Easy Tiger! wrote:Results last night
4/5 Glenelg 13.10 (99) Norwood 1.2 (8)
6/7 Glenelg 11 (77) Norwood 3.5 (23)
The Bays must be very close to having the strongest Primary School Footy Zone in the state.
And this young man did very well for the Bays last night...
Shades of Gibbs in SA under-12 captain
by Jai Bednall
YOUNG GUN: Ryan Burton will lead the SA side at this week's national under-12 championships
A POLISHED midfielder who has drawn comparisons to Carlton star Bryce Gibbs at the same age will captain South Australia’s under-12 side at the national championships in Queensland this week.
Ryan Burton, the son of dual North Adelaide premiership player Craig Burton, has been earmarked as a key to SA’s attempt to break Victoria’s seven-year hold on the competition.
``He (Burton) reminds me very much of a young Bryce Gibbs,’’ SA coach Bruce Westley said.
``He’s very skilful and a very good runner. He’s wiry still but he’ll make a footballer.’’
Given Gibbs was a member of the last SA side to beat Victoria in 2001, Westley is hoping his latest prodigy can repeat the performance.
``It would be nice wouldn’t it. But the reality is, the ratio of kids Victoria has to choose from compared to us is nine to one. So it’s a big challenge.’’
The side also includes Central District premiership player Eddie Sansbury’s nephew Colin.
``He’s a utility type player. In the trial games he’s played full-back and done a good job but he’ll be rotated around,’’ Westley said.
Other players to watch include vice-captains Vince Rocca and Jack Daly and midfielder Luke Partington and half-forward Aaron Francis.
SA, which finished second last season, plays matches against the ACT, Queensland, Northern Territory, NSW and Victoria in Maroochydore from July 26-31.
Westley said the side’s greatest strength was its pace.
``We haven’t got a lot of height in the side, the big boys weren’t around this year.
``So our motto is pace and space. We don’t want to be kicking long to packs, we want to be running the ball up.’’
The team has played a series of tough trial matches in preparation for the tournament, including matches against Sturt and Glenelg’s under-13 squads and last year’s under-12 state team.
``They’ve had some pretty tough sessions. A lot of the kids in the team are used to dominating in their club and school games so I wanted to let them know that there is another level of football out there,’’ Westley said.