James Murphy
THE eyes of the Tiger watched over the region’s junior football talent at Saturday’s Limestone Coast Regional Carnival.
Glenelg Football Club scouts were present at Kongorong on the day and were responsible for selecting the junior teams and players of the carnival.
Also on the agenda was potential recruitment for Glenelg programs, including a training squad for a Tigers’ Under 15 team which will contest the country championships later this year.
Glenelg Football Club talent manager Darren Trevena attended the event and had a busy day assessing the Limestone Coast’s football talent across the six games played.
“It is always good to come down to the Interleague and see the best selected players play against the best,” he said.
While several youngsters already have Glenelg experience, Trevena said the carnival provided some insight into others who may have what it takes at the next level.
“Obviously we have identified some of those already playing with us in the 15’s and also the bottom ages for the 18’s as well,” he said.
“I identified a few of them and then there were a few more that actually stood up in that carnival for us to have a look at over the next few weeks.”
When assessing the games, Trevena said it is not a player’s possessions which necessarily catch his attention but the thinking and positioning off the ball which is most important.
Defensive actions along with whether they are gravitating towards the ball, or setting up and moving to a position which is several kicks away are all aspects of the game which are assessed.
“I don’t worry too much about possessions, as long as they are developing a good execution from foot and by hand and make good decisions, then that is ticked off for me and I look at the next stage of their development,” Trevena said.
“Where they are running, what they are doing, what their leading patterns are like.
“Are they a ruckman, do they jump in, do they get their knee up high enough, do they change angles if they are losing the ruck.
“All these little things come to mind that I watch.”
Trevena said the key things he looks for are the fundamentals of being clean at ground level, while a combination of skills and smarts are vital.
“They need to execute by hand and by foot and make good decisions,” Trevena said.
“You can be a good kick, but a poor decision maker, or you can be a good decision maker and a poor kick – we are looking for both of those areas.”
From the carnival a training squad will be selected for the Under 15 country championships, with invites to be sent out in the coming weeks.
There will also be a few players called up who did not attend the carnival, be it due to injury or unavailability.
“We will invite probably about 50 I think and then drill down on that and select a team for the Under 15 championships,” Trevena said.
He expects the final team to finish with around 28 players and they will contest three games over the course of a week against rival SANFL country sides in September.
