FOOTBALL
By TOM HAYES
TWO draft hopefuls from Gippsland were put in the spotlight recently when lining up for the Australia Under 18s.
Gippsland Power’s representation in the boys’ Australian U18s side was Foster’s Willem Duursma, highly touted to be a top five pick in the 2025 AFL National Draft, who was selected to face Richmond Tigers’ VFL side on Sunday, April 13 at RSEA Park.
A week later, Traralgon’s Ella Stoddart was selected to represent the girls’ Australia U18s, who faced the All Stars, a team made up of Under 23 nominations selected by AFLW clubs. The two sides battled it out on Sunday, April 20, also at RSEA Park.
Leading into the fixtures, Marsh AFL National Academy Manager, and former Collingwood and Morwell player, Tarkyn Lockyer said “It’s an exciting moment for all players in the Marsh AFL National Academy to wear the Australia jumper for the very first time”.
THE boys took on Richmond’s reserves, ultimately going down by just 13 points, but not without putting up a fight.
For a twos side, the Richmond reserves weren’t without quality. Much of that came down to the return of Noah Balta (105 AFL games) who was playing his first game back after his club suspension for a New Year’s brawl in New South Wales.
Balta was recently sentenced to an 18-month Community Correction Order as an outcome of the brawl. His CCO also includes a 10pm-6am curfew for the next three months, affecting his playing schedule for the foreseeable future.
Duursma, who has played most of this season in the midfield for Gippsland Power in the Coates Talent League, reverted to the backline where he played a lot of his football last season.
Richmond more than doubled their quarter time lead by halftime, adding another 4.2 (26), while holding the U18s to a single digit score. The deficit was no greater than five goals, but up until this stage, the U18s were still getting their chances, with just one less scoring opportunity.
The tide turned somewhat for the U18s in the second half, winning the third term.
Things finally got interesting in the final term, when the youth of the U18s showed, kicking 4.3 (27) to 1.5 (11), ending the encounter just 13 points shy of the Richmond twos, 9.12 (66) to 12.7 (79).
Duursma had 14 disposals from the backline, including two marks, two tackles, and four rebound 50s.
The U18 boys played a second fixture against VFL side Coburg on Sunday, April 27. Statistics and scores weren’t available until after the Express went to print.
THE following week, the Australian U18 girls put the U23 All Stars to the sword in a 63-point demolition job. Such was the smashing, the All Stars only mustered two goals for the afternoon.
The girls kicked three goals to nothing in the first term, boosting their advantage marginally in the second quarter to take a 25-point lead into the main change.
A monstrous third term could have been far worse for the All Stars, as the U18s kicked 3.10 (28) to nothing, pushing the margin past 50 points.
So much talent will come from this draft class, with the load fairly evenly distributed across half of the U18s playing group.
Stoddart collected 15 touches for the day, as well as two marks and five inside 50s – the second-most for the side.
The Australia U18 girls’ side will get together for a second match in Melbourne over the King’s Birthday long weekend.
