INFO ON TAC CUP

^Might have to venture down to that in my footy-starved state. 8)

Here is a media release from the AFL about the match at Optus Oval on Thursday September 23. MEDIA RELEASE FROM THE AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE The Allies concept, used at AFL State of Origin level in the 1990s, is set to reappear at the Under 18 level in the 2004 AFL Toyota Grand Final week. The National Bank 's AFL U18 Rising Stars Cup match is a new element of the National Bank's AFL Rising Stars Program and will be played at Optus Oval on Thursday 23 September where the Allies take on Victoria. The Allies, comprising the best young players from Queensland, Northern Territory, NSW/ACT and Tasmania, will play a Victorian TAC Cup combined team from the Murray Bushrangers, Bendigo Pioneers, Northern Knights, North Ballarat Rebels, Western Jets and Geelong Falcons. The National Bank's AFL U18 Rising Stars Cup will showcase some of the exciting young players from around Australia in contention for the National Bank 's AFL Draft on 20 November 2004. The Allies will be coached by former Essendon star and current Northern Territory Under 18 Coach Darren Bewick and captained by the highly rated midfielder from the NT, Richard Tambling. The Allies will assemble in Melbourne on Tuesday 21 September and will train at Optus Oval and the Lexus Centre. Former Melbourne champion and National Bank's AFL Rising Stars Program Ambassador Garry Lyon will also address the Allies giving them an insight into the requirements needed to make it to AFL level . The media are invited to attend at 2pm on Wednesday 22 September at the Lexus Centre. The Victorian team will be coached by Football Victoria's Director of Coaching, Anton Grbac, and captained by promising Northern Knights key forward Adam Pattison. Adam was recently awarded as the TAC Cup Coaches Award winner for 2004, as voted by the 12 coaches in the TAC Cup. Details of the National Bank 's AFL U18 Rising Stars Cup are: 1pm Thursday 23 September 2004 Optus Oval Free entry ALLIES SQUAD Jumper First Name Last Name State League Club Hgt (cm) Wgt (kg) 1 Richard Tambling NT Southern Districts 180 68 2 Ed Clarke NSW/ACT North Shore 178 91 3 Andrew Hodgson NSW/ACT Pennant Hills 179 81 4 Martie Corrie NT Nightcliff 181 82 5 Scott Harding QLD Morningside 180 74 6 Allan Bielski TAS North Launceston 181 68 8 Troy Bartlett NSW/ACT Wollongong 186 77 12 Travis Natt NT Waratahs 189 78 14 Sam Lonergan TAS Launceston 181 79 15 Justin Sherman TAS Clarence 182 84 16 Nathan O'Donoghue TAS Launceston 193 78 18 Andrew Lee TAS Burnie 194 83 19 Tom Williams QLD Morningside 195 86 20 Ed McDonnell QLD Western Magpies 192 85 21 Isaac McLean NT West Alice Springs 188 90 22 Earl Shaw NSW/ACT Campbelltown 198 93 23 Jake Weller QLD Northern Eagles 196 85 24 Michael West QLD Redlands 195 85 25 Pat Garner QLD West Magpies 193 80 26 Luke McGuane QLD Broadbeach 192 77 27 Will Hamill QLD Mt Gravatt 190 76 30 Jarrod Garth TAS Clarence 190 93 VICTORIA’S SQUAD Jumper First Name Last Name Region Club Hgt (cm) Wgt (kg) 1 Sam Dwyer Geelong Sth Warnambool 177 70 4 Jordan Wood Murray Wangaratta Magpies 181 86 5 Shannon Emmett Murray Katandra 182 82 8 Brad Sutcliffe Western Pt Melbourne Colts 180 63 10 Tom Hallam Bendigo Beulah 183 72 11 Jack Hill Murray Wangaratta Rovers 191 82 12 Seamus Young Bendigo Donald 186 74 13 Alipate Carlile Murray Wangaratta Rovers 188 93 14 Travis Baird Bendigo Donald 187 82 15 Wayde Twomey Western Hoppers Crossing 184 77 16 Ryan Jackson Northern Greensborough 186 75 17 Ryan Herring Nth Ballarat Hamilton 192 83 18 Renwick Watts Geelong Colac 190 91 19 Sam Barnes Bendigo Sandhurst 189 86 20 James Quinton Northern Whittlesea 186 79 21 Ben Davies Western Williamstown 186 80 22 Chris Stewart Northern Nth Heidleberg 194 87 23 Daniel Batson Nth Ballarat Nhill 201 92 24 Adam Pattison Northern Old Paradians 195 87 25 Mark Lynch Northern Greensborough 207 97 26 Brendan Van Shaik Murray Benalla 203 96 27 Nathan Anderson Nth Ballarat Mt Clear 193 93

Teams for TAC CUP Preliminary Finals 1st Preliminary Final Oakleigh Chargers v Eastern Ranges Saturday 18th September TEAC Oval at 11.15am Oakleigh Chargers B: Prendergast Fitzpatrick Laidlaw HB: Gilham Freeman Gibson C: Krakouer Barton Hassett HF: Bain Bonaddio Neratzoglou F: Laver Myers Dowler R: Sowersby Sharp Murphy Inter: Ainger Brittain Nahas Rimington Reed S. Roberts Searl Stewart Eastern Ranges B: Capomolla Hill Pollett HB: Kelly Dalton Marcius C: Johnson Holmes Di Mascio HF: Bull Bate Hocking F: Falovic Cloke Adams R: Deluca Knights J. Wilson Inter: Kelleher Singh Wright Spangher Bailey Markovic Barker Burley  2nd Preliminary Final Calder Cannons v Gippsland Power Saturday 18th September TEAC Oval at 2.10pm Calder Cannons B: Bowes Dunn Betts HB: Iacobucci Limbach Gordon C: Davis J.W. Smith Jolley HF: O’Keefe Barling J.D. Smith F: Douglas Becker Ezard R: Maric Little May Inter: Farrelly Huy Scott McKinnon Neaves Robertson Wall White Gippsland Power B: L. Walker Pendlebury O’Bryan HB: Davey Dore Mooney C: Henshaw McQualter Ellis HF: Eddy Roughead Collins F: Burge Meyer Thomas R: Foster Polo Dunne Inter: Lenders Fraser Delphine Dow Youle McGrath Flint

Might duck in to watch the double-header.. Should be some good footy tomorrow. Been a fair bit of talk about Ben Sharp(e)? getting drafted

Thanks very much for the info Grub, I'll certainly take a look tomorrow...

Preliminary Finals Results 1st Preliminary Final CALDER 6.4 12.7 22.8 24.10 (154) GIPPSLAND 0.0 0.2 1.6 4.10 (34) Goals: Calder: Little 5 Limbach 4 Maric 4 May 3 O'Keefe 2 Becker Betts Dunn Farley Douglas Neaves. Gippsland: Roughead 2 Dow Ellis. Best: Calder: Douglas JW Smith Maric Ezard Barling May Davis Becker White. Gippsland: McQualter Roughead Ellis O'Brien Davey Lenders. Reports: Nil. At Teac Oval 2nd Preliminary final EASTERN RANGES 2.2 4.4 9.12 14.15 (99) OAKLEIGH CHARGERS 1.6 5.8 5.10 5.13 (43) Goals: Eastern Ranges: Bates 4 Cloke 3 Dimascio 3 Knight 2 Falovic Bailey. Oakleigh: Gilham 2 Dowler 2 Murphy. Best: Eastern Ranges: Knight Wilson Falovic Dalton De Luca Dimascio. Oakleigh: Myers Hassett Bain Laidlaw Neratzoglou Gilham. Reports: Nil. At TEAC Oval NEXT WEEK-GRAND FINAL Saturday September 25 Calder Cannons vs Eastern Ranges MCG 10:15 am SPECIAL MATCH Thursday September 23 Victoria vs Allies Optus Oval 1:00pm

Got along to both games, in terms of recruiting I thought oaklieigh chargers had more players that would come under consideration. The Calder / Gippsland match was amazing. Calder just moved the ball far more efficiently. Also its clear why Roughhead is a draft favourite, did some good things. Also Travis Cloke is bloody huge... was built like a tank

"Roughhead", I don't think even Rex Hunt could better that.

I went down to the Prelims yesterday. Some things I noticed: -It was worth Matt Bate seeking eligibility from the league for the draft. Very clean hands. -Rudi Falovic was alright. -Calder are a very even team. No direct standouts but very organised and disciplined. Dean Limbach, Jesse W Smith, Ivan Maric and Matt Little were very good. Matt Little is an awkward size of 187cm, but he is a terrific mark and a reliable kick. -Gippsland were terribly outplayed. No-one really appealed to me bar Scott Meyer. Roughead had very poor delivery to him.