A stand out Western Australian outfit has claimed the the Clontarf Aboriginal Academy's State of Origin series by a comfortable 30 point margin against South Australia during the week.
Western Australia were unquestionably the deserving champions after compiling four wins from as many matches over an abbreviated two-day festival of Australian rules football.
The celebrations peaked in the grand final – dubbed the gold medal game in this Olympics year – with the Sandgropers never looking in doubt in their 9.10 (64) to 5.4 (34) win against rivals South Australia.
The round robin matches between Victoria, Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia – all in one day – were played over two 20-minute halves, while two of the teams across the six matches were forced to back-up just moments after the final siren while still catching their breath.
The condensed format was extended to 25 minutes a half the following day for the final and the earlier bronze-medal playoff.
An important part integral to the Clontarf Aboriginal pre-game routine was to meet the opposition team in the centre of the ground before the first bounce, arm-in-arm, so the sides could fully appreciate each other's culture.
This year – after the inaugural 2023 edition – saw year 10 players eligible to play, and while all are ineligible for this year's AFL drafts, the largely 15 and 16-year olds shined ahead of a possible opportunity to reach the AFL's 2026 and 2027 recruitment process.
Western Australian operations manager Tony Delaney, who has worked with Clontarf's players for 19 years under the academy's chief executive and founder - the former Fremantle AFL coach – Gerard Neesham, said every academy in the state was represented in the final squad of players.
It also demonstrated the depth of Aboriginal talent that were attending the football-promoted educational institutions.
"It's been tricky, but we've had boys from the far north of Kununurra and also as far south as Esperance, and really everywhere in between," Delaney told the Kayo live telecast.
"We actually had a couple of different trial games – we've had all of the (Perth) metropolitan and Great Southern boys, even all the way up to Geraldton, meet early back in term 1 for a big carnival of sorts where we chose two all-star teams and they played the following day (after the schools played) where we selected 16 or so players.
"Then a little while after, we had the players from Pilbara and the Kimberley get together and have a mid-year carnival up there and from that we narrowed that down to 13 or 14 players."
The bulk of the two intrastate squads made the final cut and flew to Melbourne to show off their ability in a different squad to last year's.
WA captain Phil Fawcett was one of just four players at the top-age of school, returning to the Clontarf series to show his worth over the Sandgropers' four matches by turning it on "like a tap", Delaney joked.
Delaney, a one-time Essendon, St Kilda and Dockers midfielder, said much of the selection revolved around "what the players are like off the field", reflecting on their school marks and behaviour in the classrooms too.
"We like to look at the individuals in a holistic way and if the boys aren't at school, not doing the right things, they miss out on these big-ticket items, but we are really fortunate to have the best 22 players out there, having a real crack," he said.
The four straight wins that included going back-to-back against South Australia was perhaps made more remarkable considering the vast distances players had travelled within the state first to come together in Melbourne.
Delaney said the performances on the ground asked a lot of the players to trust each other at almost first sight.
"We only had a couple of days to galvanise this group," he said.
"A lot of the boys hadn't met before until Sunday when we flew out.
"They have done a really good job to bring everyone together."
Team management had a plan to accelerate the chemistry between the West Australians in a lesson of what is expected after being drafted into the unknown of AFL clubs.
"When we met at (Perth) airport with the boys flying in from everywhere, we started to get to know each other's game a bit and, on a Sunday, when we flew into Melbourne, we just had a good day and went on a tour of the MCG to show the boys the home of football," Delaney said.
"We all just did everything together and then at night time we spent more time bonding, and I felt the guys gelled really well."
While the West Australians easily advanced to the final following the congested opening day, South Australia, Victoria and Northern Territory traded wins and losses to share a 1-2 record.
The Croweaters lost their third match, but still advanced to play in the Indigenous gold medal game after the solo victory against Victoria, who helped by getting on the board to narrowly stroll past Northern Territory and set up repeat back-to-back encounters for the second day.
NT regional manager of the Top End South academy, Jack Regan, humbly handed over the axiomatic baton to new champions Western Australia after the Territory failed to defend their breakthrough series win 12 months earlier.
"WA were very strong (on Monday) and got through, but the fight for second spot came down to the last game, effectively, and percentage just saw South Australia sneak in," Regan said.
Northern Territory had defeated Victoria 10.5 (65) to 6.7 (43) during the 2023 series final, but a year NT on could not repeat such antics losing for a second time against the Big V to finish its campaign last on the back of three successive losses.
"Perhaps it was about a bit of redemption, but Victoria was pretty good against us, plus our fellas had a tough game prior against WA too (in the first Victorian loss)," Regan said.
"It was just a heavy period of football through that time of the day and we're keen to get one back on them."
The highlight of the night for NT followers, especially from his Haileybury classmates in the Victorian crowd, was for Max Rogers after his spectacular somersault in-the-air celebration immediately after kicking his first goal of the day for the teenager from the small community of Ngukurr, 700kms out of Darwin in Arnhem Land.
After a fluctuating first half where the sides entered the interval just two points apart, Victoria kicked four goals away while holding the NT goalless for a 8.5 (53) to 4.4 (28) victory to take out the bronze.
Regan was trying not to give any excuses for the tiring second half effort after the NT squad prepared for back-to-back play.
"We had a great experience in the morning at the Northcote Recreation Centre," he said.
"We were put through a bit of a recovery session as a whole group … they were in the pool, they were on the bike and some stretching to prep them up for the day's play."
After losing to Western Australia and South Australian, Victoria would have felt relieved to escape the series with two wins.
Victorian St Patrick's Clontarf Academy director, Dave Friebel, said the improved performance over two days of fixtures is important in the context of the First Nations program in the state, the second-ever Clontarf series and also for state pride.
"A lot of the guys after this (series) will go back to their respective academies and talk about the series and what it meant to them," he said.
"That really builds interest with the younger members of the academy, and it just turns into a carnival that drives a lot of the outcomes that we're after.
"It's quite a big deal (for the players) to be able to travel to Melbourne and do all the things we've been doing, and what we want to see is it becomes bigger and better in the future."
South Australia were never in the contest in the final to end the series in what was arguably the most lopsided result in Western Australia's five goal loss.
But the state's West Clontarf regional manager, Graeme Twaddle, found positives, suggesting the improvement in the competition in just one year was remarkable.
"I certainly noticed the difference from last year – just the speed and the skill has improved immensely," he said.
"So it's making it some good football to watch."
The Croweaters struggled to half time to get the ball out of their defensive half amid a 22-point deficit, effectively killing the battle for gold and silver subsequently by the break.
Any ambitious game plan went out the door after the Sandgropers rushed their opposition.
"I know our coaches have come to the point of playing a bit of chaos footy here," Twaddle said.
"So they want the footy on the ground and for some of the fellas, coming out of club footy, it is a bit unusual for them.
"But it certainly says that WA are well developed in the air."
