PORT ADELAIDE Next Generation Academy (NGA) members Trent Burgoyne, Jackson Mead and Taj Schofield headline the new expanded NAB AFL Academy, among 30 South Australians.
The program for elite young footballers has been expanded from a single national academy to five separate hubs across Australia including South Australia, Western Australia, Victoria Country, Victoria Metro and an
All three boys are members of Port Adelaide’s Father/Son Academy with Burgoyne (son of Peter Burgoyne) and Mead (son of Darren Mead) eligible to be drafted in 2019 and Schofield in 2020.
Burgoyne and Mead are teammates at Woodville West Torrens while Schofield will be looking for a new club after moving from WA side Subiaco to Adelaide after his father, Power premiership player Jarrad Schofield, was appointed Port Adelaide midfield coach.
Taj Schofield was named an under-16 All Australian in 2018 and won a colts premiership with Subiaco, where his father coached the league team to its third premiership in his six years at the helm.
Burgoyne and Mead were part of the initial state under-18 squad in 2018 and Mead
He had 21 disposals and four goals in that game.
The South Australian hub will be coached by Port Adelaide premiership player and former coach Tony Bamford who had success at the 2018 Under-18 AFL National Championship as coach of South Australia.
He’ll pull together his players for initial testing in late November and then they’ll go on a five-day training camp in Alice Springs.
Players will then have the opportunity to train at Alberton and West Lakes during the AFL off-season.
In all, 150 players have been selected for the revamped NAB AFL Academy, with the best to be given additional opportunities to attend national camps.
This is the 22nd NAB AFL Academy intake.
Since 1997, 490 Academy players (81 per cent of NAB AFL Academy players) have been drafted to AFL clubs.
There have also been 47 AFL All-Australians including Shannon Hurn, Lachie Whitfield, Andrew Gaff, Steele Sidebottom, Paddy Dangerfield, Lance Franklin, Tom Mitchell, and Brodie Grundy from 2018.
Eight NAB AFL Rising Star winners came through the academy as well as five Brownlow Medalists including Chris Judd, Trent Cotchin, Paddy Dangerfield, Tom Mitchell, and Adam Cooney.
The full South Australia Hub squad is:
Kaine Baldwin Glenelg/Westminster College
Trent Burgoyne Woodville West Torrens/Henley High School
Jamie Coff Woodville West Torrens/Salisbury High
Will Day West Adelaide/Sacred Heart College
Zachary Dumesny South Adelaide/Sacred Heart College
Corey
Luke Edwards Glenelg/Henley High School
Karl Finlay North Adelaide/Prince Alfred College
Damon Freitag South Adelaide/KICE Kingscote Campus
Oliver Grivell Sturt/Concordia
Will Gould Glenelg/Prince Alfred College
Joshua Hart North Adelaide/University of South Australia
Dyson Hilder North Adelaide/Blackfriars Primary School
Cooper Horsnell Glenelg/Henley High School
Jed McEntee Sturt/Mercedes College
Anzac Lochowiak Sturt/Rostrevor College
Lachlan McNeil Woodville West Torrens/Henley High School
Harrison Magor North Adelaide/St Mark’s College
Jackson Mead Woodville West Torrens/Henley High School
Jordan O'Brien Central District/Salisbury High
Taj Schofield Subiaco/Sorrento Duncraig
Oliver Shaw Central District/Pedare Christian College
Brady Searle Glenelg/Brighton High School
Joshua Shute Sturt/Rostrevor
Jye Sinderberry West Adelaide/Unley High School
Daniel Sladojevic South Adelaide /Scotch College
Dylan Stephens Norwood/St Peter's College
Cameron Taheny Norwood/Rostrevor College
Riley Thilthorpe West Adelaide/Adelaide High School
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