Woodville-West Torrens giving young indigenous players chance to shine
WOODVILLE-West Torrens is giving three young players from the APY Lands an opportunity against West Adelaide on Saturday.
WOODVILLE-West Torrens’ bid to increase opportunities for indigenous players from APY Lands will be evident on Saturday when three players front for the Eagles against West Adelaide at Richmond Oval.
The Eagles reserves will contain Hector Raymond and Ainsley Walker from APY Lands, while Nason Dare has been named in the under 18 side. The players trained with the Eagles this week, along with the APY side to front Maralinga for the Don McSweeney Aboriginal Lands Cup at Adelaide Oval on Friday from 4.40pm. It is the curtain raiser to the AFL battle between Adelaide and Western Bulldogs.
APY Lands is in the Eagles zone and apart from their clinics in the area, Eagles stars Paul Stewart and Jared Petrenko also make regular visits to the area for school programs.
Eagles football manager Luke Powell speaks enthusiastically of the untapped talent in the APY Lands.
“There is a tremendous amount of talent up there,” Powell said. “For their limited resources, the way they pick the game up is unbelievable.
“There is so much natural raw talent and we would love to have full time staff up there.
“We try and get up there three or four times a year and we are pushing to grow the (Aboriginal Lands) Cup. We want to have more kids come down to Adelaide and better their future, and hopefully return to help their community.”
Glenelg’s talented Dom Barry knows only too well the benefits of playing in the Cup, having fronted for APY Lands last year.
Barry worked in the APY Lands driving a school bus and he said it is a terrific opportunity to play in the curtain raiser to an AFL clash.
“It is another avenue for the players to better their lives in a small way,” Barry said. “A lot of these guys have done it before and the whole buzz, the chance to come to Adelaide and train with the Eagles, play in the game, the whole week is amazing.”
Barry will again be involved today, helping run water to the players in the game. Tomorrow night, he will front for the Tigers in the clash against Norwood at Glenelg Oval.