GVL’s best U18 talent for 2022

Leading the way in the development of underage talent in the Goulburn Valley league’s senior competition this year has been eighth-ranked Shepparton Swans.

The Swans’ middle-of-the-table finish in the Goulburn Valley senior football competition this year has been offset by the significant development of several Under-18 stars at the club.

Using GVL Data statistical information I chose to take a closer look at the best under-18 talent in the competition, which has been on show in the 2pm timeslot at different times during the 2022 season.

The proviso for inclusion in the 22-member squad is that players must have debuted at senior GVL level in the past 12 months, while still eligible for Under-18 competition.

Ten players involved in the Swans finals series in the last fortnight have performed strongly at senior level this season — hence the Swans winning their way into the Under-18 grand final — inflicting the first defeat on Echuca for the season.

Understandably the Swans beat Shepparton by 49 points.

Among the talented young Swans was James Auld, the son of AFL executive general manager of game development Rob and nephew of the man tipped to take over from Gillon McLachlan as AFL chief executive officer, Travis Auld.

Rob Auld is coach of the Swans’ Under-18 team and his team also included Enrique Goggin, Xavier Walker, Lucas and Liam Rachele, who between them — and James Auld — have made 29 senior GVL appearances this season.

Mason Reeves, Joeve Cooper, Braeden Meka and Christian Georgiou have also debuted with the Swans seniors this season.

Missing from that team was Max Clohesy, who played 13 Bushrangers games this season and made five appearances with the Swans’ senior outfit.

Clohesy was brilliant with a 28-disposal game against Echuca in Round 12, a game in which he had 12 rebound-50s and four tackles in a defensive role.

James Auld debuted with the Swans in round seven against second-ranked Mansfield. He had 24 disposals, nine marks and accumulated 111 GVL Data points.

Two weeks later the under-18 swing-man kicked four goals and had 20 disposals against Benalla, taking six forward-50 marks and turning plenty of heads in the process.

His five games produced an average 18 disposals, seven marks and five groundball gets.

Auld made five appearances with the Murray Bushrangers in the NAB League this season.

Enrique Goggin played 11 senior games, the Under-18 final at Tatura only his sixth underage game of the season. He kicked five goals at senior level and twice had season-high 18-disposal games.

Lucas Rachele — brother of Adelaide’s Josh — played six senior games in 2022, debuting two weeks after kicking seven goals at underage level. His round-eight return against Tatura included two goals, two score assists, seven groundball gets, five tackles and five inside-50s.

The first time they will be together for the first time was Saturday.

Shepparton United’s Charlie Di Stefano made 10 appearances with his club’s senior team, along with three matched in the NAB League with the Bushrangers.

He played one senior game with United in 2021.

Di Stefano played only two games with United’s under-18 team this year, a key player in almost upsetting top-team Echuca in the opening round of the finals — United, which finished the season second on the ladder, lost by one point to the unbeaten Murray Bombers.

After playing round one and two with the Bushrangers his first two GVL senior games of the year saw him twice secure 21 possessions.

His clearance work was outstanding, along with his ability to send the ball inside-50 for the lowly United team.

In 11 games he averaged four clearances, almost six tackles, six inside-50s and 21 disposals.

Samuel Adams, another United Under-18 future star, played the most GVL senior games of the class of 2022 — with 13. He also made six appearances at Under-18 level.

The hard-tackling Adams had four clearances and 10 tackles in United’s match with Seymour in Round seven, to go with nine possessions and four inside-50s.

Shepparton’s Lachlan Rumbiolo made 11 appearances at senior level and played nine Under-18 matches.

He had a baptism of fire by debuting against top-of-the-ladder Echuca and produced a 13-disposal, two-goal game against Benalla late in the season.

Rumbiolo had seven marks and five inside-50s in the match.

Seymour’s Nicholas Quigg produced the best statistical return of any Under-18 GVL footballer for the season when he had 35 disposals against Mooroopna in Round 15.

He played six games with the Lions, having made his debut with the senior team a year earlier, and 14 with the Bushrangers. He didn’t appear at all with the Seymour Under-18 team.

Quigg’s 35-touch game had been preceeded by three 20-plus possession matches, including a 21-disposal, two-goal game against Kyabram when he took nine marks, had three clearances and three tackles.

Mooroopna’s Kydan Atkinson was another to make his senior GVL debut in 2021. This year he played 11 games with the Cats’ seniors and six NAB League games with the Bushrangers.

He was another of the Under-18 stars to not play a single game at Under-18 level.

His best return for 2022 was 19 touches against Tatura in Round five when he had a season-high eight inside-50s.

A seven-tackle, two-assist and 16-disposal game against Rochester in Round 12 also included six inside-50s.

Coby James, a teammate of Atkinson at Mooroopna, grabbed the headlines in his two senior appearances with the Cats. He played nine Bushrangers games, but in his first GVL senior game laid an amazing 11 tackles.

Two weeks later — against Benalla — he had 27 possessions in defence, took nine marks (three intercepts) and was attributed with five one percenters.

At Rochester Declan Pearse was the pick of the debutantes, playing five games for the Tigers, while Bohden Learmonth matched his output at Kyabram and had his Under-18 captain Liam Francis and almost two-metre tall Mitchell Dodos for company.

Benalla’s Coby Mathieson played seven games at senior level, including an 11-possession, two-clearance performance against Mooroopna.

Breaking into the Echuca senior team was no mean feat for Hugh Byrne, the son of club president and former champion player Ash. He played back-to-back games in rounds 14 and 15, along with 13 appearances at Under-18 level.

A 13-hit-out, nine-disposal game on debut against Tatura also included two clearances and a goal.

Corbin Anderson was the other Murray Bombers underage player to perform at senior level, kicking goals in both his two games this season.