we see this pretty regularly with GWS academy players who grow up north of the Murray River and move to an area of Victoria when they are offered a footballing scholarship from a private school. A recent example - Jacob Hopper grew up in Leeton NSW, joined the Giants academy at 13, moved to Ballarat at 17 to attend St Patrick's College on a football scholarship and play TAC Cup footy for North Ballarat. While in Ballarat, he remained in the Giants academy and would regularly travel to Sydney for training/representative duties. So I don't think there's an issue in terms of still qualifying for QLD rep duties given Jye grew up here.
It's probably the smarter option to remain in our academy because then you get the best of both worlds with NAB League footy in Victoria and northern academy training for national carnivals. It also increases his chances of being drafted, especially since we still have automatic rookie selection to academy players and won't have to use any of our picks to secure Lockett next year.
Big day in the qafl for academy goal kickers Gore 4 Pescud 3 O'Brien 2I saw Jen post this in another thread and I know both Bella and Harris have big wraps on them coming through the junior ranks as a part of the 2021 draft class so I figured I'd have a look into how they are going. What I found is they are both currently playing QAFL Colts competition with Broadbeach (Harris) and Palm Beach (Bella) respectively. Excitingly, Bella has played three Colts games this year to date and has been best on in each of those games! I can only assume he'll find his way into PBC's reserves team soon if he continues to post best on ground performances each week. Harris has played two games for Broadbeach this year and was named in the bests last week.
Another 2021 academy prospect a lot of people are excited about is Jye Lockett (Tony's nephew) who now lives in Ballarat but is still a part of our academy. Here is a Q&A with Jye where he talks about his plans to continue to take part in our academy program instead of transitioning into the Vic Country program:
Q&A: Jye Lockett (GWV Rebels/Queensland)
AS the postponement of all seasons commenced over the last few weeks, we head back to the pre-season where we sat down with a number of athletes across the country. In a special Question and Answer (Q&A) feature, Draft Central‘s Michael Alvaro chatted with Greater Western Victoria (GWV) Rebels’...
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Can definitely kick a goal.
What is his running like?
What’s his defensive intent like?
What’s his team-play like?
What’s his speed like?
I don’t know the answer to any of those really. AFL recruiters would and it would inform whether they think he is draftable.
Can never have enough goal kickers though..
SUNS Academy set for restart
The SUNS Academy will resume operations this month after an extended layoff due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
I noticed Will Bella has been included academy squad. Hoping the game is streamed on Sunday and we get to watch this exciting young key forward prospect. He is of course the younger brother of our AFLW ruck Lauren Bella and is a bottom ager this year but is already very dominant in the QAFL U18 competition so it'll be interesting to see how he goes against higher quality opposition. Could be our first ever AFL draftee from Mackay!SUNS Academy set for restart
The SUNS Academy will resume operations this month after an extended layoff due to the COVID-19 pandemic.www.goldcoastfc.com.au
Austin Harris is the other bottom ager to keep an eye on. He is originally from Cairns.
What position does Bella play?
Key forward so either CHF or FF. He and Jye Lockett (another member of our academy boarding in Victoria) formed a deadly combination as key forwards at the U16 national carnival last year. He is absolutely massive. Here he is on the far left as a 15 year old with his family and for context Lauren stands 188cm. I would guess Will is at least 195cm and he's definitely not skinny like most kids his age/height are.
Wow he is an absolute monster- potential next replacement up forward for Day when he retires?Key forward so either CHF or FF. He and Jye Lockett (another member of our academy boarding in Victoria) formed a deadly combination as key forwards at the U16 national carnival last year. He is absolutely massive. Here he is on the far left as a 15 year old with his family and for context Lauren stands 188cm. I would guess Will is at least 195cm and he's definitely not skinny like most kids his age/height are.
My apologies. He was actually 16 years and 2 months when that photo was taken. Still, he looks considerably older than that! Bella is actually a famous name in Queensland sport. His father, Anthony, played professional rugby league for the South Queensland Crushers in the old NSWRL/ARL competition in the mid-to-late 90s. More notably, his uncle, Martin, had a long professional rugby league career throughout the 80s and 90s playing for clubs based in NSW and QLD as well as top level representative honours for the Maroons and Australia (finished his career with the Gold Coast Chargers for the trivia buffs). I think there may have even been a third brother named Robert who also played for the Crushers. Obviously his sister currently plays for our AFLW team as well so they are a very accomplished family in Queensland sporting history and we all hope Will is the next Bella to make it!
He was listed as 194cm and 100kg at the U16 National Championships last year. That's about as big as they come at the U16 level! I'd personally like to see us draft both Bella and Lockett next year because they both look to be exciting tall prospects for us and are the right age to overtake Sammy Day as he enters his 30s.
It should be pointed out that Will Bella has played four QAFL Colts games for Palm Beach this year and has three best on ground performances with a second best on ground performance in the fourth game. This kid is already really dominant against players a year or two older than him!
Here is an upcoming stream of our academy game on Sunday where we'll all get to watch Bella strut his stuff:
1:00pm on Sunday. As far as I'm aware Brisbane's academy doesn't really have any standouts in this age group. Bottom ager Noah McFadyen may be one to keep an eye on though. Here is the Brisbane line up that our academy will be facing on Sunday:
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1:00pm on Sunday. As far as I'm aware Brisbane's academy doesn't really have any standouts in this age group. Bottom ager Noah McFadyen may be one to keep an eye on though. Here is the Brisbane line up that our academy will be facing on Sunday:
Thanks.
I have an invested interest in Gore since I follow him on insta. So looking forward to see how he goes.
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