AFTER the curtain fell last week on the AFL Under 18 National Championship, it's timely to reflect with pride on Victorian football.
Obviously, congratulations to all those players who over the past six weeks represented Vic Country who emerged with the crown as Championship victors.
It's a thoroughly deserved accolade not only to all the players, but also the coaching staff led by Rob Hyde, whose outstanding mentor and leadership can't be understated.
And, to cap a stellar Championship, Vic Metro finished off the carnival with four successive wins.
Significantly, the only team to defeat Vic Metro was the eventual winners.
Clearly, it underlined the enormous talent pool of emerging young players in Victoria.
Further ringing endorsement of the wealth of players in the State is the fact that 11 Victorians - or half the team - were selected as All Australians.
Congratulations to Shaun Atley, Lucas Cook, Mitch Hallahan, Dyson Heppell, Jayden Pitt and Andrew Treloar (Vic Country) and Josh Caddy, Andrew Gaff, Ben Jacobs, Thomas Liberatore and Matthew Watson (Vic Metro) for their All Australian honours.
It speaks volumes for our talented player pathway that stretches on a national level from Under 16s to Under 18s to State League level.
Already, such a program has seen Victoria win the State League match against the WAFL and now Vic Country's success.
While it is largely a development carnival, we watch with great interest the performance of both Vic Country and Vic Metro in the Under 16 National Championships, which has been played at Blacktown during the past week.
Many of the players from the Under 18s carnival, both Country and Metro, will graduate to AFL clubs next year either as Drafted or Rookie Listed players. Unquestionably, they will recall fondly the experiences of the Championships.
Other players, for many varied reasons, will be overlooked. While disappointed they should not view it as the end of their AFL aspirations.
The reality is that not every player from the Championships can end up on an AFL list, but rather than be disillusioned they should seek out a VFL club to showcase their talents.
More and more players will be looked at from the VFL with the Gold Coast entering the AFL next season and Greater Western Sydney the year after.
What the VFL provides exiting TAC Cup players is an opportunity to challenge themselves consistently against AFL Listed/Rookie players on a weekly basis.
No other State League provides players with such a high quality standard.
As evidenced over the past couple of months, Victorian football has much to offer.
Last Modified on 18/08/2010 11:53