Sport
15 June, 2023
Maryborough takes over Bendigo Junior Academy with seven players named in their squad
Expect a big Maryborough contingent at Shepparton on Sunday. An incredible seven players from Maryborough’s under 16 team have been selected to participate in the La Trobe University Bendigo Junior Academy under 15 representative squad, set to...
Expect a big Maryborough contingent at Shepparton on Sunday.
An incredible seven players from Maryborough’s under 16 team have been selected to participate in the La Trobe University Bendigo Junior Academy under 15 representative squad, set to play against the Goulburn Murray Junior Football League and Murray Football League at Mooroopna Recreation Reserve.
Zac Cicchini, Logan Howell, Campbell Wood, Archie Chadwick, Lachie Condie, Will Soulsby and Billy Skinner were all named in the squad for Sunday’s pair of matches.
Maryborough under 16 coach Cam Skinner couldn’t hold in his excitement at having a large amount of players make the squad.
“It’s a great effort from the boys. Normally we have a couple of boys in there, but to have seven is a bit of a first for the club,” he said.
“I’m lucky as a coach that there’s a great bunch of kids coming through at the same time. It doesn’t always happen, but we’re having a good year where the kids are all handy players. Next year, we have to maintain those bottom age 16s and keep the top-end 14s and we’ll have a super-strong team for next year.”
Cicchini, Howell and Wood all experienced interleague football two weeks ago, when the under 15 squad defeated Ballarat by 20 points, with all three players impressing on each line.
“Zac won the best on ground medal, Logan kicked three goals and Campbell was the general down back,” Skinner said.
With a large under-age contingent, the Magpies are currently flying, sitting in fourth place in the under 16 senior competition after their 86-point win over Castlemaine last week, a game in which Howell stood out, kicking nine goals.
Skinner said people only had to look towards the likes of Lucas Hurse and Taj Bond to understand how much representative football had improved their standing in just a short space of time, noting the continued improvement of players like Howell, Wood and Cicchini through their interleague experiences.
“We have a few guys who really want to go further in their footy, so to perform in interleague gives them a good chance. We have kids like Lucas Hurse who have gone on to great things with the Pioneers, who come back and play for us and are better players after training for a number of months at that next level. Even if they don’t push on to that next level, they would be super players at senior level for our club,” he said.
Skinner added it was his number one goal to ensure that Maryborough could be known as a successful pathway club with such a large amount of players coming through to play interleague this season.
“The number one thing is for the kids to have a good club to learn and enjoy themselves, but then it can also be about making it pushing those guys to the next level and making sure that we are a pathway club,” he said.
“Performing at an interleague level gives them the opportunity to play in the V-Line Cup, and then that can be a stepping stone to the under 16 Pioneers, which can set them up for a potential opportunity in the AFL.
“I train them to try to get to that level as an end goal if they want to do that.
“It’s good to see guys coming in trying their hand at a better standard.”
Regardless of what happens on Sunday, Skinner is proud of the development of his players, and says they’ll be better players for the experience, regardless of whether it is at higher levels of football or with the Magpies in the longer term.
“It’s good to have those guys at the club and creating a strong team. Hopefully they are able to push into that next level, but if not, we can create some good players for whatever their future holds at the Magpies,” he said.