How high will Murray Bushrangers gun Riley Onley's draft stocks rise in 2025?
Photo by
Megan Fisher
There will be no beating around the Bushies in 2025.
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Murray Bushrangers coaches are taking a more tactical approach as to how they tackle training sessions and travel loads for their players this pre-season.
The Bushies announced their under-18 boys squad for the 2025 season last Thursday, featuring 42 players and four Next Generation Academy members.
Given the squad is made up of players spread from Seymour to Wodonga, Bushrangers under-18 boys coach Mark Brown said the organisation had decided to use a hub model for training sessions.
“We modify slightly from year to year to make sure (the program) stays as relevant and fresh as possible,” Brown said.
“We have a Shepparton hub that is based at Rumbalara Football Club and a Wodonga hub.
“Last year we brought the boys together more often, this year we have left them in hubs to try and reduce the travel and maximise our contact hours.
“(Bushies is) a fairly successful program so we don’t need to change it much.”
This year's 42-person squad features 19 players from the region, with four representatives from Shepparton and Shepparton United, two from Mooroopna, Seymour and Numurkah and one from Shepparton Swans, Mansfield, Benalla, Rumbalara and Nathalia.
One player name that AFL clubs will be keeping a watchful eye on this Coates Talent League season is big-bodied midfielder and United product Riley Onley.
Brown said that the 198cm 17-year-old ticks a lot of boxes as a potential top-end draftee this year.
“(Onley) is a big man, he runs very fast, he runs a sub-three second 20m, he also has got good endurance,” he said.
“He has a lot of athletic traits that stack up and then football-wise he is a good disposer of the football.
“He is very fortunate he has got a lot of gifts but to his credit, he is working really hard on them and has been over the summer - he is setting himself up for a good season.
“He just has to (find) balance as he is going to have (commitments for) National Academy, Vic Country Academy, Scotch College, Murray Bushrangers, potentially a bit of ‘Shepp’ United as well.
"He has to wear a lot of caps.”
Murray Bushrangers under-18s boys squad - GV products
Tanner Armstrong, Archer Hueston, Riley Onley, Blake Sofra (Shepparton United), Ryan Ash, Hunter Howells, Jack Mellington, Angus Williams (Shepparton), Mackenzie Calleja, Rhys Osborne (Mooroopna), Rory Kennedy, Josh Porter (Seymour), Harry Hopkins, Harrison Moon (Numurkah), Flynn Grumley (Shepparton Swans), Jack Marks (Mansfield), Brogan McGee (Rumbalara), Baz McDonald (Nathalia), Connor Breheny (Benalla)
Aside from Onley - a name you can prepare to hear a lot this season - Brown said there are a couple of other junior Goulburn Valley guns that are pushing themselves forward this off-season.
“We have a couple of boys in the Vic Country squad along with Riley, so Tanner Armstrong, who is a bottom-ager out of Shepp United and Rumbalara - he looks really good,” he said.
“He made the All-Australian under-16 team last year and he has progressed and had a really strong pre-season.
“Ryan Ash is also going well, he is a familiar name - he is the brother of Lachie and son of (Stephen) - he has got himself fit and is moving well.”
The Bushrangers' first practice match will be against Bendigo Pioneers at Punt Road Oval on March 9, with the season starting proper a couple of weeks later.
Meanwhile, the Murray Bushrangers also announced its under-18 girls squad last week.
Nathalia product Claudia Plattfuss has been named in the Murray Bushrangers under-18 girls side for 2025.
Photo by
Rechelle Zammit
The 40-player group has eight representatives from the Goulburn Valley, with Shepparton United the shining light with five.
Seven of the eight players featured are returning from last season’s Bushies squad.
Echuca United’s Jerrah Caruso is the one new addition from the region.
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