AFL North Coast’s best juniors have been selected to the QBE Sydney Swans Academy squads for 2025.
Thirty-nine of the region’s juniors will benefit from the Swans Academy’s professional development program, with a record ten players chosen to be part of the Swans Academy’s top-end programs.
The QBE Sydney Swans Academy exists to increase the number of players in NSW who have expert AFL knowledge and high-level skills.
Established in 2010, the Academy has nurtured and developed a number of elite AFL-level players but also made a significant contribution to the growth and strength of the code in NSW.
The Academy provides an age-appropriate development program for males and females aged 11 to 19, and each year the Academy trains up to 700 players.
Those selected from AFL North Coast:
Boys
Under 11s: Eli Fernie (Sawtell/Toormina Saints);
Under 12s: Alby Lindsay (Sawtell/Toormina Saints), Matthew Welsh (Coffs Harbour Breakers);
Under 13s: Oscar Churton (Lower Clarence Suns), Noah Bates (Port Macquarie Magpies), Henry Fryer (Port Macquarie Magpies), Jack Morris (Port Macquarie);
Under 14s: Sonny Dusting (Northern Beaches Blues), Jackson Sierakowski (Northern Beaches Blues), Clancy Tune (Sawtell/Toormina Saints), Xavier Mat (Port Macquarie Magpies);
Under 15s: Jude Couzens (Sawtell/Toormina Saints), Zane Guthrie (Coffs Harbour Breakers), Percy Lucas (Nambucca Valley Lions), Ty Parsons (Coffs Harbour Breakers), Jack Wilson (Port Macquarie Magpies);
Under 16s: Jack Donaldson (Northern Beaches Blues), Thomas Epis (Northern Beaches Blues), Duke Marshall-Orr (Coffs Harbour Breakers/Northern Beaches Blues), Edward Redfern (Port Macquarie Magpies);
Under 17s: Isaac Luke (Port Macquarie Magpies);
Under 18s: Wilson Baade (Nambucca Valley Lions);
Under 19s: Tom Ryan (Port Macquarie Magpies);
Girls
Under 13s: Lexi Findlay (Northern Beaches Blues), Mireille Marshall (South West Rocks Dockers);
Under 14s: Reese Legend (Nambucca Valley Lions), Natalie Nawauwi (Coffs Harbour Breakers), Harpa Skinner (Sawtell/Toormina Saints), Josephine Tait (Nambucca Valley Lions), Zoe Tarlinton (Coffs Harbour Breakers);
Under 15s: Tayla Clarke (Sawtell/Toormina Saints), Chloe Murphy (Sawtell/Toormina Saints), Tazmyn White (Nambucca Heads), Gia Hudson (Port Macquarie Magpies), Ruby Luke (Port Macquarie Magpies), Grace Morris (Port Macquarie Magpies);
Under 16s: Annalise Crawley (Coffs Harbour Breakers), Poppi Flanders (Nambucca Valley Lions);
Under 18s: Amaia Wain (Bellingen Bulldogs/ Sawtell/Toormina Saints).
By Aiden BURGESS
