The WA under 16s side remain undefeated in the National Championships after defeating Victoria Metro by 27 points earlier in the week.
They opened their national campaign with a hard fought victory over South Australia, scraping over the line by two goals at Alberton Oval.
Co-captain Troy Warner stood out in that game with 25 disposals, four clearances and four inside 50s.
WA’s tall forward trio of Nate Cass from East Perth, and East Fremantle’s Jayke Taylor and Jack Holland all slotted two goals each.
The side had to overcome an infectious spell of inaccuracy facing Vic Metro – the final scoreline reading eight goals, 23 points.
Despite a disappointing performance in front of goals, WA’s ability to set themselves up for 31 scoring shots is a silver lining coach Michael Glassborow will take away for their final match.
He joined Sports Breakfast this morning.
“Apart from the 8.23… the way we played and the opportunities we created to give ourselves that many scoring opportunities – it was unbelievable,” he said.
“Our pressure was through the roof and the boys just really hunted them and set themselves up… getting the shots than missing the shots is probably the positive for us.
“I said at quarter time and half time for the boys, we keep getting the ball in there, we’re doing a lot right and the opportunities will come and we’ll be able to take them.”
With 12 boys selected in the original squad from East Fremantle, the WAFL side are looking to be producing an array of draft-worthy talent – the Sharks boys representing their club with pride on the national stage.
Troy Warner once again notched up an impressive disposal count, walking away with 27 touches and eight inside 50s while Aiden Martignago had 29, nine clearances and also scored a goal.
East Fremantle tall forward Jack Holland had two goals for himself in the last match, while Jayke Taylor had his moments against South Australia.
“Josh Waite in the ruck has been really good for us, Aiden Martignago has been really good in the midfield and Troy Warner, another one, has had a pretty good carnival.”
“We’ve got three big forwards in Jayke Taylor, Jack Holland and Nate Cass that have given us some really good targets up in the front half.
“And then Keene, Jai Keene – one of the captains. He’s played a bit everywhere for us, ‘Mr fix-it’… We’ve just been really lucky that everyone sort of played their role and it gives us a bit of flexibility which is exciting.”
With two wins in the bag and one more game to be played, the draft pool for this age group is looking promising.
“I think it will be a really good draft… we’re really happy with what we put out there from one, a style point of view – the way we want to play WA footy – but also individually, there’s a fair bit of talent which they’re [AFL recruiters] pretty excited about.”
Vic Country will be looking to take WA’s undefeated record at the carnival this year after taking one win and one loss so far.
“They’ve got a couple of big key forwards, big country lads, so we’ve got to make sure we’re really strong in the contest. But I suppose our advantage is just that we’ve got to be able to run and make them chase us.”
“If we can win or halve that [the contest] and give our forwards a chance, that will set the game up for us.”
A three day turnaround for both sides will be the ultimate test of grit in their final carnival match.
The game kicks off tomorrow at 11:45am AEST.
IMAGE: AFL Photos