Live stream: SANFL State U18 start national championship build-up with clash against Sydney/GWS Academies

It took them well over three-quarters of the game to finally shake of a pesky opponent, but SANFL U18s did enough to open their journey to the national championships with a win. Check out the REPLAY.

South Australia Under-18s began their journey to the upcoming national championships with a solid 10-point victory over a Swans/Giants Academies side at Thebarton Oval on Sunday.

Rising Woodville-West Torrens star Tyler Welsh and Central Districts’ duo Aiden Schubert and Tallan Rosenzweig each kicked two goals as SA finished slightly the stronger against an impressive opponent, winning 10.11 (71) to 9.7 (61).

It was as tight as they come in the first three terms. SA led by one point at quarter time and again at three-quarter time. The would have had the same advantage at halftime had not the Sydney squad kicked a last second goal.

When Ned Hawkins landed his first goal less than a minute into the second half, the margin blew out to 11 points.

But goals from Welsh and Matt Leray gave the hosts some serious momentum they didn’t relinquish.

Glenelg’s Angus Clarke was one of the standout players on the ground, while Tate Delmenico, Schubert and Jacob Newton did their hopes of securing a spot in the final team no harm at all.

PREVIEW

Positions in South Australia’s U18 boys team for this year’s AFL National Championships will be “up for grabs’’ at Thebarton Oval on Sunday.

The Croweaters are expected to rotate 28 players through an important trial game against

a Sydney/GWS Academies side, with coach Tony Bamford declaring “there are still plenty of spots up for grabs’’.

“A good performance this weekend will help a lot when we select our team to play the Allies in two weeks,’’ Bamford said.

“As coaches, we are looking to see which players can understand the role that we are going to ask them to play, given we are going to rotate quite a few players through the game.

Sid Draper made a huge impact at the U18 nationals in 2023.

“We are looking for players who understand what the role requires them to do and whether they can perform it under a bit of pressure.

“On top of that, we are looking for players who really want to stake their claim for the first nationals game.’’

You can catch the trial game LIVE and EXCLUSIVE on KommunityTV as part of the three-year deal between SANFL and News Corp which will showcase the best young male and female talent in the state.

SA will begin their national championship campaign against the reigning champion Allies on Sunday, May 26, in Adelaide.

The championships will involve five teams - SA, the Allies (comprising ACT, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland and Tasmania), Victoria Country, Victoria Metro and Western Australia.

The five teams will play each other once in a round-robin series, which ends with the two Victorian sides clashing on July 14.

Lucas Camporeale

Tyler Welsh

Star Croweater Sid Draper - in top-five AFL draft contention this year - is expected to play his first game of the season on Sunday as he returns from a bad shin injury.

Bamford said that provided Draper gets through training unscathed this week he would play “about a quarter-and-a-half’’ against the Academies side as he is eased back into action.

Draper has been named SA’s captain for the championships, with Ben Camporeale and Kade Herbert vice-captains and Lucas Camporeale and Phoenix Hargrave deputy vice-captains.

Crows father-son prospect Tyler Welsh will line up for SA, along with Carlton father-son draft hopes Ben and Lucas Camporeale, who are the twin sons of Blues premiership midfielder Scott Camporeale.

Those already ruled out of Sunday’s game through injury include the Eagles’ Charlie West (groin) and Logan Hughes (knee), Central District’s Ryan Lane-Ellis (foot), South Adelaide’s Benny Barrett (hamstring) and Norwood’s Noah Daw (broken collarbone).

Over-age key forward Noah Howes won’t play because of league commitments with the Panthers.

He booted three goals in an impressive league performance against reigning premier Glenelg last Sunday.

Ben Camporeale is making a big impression.

Bamford is pleased with the talent at his disposal this season, believing SA’s midfield stocks run deeper than last year.

“We have significantly more midfield depth than we had last year, which will help us maintain intensity around the ball for longer periods because we can spread the workload across about eight-to-10 players as opposed to four-to-six last season,’’ he said.

“I’m pretty confident we have some good midfielders who will give our forwards a good look at it.

“Our strength is our midfield while we have some talent ahead of the ball and some developing players behind the ball.’’

Originally published as Live stream: SANFL State U18 start national championship build-up with clash against Sydney/GWS Academies