It's been nine months since Tarryn Thomas was drafted to North Melbourne but the school's ranks appear no weaker with Northern Bombers pair Jackson Callow and Oliver Sanders heavily involved with this year's under-18 Devils program.

Hills, who doubles as the Devils' assistant coach, said winning 12 caps across the under-15 and under-16 boys' teams was a huge effort.

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"Obviously we've got a really strong football culture at St Patrick's College and it's really good to get the recognition of that many boys and girls into Tasmanian teams," Hills said.

"With Tarryn being drafted last year I guess that might have reignited some of the kids' ambitions of playing AFL footy.

"Being part of the Devils program, they can see a real pathway there from being part of a school program and doing AFL here at school and taking that all the way through to the AFL and AFLW."

The Tasmanian under-16 boys' team suffered a 20-point loss to Queensland on Tuesday night, while the under-15 boys and girls teams begin their national championship campaigns in Launceston later this month.

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