The AFL Under 18 National Championships once again features many local talents looking to impress.

By Ben Andonoudis

Every year the AFL Under 18 National Championships provide a glimpse into the future of the game. The carnival provides a stage where young players can showcase their talents as they push towards an AFL or AFLW opportunity.

For the Barwon region, the championships have become another opportunity to showcase the immense talent coming through the local pathways.

This year is no different, with 12 local representatives selected across the boys and girls programs.

The opening games of the carnival has seen several Barwon region representatives perform well in their first hit-outs.

Leopold key forward Jett Elek provided an early look into his potential with a goal among his 12 disposals in Vic Country’s opening match against the Allies.

In the same game, St Joseph's' Noah Williams accumulated 13 disposals before a hamstring injury prematurely ended his day.

The opening girls match against the Allies featured a strong performance by St Mary’s utility Ava Bilyk as she kicked two goals among her 20 disposals to be one of the best players on the ground.

Williams and Meyah Fursland are both St Joseph’s juniors who will be looking to make the transition into the AFL at the end of the year.

Williams’ reputation continued to grow when he was named best-on-ground in the Under 17 AFL futures match at the MCG, joining previous winners such as Daniel Curtin, Matt Rowell and Izak Rankine.

This year has seen Williams continue that trajectory through his performance in the AFL Under 18 academy team, where he was also named captain, and has been appointed co-captain of the Vic Country side.

Williams was also named the Academy's best in their clash with North Melbourne.

Fursland (who was also a talented junior netballer at Newtown & Chilwell) is also making her mark. The tall defender was picked in the Vic Country Under 17 futures match last year and has continued with her form this season with the Geelong Falcons and Geelong Grammar.

For St Joseph’s senior football director Chris Hickey, the club’s commitment to junior development stretches beyond producing AFL players.

“We try and develop all our kids as footballers and humans,” Hickey said.

That approach has seen the club produce AFL stars including former Premiership winners Matthew Scarlett and Nick Maxwell, right through to the current day with the likes of Sam Walsh and Tom Atkins.

This year, the club will be hoping to see Williams and Fursland do enough during the carnival to get selected come draft time. If they do, they could very well join several other talents from the region who may find themselves in the same situation.

The full list of players selected from our competitions can be found below: