14s Development Squad Wrap up

The Perth Demons entered two sides in this year’s WAFL 14’s Development Squad Carnival, capturing our zones best 65 players to form “Team Red” and “Team Black.” Both teams would play three games throughout the October school holidays, with the program bringing much excitement to the Perth Football Club (PFC). 

It was this year’s 14s Program that gave Perth fans the first look at what talent the club had gained through the most recent re-zoning of the WAFL boundaries that saw PFC gain the suburbs of Southern River (part), Champion Lakes (part), Seville Grove (part), Haynes, Hilbert and Brookdale (part), Darling Downs, Cardup, Oakford (part), and Byford (part). It was evident in the early stages of the program that the inclusion of these suburbs within the clubs metropolitan zone, would be of great benefit as the likes of Caleb Lewis, Jayden Boalch and Zac Workman from the Mundijong Junior Football Club (MJFC) were all prolific in their craft throughout the three matches. Kelmscott Junior Football Club (KJFC) now also found some of their 2008-born players resided in the new and improved PFC zone, as livewire small forward Tyron Hart and utility Lucas Warner also did their respective Junior Club proud. 

Other players of note included Matthew Edgelow (KJFC), whose athleticism and thumping left foot did plenty of damage throughout the carnival, including a 5-goal masterclass against East Perth in game 3. Tyson O’Driscoll (Northam Saints) made his presence felt around the ground, showing his ball-winning ability in several key one-on-one contests whilst speedster Jayden Clarke electrified the crowd every time he touched the ball and saw grass in front of him, as he was too hard to catch through the centre of the ground across all matches. South Perth products Jasper Krahulik and Harley Muir were instrumental in Team Red’s performances as was Lynwood Ferndale’s very own James Vogels. 

With Perth having such a proud and rich history, it is always great to see the sons and daughters of past players involved in our programs. This 14s program was no different and included the following family connections:

Brock Moore (Jeff)

Fynn Tomasini (Ben)

Kane Darmoody (Shane)

Tyson O'Driscoll (Glen)

Judah Woods (nephew of Dion)

PFC “Red” and “Black” both finished the carnival with 2 wins, achieving defeat over South Fremantle and East Perth while falling short to Subiaco. 

Of course, these programs cannot operate without the sacrifice and commitment of some of our great coaches. We would like to thank the following staff who helped make this program as successful as it was:

Damian McCague - Head Coach

Tori Audino: Coach (Red Team)

Scott Shepherd - Coach (Black Team)

Jacob Cassidy and Ross Clark: Backline coach 

Shane Darmody, Brad Scully and Polly Ryan: Midfield coach 

Mark Longton and Ben Tomasini: Forwards coach 

S & C + Rotations: Mitch Tiernan

Runners: Daniel Hill and Michael Hall