This time of year for the Hyundai Lions Academy boys is pretty hectic to say the least, with a number of different regional, state and national programs all happening across the 12–18 year-old age range. All this on top of family, school, club and Academy commitments makes for a busy weekly schedule for the players and their families!

The education we do with our players comes into play with recovery from multiple training sessions and games so important, along with diet and hydration strategies to be able to perform physically at their best week after week. Time management and self-analysis skills also help the boys keep on top of study commitments and also identify where they might be able to improve their football for the next game.

During this time, our Academy staff and coaches are out and about watching a lot of games on the weekends to see how our boys are playing and developing while also keeping an eye out for any talented players that may have matured physically or mentally, or improved their football in the past 6-12 months.

Some of the key things we look for when watching the boys player include but not limited to: skill level under pressure, game sense/knowledge, decision making with and without the ball, work ethic/rate, leadership, and attitude to name a few.

Rarely do we look at the scoreboard to see who’s winning apart from the end of the game, as we tend to focus on watching a small number of players individually and not the overall team outcome. So much can be learnt from watching a player when they haven’t got the ball in their hands!

Many of our 17 and 18 year-old boys are in the middle of the AFL National U18 Championships with a state game recently against Vic Metro played at Yeronga and this weekend against South Australia down at Southport, which provides the perfect opportunity to sit back and gauge how our boys compare and also perform against the best players in their peer groups from around the country.

The Tuesday morning after the game is spent analyzing and discussing the good and not so good individual and overall team performances witnessed – that is, what role the players had during the game, did their opponent have any influence on the game etc. We can then develop some feedback to give to the players during the week.

The National Championships are a bit like an ongoing job interview before 2-3 recruiters from every AFL clubs. If the boys can consistently play their roles well across all five games then they may one step closer of becoming a listed AFL player – the dream of many Academy boys.