A trio of Northern TSL products will get the opportunity of a lifetime on AFL grand final day.
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Launceston's Colby McKercher and Arie Schoenmaker and former North Launceston young gun Ryley Sanders will play in the AFL Futures match, a curtain-raiser to the grand final on September 24.
A squad of 48, which featured the three Tasmanians, was announced on Wednesday, with Sanders now plying his trade for the Sandringham Dragons in the NAB League.
Launceston coach Mitch Thorp was understandably proud of his two protegees.
"Our program is not just senior-orientated, it's juniors, 18s, development league and clearly our Devils as well," he said.
"For Arie and Colby to play in front of a pretty big crowd with all of the recruiters around Australia watching the game, it's a really significant moment."
McKercher has arguably had more spotlight in the past, having played eight senior games for Launceston after debuting as a 16-year-old last year.
That's why Thorp believes this chance is arguably more significant for Schoenmaker.
"Colby is a star, that's well documented, everyone knows that he's probably going to be on an AFL list in 12 months' time but Arie has matured and played some good footy this season," he said.
"It's a really good story of persevering with some deficiencies in his game initially, but now he just looks like he's going to be a really strong contributor and who knows how far he can take his footy."
Devils coach Jeromey Webberley also praised his kicking earlier this year.
"Offensively he's fantastic, he's a beautiful kick of the ball, he makes really good decisions with it," Webberley said in August.
The Futures match hasn't been played since 2019, when now Hawthorn player Jackson Callow took to the MCG.
McKercher, Schoenmaker and Sanders will take part in a training camp before the match, where the squad will be split into two teams - named after Bachar Houli and Marc Murphy.
"The AFL Futures match will give AFL club recruiting staff and football fans the opportunity to see the future stars of our game on the biggest day of the AFL season," AFL talent ambassador Kevin Sheehan said.
"All players who feature in the match will be eligible for selection in the 2023 AFL Draft."
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Josh Partridge
As a sports-mad fan who loves to remain challenged, sports journalism always seemed the path for me and it's allowed me to do things I never thought possible. A keen racquet sports player, I'm experienced in that field, allowing me to do my job at a strong standard.
As a sports-mad fan who loves to remain challenged, sports journalism always seemed the path for me and it's allowed me to do things I never thought possible. A keen racquet sports player, I'm experienced in that field, allowing me to do my job at a strong standard.
