Academy: Gold Coast SUNS Gun Factory

[CaptTom]

Watched live. Jed with 8, but at least 3 cheap ones from frees in the goal square. Impact is huge and smashes them like skittles tho. Far too good against this age.

Corbett with 31 and a goal close to best on for me. Was good through the middle and kicked a ripping running goal.

Eckersley gave away a 50 from poor discipline which resulted in a goal and turned it over by foot numerous times. Nowhere near best 5 IMO.

Read looked to be limping in the second half and Dawson took over majority of ruck duties. Weirdly, they still dropped read into the forward line and didn’t take him off, despite the obvious limp.

Week off next weekend, then Lions on the Austworld back oval on 14/5.

Walters, corbett, graham, rogers for me

 

[SUN OF A GUN]

Walters, corbett, graham, rogers for me

Agree


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

 

[Jen2310]

Highly-touted prospect Jed Walter produced one the most dominant displays ever recorded by an under-18 talent, kicking 8.3 in a Herculean performance in the Coates Talent League.
The bustling Suns Academy key forward finished with a statline that had to be seen to be believed: 19 disposals, 18 score involvements, 15 contested possessions, eight goals, six contested marks and a whopping 283 SuperCoach points against the Northern Territory Thunder at Heritage Bank Arena.

His jaw-dropping effort was the second-ranked performance in Coates Talent League history, topping eventual No.1 pick Matt Rowell

18

Matt Rowell

Age

23

Ht

180cm

Wt

82kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

17.4

4star

K

7.6

3star

HB

9.8

5star

M

0.8

1star

T

5.2

5star

CL

3.8

5star

D

17.4

4star

K

7.6

3star

HB

9.8

5star

M

0.8

1star

T

5.2

5star

CL

3.8

5star

D

17.4

5star

K

7.6

3star

HB

9.8

5star

M

0.8

1star

T

5.2

5star

CL

3.8

5star

’s 282-point stunner in 2018.

Walter, a likely top-10 talent in this year’s draft, wowed recruiters with his competitiveness, contested marking, follow-up work and speed, a lethal combination for a forward standing 194cm.

Highest Ranking Points in Coates Talent League History​

Player	Team	Season	Ranking points
Joel Trudgeon	Northern Knights	R5 2021	303
Jed Walter	Suns Academy	R6 2023	283
Matt Rowell	Oakleigh Chargers	R22 2019	282
Patrick Dangerfield	Geelong Falcons	R4 2008	266
Rhys Bowden	Northern Knights	2009	263

NT Thunder have struggled throughout the season, with the Gold Coast Academy inflicting their third consecutive loss by 100 points or more, but that should take nothing away from Walter’s exploits.

Gold Coast fans would be licking their lips at the prospect of a potential key forward tandem of Ben King

34

Ben King

Age

24

Ht

202cm

Wt

98kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

7.2

2star

K

5.0

2star

HB

2.2

2star

M

3.5

4star

T

0.5

3star

G

1.3

5star

D

7.5

2star

K

5.6

2star

HB

1.9

1star

M

3.6

4star

T

0.3

1star

G

1.5

5star

D

6.8

2star

K

4.4

2star

HB

2.4

3star

M

3.2

4star

T

0.2

3star

G

1.0

4star

– if he recommits to the club beyond 2024 - and Walter.

But where the Suns finish on the ladder will be a fascinating watch, given a rival bid for Walter could fall before their first selection, currently at pick six.

Walter earned All-Australian status as a bottom-ager at the national championships last year after booting nine goals in four matches for the Allies.

Gold Coast also has access to fellow AFL Academy members Ethan Read, an athletic ruckman, and small forward Jake Rogers who have started the year strongly.

Rogers was another to impress against the NT Thunder, racking up 30 disposals, 16 contested possessions, 11 clearances, a goal and 178 SuperCoach points.

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/afl-draft-intel-gills-daughter-impressing-in-aflw-circles-how-midseason-draft-is-shaping-up-and-just-how-good-is-harley-reid/news-story/fe0df4fcb4a9ae658d6c8d4bdf577ac1

 

[Jirik13]

 

[Jirik13]

 

[Jirik13]

 

[GcSuns2021]

3qtr time
Suns lead by 22
Addinsal been great
Eckersely kicked 3
Murray had a fair bit of it
Zeke uwland been good
Kalani white been best in my opinion
Max hudson not far behind him

 

[The Kings Ransom]

Is this the u18 academy or u16?

 

[GcSuns2021]

Is this the u18 academy or u16?

Under 16s practice match

 

[Jirik13]

Is this the u18 academy or u16?

Girls are 18.

 

[GC2015]

Jai Murray looked a step or two above in the U16s match and was playing through the midfield, as opposed to the U18s matches where he's played as a forward. Exciting talent!

 

[lionshine]

Walters 8 goals, Rogers 30 disposals 1 goal and Lombard 26 disposals 1 goal against NT Thunder yesterday.

 

[MarcLocksCrustySock]

Walters 8 goals, Rogers 30 disposals 1 goal and Lombard 26 disposals 1 goal against NT Thunder yesterday.

Wasn't that a week ago?

 

[lionshine]

Wasn't that a week ago?

You’re right it was. My bad…

 

[Jirik13]

5 Suns girls selected.

 

[GcSuns2021]

Suns Monday training tonight injuries

• Zanker Close was in a suns T shirt and appeared to be injured
• Cooper Hynes was taken up to the gym with one of the suns coaches to do his own thing. Potentially another injury
• Jai Murray was also taken up to the gym as well to do his own thing but he looked okay…

Game this week vs the lions and potentially a few key suns players out.

 

[DCSuns]

Suns Monday training tonight injuries

• Zanker Close was in a suns T shirt and appeared to be injured
• Cooper Hynes was taken up to the gym with one of the suns coaches to do his own thing. Potentially another injury
• Jai Murray was also taken up to the gym as well to do his own thing but he looked okay…

Game this week vs the lions and potentially a few key suns players out.

Zanker Close damaged ribs playing for Broadbeach’s QAFL Senior side on the weekend. Not sure the extent of the damage.

 

[SUN OF A GUN]

Zanker Close damaged ribs playing for Broadbeach’s QAFL Senior side on the weekend. Not sure the extent of the damage.

Two broken ribs for Zank in his Broady seniors debut.

Hynes ligaments in foot / ankle, 4 weeks apparently.

Not sure on Murray, but he did play with academy 16’s on weekend.

 

[GC2015]

Suns Monday training tonight injuries

• Zanker Close was in a suns T shirt and appeared to be injured
• Cooper Hynes was taken up to the gym with one of the suns coaches to do his own thing. Potentially another injury
• Jai Murray was also taken up to the gym as well to do his own thing but he looked okay…

Game this week vs the lions and potentially a few key suns players out.

Cheers for the update. It's awesome to see more posters taking an interest in and reporting on our academy teams. Sometimes I get jealous of the extensive junior scouting and reporting of rugby league prospects on the Gold Coast and our academy does provide us an opportunity to do the same but I understand it takes a community/grassroots input to achieve that which can be difficult to do unless you have people who are really passionate about junior development on the GC. I would encourage anyone that has any kind of update on our academy to share them in this thread and keep the ball rolling.

Shame about Zanker-Close. I felt he was having a good season and was a good chance to be chosen to play for the Allies at the Div I National Championships later this year. Do we know if the game against the Lions is going to be streamed this weekend? I'm interested to see if Walter can continue his good goalkicking form after booting 8 against the NT.

 

[Sun Stormer]

Cheers for the update. It's awesome to see more posters taking an interest in and reporting on our academy teams. Sometimes I get jealous of the extensive junior scouting and reporting of rugby league prospects on the Gold Coast and our academy does provide us an opportunity to do the same but I understand it takes a community/grassroots input to achieve that which can be difficult to do unless you have people who are really passionate about junior development on the GC. I would encourage anyone that has any kind of update on our academy to share them in this thread and keep the ball rolling.

Shame about Zanker-Close. I felt he was having a good season and was a good chance to be chosen to play for the Allies at the Div I National Championships later this year. Do we know if the game against the Lions is going to be streamed this weekend? I'm interested to see if Walter can continue his good goalkicking form after booting 8 against the NT.

U16s were doing medical checks so Jai and others would have been heading for the Med Room. He's good to go.

 

[Sun Stormer]

Zanker Close damaged ribs playing for Broadbeach’s QAFL Senior side on the weekend. Not sure the extent of the damage.

Out for around 4 weeks - according to the man himself.

 

[GC2015]

Out for around 4 weeks - according to the man himself.

Sounds like he's still a chance to play for the Allies then. Good result for Zanker-Close.

5 Suns girls selected.

Pretty exciting to see five likely future Suns all being named in the u16 AA team. Onballer and Burleigh junior Ava Walsh is the standout in this age group at the moment and was named the best player of the Pool B matches by averaging 25 disposals, 5 tackles, 6 clearances and a goal throughout the national development championship matches. Interestingly, both Sunny Lappin and Ava Usher are both coached by our former assistant coach Matty Lappin at Hillcrest. Nice to see a former Suns employee helping the next generation of Suns players come through, even if one of them is his daughter.

Five AAs in the same age group is really an outstanding achievement and is equal with SA & WA for the most from one team. So well done to all involved!

 

[GC2015]

U18 male academy training session tonight. Two boys on the side lines doing sprint and jogging drills. I assume they were Hynes and Zanker-Close who have already had their injuries reported in this thread.

They were running full field gameplay drills tonight with all the midfielders beginning on the stomachs and quickly jumping to their feet once the ball was tossed up. Leo Lombard in the midfield stood out at first with his speed, evasiveness and even fend offs.

At some point Walter found his way into the midfield group and almost seemed like he was playing onball at one point but I'm guessing he was actually working on his ruck craft and was just told to follow the ball. Still incredible to see someone his size be able to move so quickly and his acceleration is seriously elite.

I believe Read was out there as well but didn't have anything to report. Didn't see Rogers out there but it's possible he was there.

 

[StreetBob2013]

U18 male academy training session tonight. Two boys on the side lines doing sprint and jogging drills. I assume they were Hynes and Zanker-Close who have already had their injuries reported in this thread.

They were running full field gameplay drills tonight with all the midfielders beginning on the stomachs and quickly jumping to their feet once the ball was tossed up. Leo Lombard in the midfield stood out at first with his speed, evasiveness and even fend offs.

At some point Walter found his way into the midfield group and almost seemed like he was playing onball at one point but I'm guessing he was actually working on his ruck craft and was just told to follow the ball. Still incredible to see someone his size be able to move so quickly and his acceleration is seriously elite.

I believe Read was out there as well but didn't have anything to report. Didn't see Rogers out there but it's possible he was there.

AFL Academy Boys to represent Australia U18 at Marvel Stadium…
AFL Academy Boys to represent Australia U18 at Marvel Stadium

 

[GC2015]

AFL Academy Boys to represent Australia U18 at Marvel Stadium…
AFL Academy Boys to represent Australia U18 at Marvel Stadium

Is this why Rogers wasn't there? Were Walter and Read even there or was they other players?