49-player SA squad selected ahead of AFL under-17 national championships in June

A string of tall talents headline 49 young guns selected in the South Australian squad ahead of the AFL under-17 national championships.

Ashton Moir, Luke Harvey, Jack Delean and Max Michalanney are among the young SA footballers selected in the under-17 state squad.

Forty-nine young footballers are set to vie for the chance to represent South Australia on the national stage next month.

The SA squad for the AFL Under-17 National Championships, announced this month, features a spread of rising talent from across the SANFL’s eight traditional clubs.

SANFL academy manager Tony Bamford said this year’s crop included a rare embarrassment of riches in the ruck and key position departments.

“What’s really impressing us is the talent we’ve got that is 190cm-plus,” Bamford said.

“We’ve got quite good group of talented talls this year, which we don’t normally get here in SA.

“We usually have one or two but in this group we’ve got five or six who can really play, so there’s going to be a bit of pressure on the talls this year to get a game.”

Bamford said North Adelaide’s mobile forward Isaac Keeler, who stands at 197cm, was “exceptionally talented” at ground level as well as in the air.

West Adelaide bottom-ager Will Patton (193cm) and ruckman Harry Barnett (202cm) were two other developing talls to watch, according to Bamford.

Elsewhere, the Croweaters will be led by the likes of big-bodied Eagles midfielder Adam D’Aloia and Bloods and Sacred Heart product Kobe Ryan.

Kobe Ryan (right) in action for Sacred Heart during round one of the college footy season. Picture: Russell Millard

“Adam’s a tough kid and I was really impressed with what he was able to do in the under-18 competition at the start of the year when all the good players were playing,” Bamford said.

“Kobe Ryan can run through the midfield but I like him off half-back … he’s really tough and has a great thirst for the contest.”

Former South Adelaide player Julian Farkas will coach the side along with assistants Clay Sampson, Scott Irrgang and Dave Reynolds.

West Adelaide had the most players selected with eight followed by South and North with seven each.

Six young guns from each of Central District, Glenelg, Norwood and the Eagles made the squad along with three Sturt representatives.

The squad, which includes 16 bottom-age talents, will begin training on Tuesday before playing an internal trial at Thebarton Oval on June 11.

From there the 49-strong group will be cut down to 30 for the national championships, with three players in each game required to be 16-year-olds.

SA’s first contest will be against WA on Sunday, June 20 before clashes against

Victoria Metro and Victoria Country in July.