Tasmania senior academy coach Jeromey Webberley says the rep series uncovered Tassie’s hidden gems

Tasmania Devils coach Jeromey Webberley has named the stand-out players the state “discovered” during the academy series. See who he picked out.

Tasmania's Archie Wilkinson in action against Sandringham. Picture: Rod Thompson

Tasmania Devils coach Jeromey Webberley has named the stand-out players “discovered” during the state senior academy series on the way to building a Devils VFL team next year.

About 45 players were rotated through the state team in its five-game series.

Webberley tipped his hat to the mainstays of the side – Andrew Phillips, Sam Siggins, Josh Green and Bailey Boag – for giving it the nucleus of a competitive team.

“Those guys have been the backbone of this group,” Webberley said.

Bailey Boag attempts to smother a kick by Sydney-Canberra's Zac Youlten. Picture AFL Tasmania

Phillips won the medal as Tasmania’s best player in the fifth and final game at North Hobart Oval on Saturday, a 10-point loss to a combined team from AFL Sydney and AFL Canberra.

“He has been awesome the whole carnival,” Webberley said.

“He missed one game against ‘Sandy’ [Sandringham] but the way that he plays, the passion, the dedication, commitment to contest, that he plays with is exceptional.

“Those guys represented the ‘Map’ extremely well again and ‘Flip’ was clearly our best player.”

Tasmania’s Sam Siggins shields the ball from a Queensland opponent. Picture: Linda Higginson

It was the unsung heroes that Webberley said stepped into the breach that proved the success of the academy.

He was particularly impressed by Archie Wilkinson’s heroics playing on Sydney-Canberra bigman Josh Bruce – a 163-game 234-goal former GWS Giants, St Kilda and Western Bulldogs forward.

“Archie Wilkinson’s job on Josh Bruce was extraordinary,” Webberley said.

“Considering that he’s a guy who has come from division two footy in Launceston to going to Launceston [in the NTFA Premier League] this year, and gone from key a forward who dominates local footy to playing on an ex-AFL player and holding him to one goal, it was an outstanding performance.

“He won so many critical one-on-one contests, so for me he was right there with our best-on-ground.”

The series achieved its purpose of unearthing Tasmanian football’s rough diamonds.

“We wouldn’t have discovered players like Josh Wolfe, Kai Cameron, Archie Wilkinson and Mitch Brouwer, who got invited in late and played every game,” Webberley said.

“So there’s a hell of a lot of guys we have discovered through this and also guys yet to be discovered.

“We’ve got a really clear picture now of what we have got within our state.

“We would have loved to have provided everyone an opportunity within the squad, which we weren’t able to do.

“It was difficult for them and us as well, but I feel like we’ve tried to get as much talent through the door as we can while trying to maintain the continuity and stability of the team.”