Sport
Talent heads north
07Jul08
WHEN the country's most promising under-16 talent goes on display at the end of the month, selectors will be keeping a keen eye on the crop of youngsters likely to be selected in the first Gold Coast team at the end of next year.
Fittingly, the national under-16 championships are being held in Queensland this year and are set to start on July 25, when Victoria Metro meets Queensland in a warm-up match at Carrara.
Victoria Metro will then play Victoria Country, Western Australia and South Australia in three matches to determine which two teams go through to the Division 1 Grand Final.
The final will be held nearly two months after the end of the preliminary matches and, for the first time, will be played at the MCG on September 27 as a curtain-raiser to the AFL Grand Final.
There will also be more than state pride on the line during the championships strong performances will also catch the attention of AFL selectors.
Following the league's changes to the draft age earlier this year, the new Gold Coast team will have an opportunity to sign the players whose 18th birthdays fall between January 1 and April 30, 2010.
With the Gold Coast team expected to compete in a state-level competition such as the TAC Cup before its entry to the AFL in 2011, those players would become the building blocks of the newly formed club.
Even if the players declined to be signed to the Gold Coast for 2010, the new club would have another opportunity to select them in the 2010 AFL National Draft, when it will have picks 1-5, 14, 15, 24 and 41.
A Division 2 under-16 competition will also be held concurrently to the Division 1 carnival, with Tasmania, NSW/ACT, Queensland and the Northern Territory set to do battle.
* Visit www.localfooty.com.au
