Sons of guns headline new South Australian AFL Academy intake
PORT Adelaide father-son prospects Jackson Mead, Trent Burgoyne and Taj Schofield headline the inaugural intake at the South Australian Hub of the AFL Academy.
PORT Adelaide father-son prospects Jackson Mead, Trent Burgoyne and Taj Schofield headline the inaugural intake at the South Australian Hub of the AFL Academy.
And the middle son of a champion Crow, Luke Edwards, also is in the 30-player squad as the AFL moves to increase its teenage talent pool and fast-track the development of the country's best kids.
Under the previous AFL Academy model, 30 players were selected in both the Level 1 and 2 squads.
Now 150 players from throughout Australia will get the chance to be a part of five regional programs — SA, Vic Metro, Vic Country, Western Australia and the Allies (Queensland, NSW/ACT, Tasmania and the Northern Territory).
The SA program, which includes 22 players who are eligible to be drafted next year and eight bottom-agers, will be led by State under-18 championship-winning coach Tony Bamford.
Mead and Burgoyne — the sons of former Power stars Darren and Peter — are eligible to be selected as father-son players by Port next year.
Schofield — the son of 2004 premiership player Jarrad — has just relocated to Adelaide from WA with his dad, who has joined his former club as an assistant coach.
He is eligible for the 2020 draft, along with Edwards, who is the son of dual Crows premiership player Tyson.
Tyson’s oldest son, Jackson, was last month delisted by Adelaide after spending just one year on its rookie list.
SANFL talent manager Brenton Phillips said Mead and Burgoyne, who already are a part of Port’s Next Generation Academy, loom as strong 2019 draft prospects.
“Trent is fairly light still but he possesses some blistering outside speed like his father and is a really promising player,’’ Phillips said.
“Jackson is a big of a standout who I believe has the ability to play league football next year.’’
Their Woodville-West Torrens teammate Kysaiah Pickett is a nephew of Port’s 2004 Norm Smith Medallist Byron and is not eligible to be picked as a father-son player.
Phillips said next year’s SA draft class doesn’t have “the out-and-out top-end talent’’ of this year’s group but will still have “some very draftable footballers’’.
AFL Head of Talent Tristan Salter said the new approach to the national Academy “will ensure more of our most talented players have access to AFL facilities while receiving the best quality coaching, high performance and wellbeing services in the country’’.
“Importantly, these players will spend more time in their home state, with year-round first-class support that will enhance their opportunity to perform at an elite level through the AFL under-18 championships,’’ he said.
The SA squad is: Corey Durdin, Jordan O’Brien, Oliver Shaw (Central District), Kaine Baldwin, Luke Edwards, Will Gould, Cooper Horsnell, Brady Searle (Glenelg), Karl Finlay, Josh Hart, Dyson Hilder, Harrison Magor (North Adelaide), Dylan Stephens, Cameron Taheny (Norwood), Zachary Dumesny, Damon Freitag, Daniel Sladojevic (South Adelaide), Oliver Grivell, Anzac Lochowiak, Jed McEntee, Josh Shute (Sturt), Taj Schofield (Subiaco), Will Day, Jye Sinderberry, Riley Thilthorpe (West Adelaide), Trent Burgoyne, Jamie Coff, Lachlan McNeil, Jackson Mead, Kysaiah Pickett (Woodville-West Torrens).