On the same day that Adelaide’s new draftees arrived, the Club welcomed three other fresh faces.
AIS-AFL Academy members Ryan Burton, Stephen Tahana and Keiran Agius, who are eligible to be drafted next year, hit the track on Monday as part of their week-long placement at West Lakes.
The talented teenagers are teammates at SANFL club North Adelaide.
A tall forward, Burton is the son of Roosters premiership player, Craig. The 191cm goalkicker represented South Australia at the Under-18 National Championships as a bottom-age player this year. His season was cut short by a serious leg injury, which he’s recovering well from.
Agius plays alongside Burton in the forward line. The skilful goalkicker kicked nine goals to go with 27 disposals, 17 marks and six inside 50s to earn the Round 16 Macca’s Cup Most Valuable Player nomination in the Under-18 competition this season.
Tahana is a defender, who was named South Australia’s most valuable player at the Under-16 National Championships in 2013.
The national AIS-AFL program has 35 members in a 'level two' squad who will be heading to a club for a week to assimilate with the elite level.
It has proved a valuable experience for clubs and players in the past, so much so that it will be the first of two separate club visits for each player at different clubs in the restructured academy program. While the players get a better sense of an AFL environment, club recruiters have also found the training stints useful in the past to measure a player's capabilities.
The academy will gather for a camp in Melbourne at the end of this week following their club placements. In January, the squad will head to Tampa and Orlando in Florida for a 10-day, high-performance camp in what will be the academy's first visit to America.
WHO'S TRAINING AT YOUR CLUB?
Adelaide: Stephen Tahana, Ryan Burton, Keiran Agius
Brisbane Lions: Ben Keays, Eric Hipwood*
Carlton: Tom Cole, Sam Skinner
Collingwood: Darcy Parish, Josh Schache
Essendon: Aidyn Johnson, Yestin Eades
Fremantle: Callum Ah Chee, Jordan Snadden
Geelong: Rhys Mathieson, Charlie Curnow
Gold Coast: Ben Crocker
Greater Western Sydney: Jacob Hopper
Hawthorn: Jake Sushames, James Parsons
Melbourne: Harley Balic, Liam Jeffs
North Melbourne: Dylan McDonald, Sam Weideman
Port Adelaide: Luke Partington, Aaron Francis, Tim Sullivan
Richmond: Nick O'Kearney, Gach Nyoun*
St Kilda: Jacob Weitering, Keiran Collins
Sydney Swans: Callum Mills, Josh Dunkley
West Coast: Kade Stewart, Greg Clark
Western Bulldogs: Darcy Tucker
*The Richmond and Brisbane Lions placements will be held later in December
