Some of the area’s emerging youngsters will have the spotlight all to themselves this weekend before senior competitions roar into life from Saturday, April 5.
The Murray Bushrangers boys will get first crack on the calendar this year, with all four major local competitions synchronising their start times, and they kick off with a double-header on Sunday at Craigieburn’s Highgate Recreation Reserve.
It’s a clash of regional forces on neutral outer-metro territory as the Bushrangers tangle with Gippsland Power in under-16 and under-18 action, with the younger cohort kicking off at 11am before its elders run out at 1pm.
It’s an under-18 side simply bursting at the seams with local talent primed to take the next step in their development — no fewer than 19 Goulburn Valley representatives amongst the 2025 squad.
Shepparton United product Riley Onley is a name tipped to lead from the front — and one you’ll become well familiar with if you aren’t already — as he embarks on a season he’ll be hopeful to end as a high-end AFL draftee come November.
The Demons have fingerprints all over the top-level boys and girls squads this year, with Archer Hueston, Blake Sofra and Tanner Armstrong all a chance to represent the red and blue in Bushrangers colours this weekend and throughout the season.
It was another GV name in Mansfield’s Jack Marks, however, who would catch recruiters’ attention this week as part of National Preseason Testing days.
Marks broke the event’s all-time record in the agility test, smashing through in a blistering 7.65 seconds to earn himself a handy slice of fanfare heading into a promising year.
It’s all there on paper — now the time comes to execute and impress, says head coach Mark Brown.
“The first three to four rounds give you a pretty good understanding of where your squad sits,” Brown said.
“That’s not just in terms of how you perform, but your general draftability.
“You do a lot of match sim and training, but you’re not really sure where it sits until you play quality opposition, so we’ll learn more over the next month and start to build from there.
“We’re looking forward to it, there’s no doubt about that. Gippsland has some top-end talent and they’re always a highly combative side.
“It should be a good contest; they’ve had the better of those head-to-head battles over the last 10 or so years and they got us by a kick in that wild card.”
As Talent League bosses are always quick to state, it’s November’s draft nights where success is measured over final sirens during the winter.
It’s been an interesting trajectory in recent seasons, as Brown highlights the contrast on-field fortunes can bring opposed to dreams realised at season’s end.
“I think we had nine kids play for either Allies or Vic Country last year and we were in front of the win-loss ledger,” Brown said.
“We had three kids drafted, two in the first round, but in 2023, we won three games and had four drafted.
“We understand why we’re here and that’s to ID the next hopefully draftable talents.
“From an individual perspective, the focus is to win contests and win your position and we emphasise that.
“We think we’ve got the talent, but that has to emerge over the next five or six months. We’ll put a side together that’s competitive.”
