In what was the last week before the Christmas break, the whole Youth competition produced some special football in both regions around the country.
Auckland:
U13 Boys:
The Lions and Bulldogs were at it again, where young Wade McNabb was the star of the show kicking 5 goals for the Lions to help his side defeat the Bulldogs.
| Team: | Goals: | Behinds: | Total: |
 | 7 | 4 | 46 |
 | 5 | 5 | 35 |
Goals:
Lions: Wade McNabb 5, Hrithik Khemani, Alvin Grant.
Bulldogs: Logan Butterworth 2, Elijah Winchester, Joel Hetherington, Logan Gaualofa
Player of the day:
Lions: Alvin Grant
Bulldogs: Logan Butterworth
U17 Boys:
The U17 boys followed on from the U18 NZ Kahu game against the AFL Indigenous Woomera and the Tigers were too strong for the Magpies this week running out winners by 5 goals. The ever improving William Warbrick from the Bay of Plenty continues to shine on the field and bagged himself 3 goals to be leading Goal scorer in the game. Notable performance went to Green Bay High School student Jack Morris who was awarded player of the day for the Magpies after a standout performance.
| Team: | Goals: | Behinds: | Total: |
 | 6 | 5 | 41 |
 | 1 | 3 | 9 |
Goals:
Tigers: William Warbrick 3, Zeon McNabb, Joel Brown, Dawson Nanai
Magpies: Blake Nahu
Player of the day:
Tigers: Max Stuart
Magpies: Jack Morris
Wellington:
U13 Boys:
A big third quarter proved decisive in the Wellington Under 13 competition. With only 1 goal separating the sides at halftime, the Giants kicked 3.3.21 to the Crows 0.0.0 to take a lead that proved to be too much for the Crows. They did manage to kicked a couple in the last quarter, but the Giants were well deserved winners. In a day that was tough for kicking goals, Lane Schreurs bucked the trend kicking 3 goals for there Giants.
With 2 months off before the last 4 rounds it was impressive to see the continued increase in skill across all players. As George Hopkins, Player for the day for the Crows, said in the after match wrap up, fitness is going to be a big work on for all the players over the break, so they are raring to go for the final month of the competition.
| Team: | Goals: | Behinds: | Total: |
 | 5 | 10 | 40 |
 | 2 | 4 | 16 |
Goals:
Giants: Lane Schreurs 3, Rico Tuhua, Hari Below
Crows: George Hopkins, Beren Goodwin
Player of the day:
Giants: Ryan Awatere
Crows: George Hopkins
U17 Boys:
The development session prior to the game focused on two aspects:
- Accurate Goal Kicking
- Accurate short kicking (15m – 25m)
And it worked for the U17 youth players with both teams enjoying increased accuracy in front of goal due to teams linking well with 15m-25m kicks all the way from the backline into the forward line. Lewis Gill was a big recipient of this, helping himself to 5 goals for the game for the Saints. Alex Awatere for the Saints and Shaun Hanning for the Lions were the two players who impressed most across the ground hitting targets at will.
| Team: | Goals: | Behinds: | Total: |
 | 10 | 6 | 66 |
| 2 | 0 | 12 |
Goals:
Saints: Lewis Gill 5, Misilifi Jr (Richard) Faimalo 2, Iraia Tuhiwai 2), Mau Kuonga Tealei
Lions: Kaleb Sinclair, Harley Keene
Player of the day:
Saints: Mau Kuonga Tealei
Lions: Kaleb Sinclair
For both regions, a break over the Christmas and New Year will see the players spending their own time improving their skills and fitness.
We look forward to seeing all the Youth participants back on February 14th for the last month ahead of the AFL NZ Academy squads being selected.
