AFL grand final 2018: Where the players started their careers
BEFORE they became premiership players, 19 of Collingwood and West Coast’s players honed their talents at junior football clubs throughout Victoria. Here’s where their journeys started.
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EIGHT junior football clubs from Melbourne’s east and south will be represented on the biggest stage in Saturday’s AFL grand final.
The city’s east has the greatest representation of any region in the likely grand final sides, with players whose careers started at Ashburton, Noble Park, Beverley Hills, Ferntree Gully and Bulleen Templestowe expected to feature.
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Collingwood star Jordan De Goey first showcased his explosive skills with the Ashburton Redbacks, who play in the Yarra Junior Football League.
Adam Treloar was a Noble Park junior and has returned to his roots to coach the club’s under-12 team, while AFL Rising Star Jaidyn Stephenson played in an under-17 premiership for Ferntee Gully as recently as 2015.
Danny Cassidy, who coached Stephenson’s junior team, told Leader after last year’s draft the young Magpie oozed X-factor.
“You could see how blessed the boy was with natural talent and just drive, you couldn’t imagine a more natural-born winner, natural-born leader,” Cassidy said.
After 36 goals from 25 games in his debut season, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who would disagree.
Asked by Leader’s Paul Amy in August why he had returned to mentor Noble Park’s juniors, Treloar said: “Noble Park were fantastic to me. They taught me how to play footy and were a massive part in me becoming an AFL player.”
Collingwood running machine Tom Phillips came through the ranks at Beverley Hills in Doncaster East, while West Coast on-baller Luke Shuey played for nearby Bulleen Templestowe.
Bulleen Templestowe has provided a platform for many stars to strut their stuff at the elite level, with Gary Pert, Richard Osborne and Stephen Silvagni among its alumni.
But this weekend the Bullants’ focus will be on Shuey, who was a member of the Eagles’ team which lost to Hawthorn in the 2015 decider.
Melbourne’s south will be represented by Tyson Goldsack (Pakenham), Brayden Maynard (Hampton Rovers) and Tom Langdon (Old Melburnians). The trio will be key members of a Collingwood defence intent on shutting down a dangerous Eagles’ forward line led by key targets Josh Kennedy and Jack Darling.
The Eagles clearly have scouts in Melbourne’s west, snapping up Western Jets products Daniel Venables and Liam Duggan with high picks in recent years. Duggan developed at Bacchus Marsh and counts Footscray legend Doug Hawks as one of his junior coaches, while Venables was part of a talent crop of juniors at Keilor.
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Richmond’s Corey Ellis, ex-St Kilda rookie Nick O’Kearney, former Eagle Damien Cavka, Essendon’s Jayden Laverde and North Melbourne’s Paul Ahern also came through the Blues’ junior system.
Will-Hoskin Elliot is the Magpie with links to the western suburbs, starting his career at WRFL club North Sunshine.
Banyule product Brayden Sier, drafted to Collingwood from Northern Knights, will play his 12th AFL game on the ultimate stage. The big-bodied midfielder was described as the bolter of the 2015 draft when the Magpies swooped at pick 32, but their faith has been rewarded this year. The sole player from Melbourne’s north in line to feature in the decider has averaged 19 disposals and five tackles this season.
Towns in country Victoria will be cheering on Scott Pendlebury (Sale), Steele Sidebottom (Congupna), Tom Cole (Sandhurst) and Jack Crisp (Myrtleford).
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Will Schofield (Geelong College) and Taylor Adams (St Josephs) hail from Geelong.
Barring changes to the preliminary final teams, 19 Victorians will take part in this year’s AFL grand final.
BEFORE THEY WERE GRAND FINALISTS
Collingwood
Jordan De Goey — Ashburton
Tyson Goldsack — Pakenham
Adam Treloar — Noble Park
Tom Langdon — Old Melburnians
Scott Pendlebury — Sale
Taylor Adams — St Josephs
Tom Phillips — Beverley Hills
Steele Sidebottom — Congupna
Jack Crisp — Myrtleford
Will Hoskin-Elliot — North Sunshine
Jaidyn Stephenson — Ferntree Gully
Brayden Sier — Banyule
Brayden Maynard — Hampton Rovers
West Coast
Luke Shuey — Bulleen Templestowe
Liam Duggan — Bacchus Marsh
Daniel Venables — Keilor
Nathan Vardy — Allies
Tom Cole — Sandhurst
Will Schofield — Geelong College
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