Launceston defender Arie Schoenmaker is "over the moon" to be playing for the Allies against Victoria Metro this weekend.
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The 18-year-old has knocked the door down from outside the under-18 national championships squad, selected after seven games with the Blues and just three for the Tasmania Devils.
Schoenmaker was one of several players who spent time away from the Devils program due to what AFL Tasmania identified as personal reasons earlier this year and thanked his coaches for their ongoing support.
"The comeback has been tough but I'm happy with the way I've gone about it and the people around me," he said.
"I'm really pleased to have [Launceston coach] Mitch [Thorp] support me and the boys back at Launnie when going back ... and that allowed me to play my best footy.
"Coming back with the Devils, re-integrating with them felt a lot easier with the coaches all coming together and getting around me and the boys as well.
"I just put [my form] down to having support around me to play my best football."
North Launceston's Heath Ollington, who played his junior football on the North-West Coast is also an inclusion into the undefeated Allies side this weekend, joining fellow Tasmanians Colby McKercher, Jack Callinan, Ryley Sanders and James Leake.
Sunday's clash is not Schoenmaker's first experience playing at the top level for his age, taking to the MCG on AFL grand final day last year for the AFL Futures match alongside McKercher, Callinan and Sanders.
That match pitted the best 17-year-olds against each other in Team Houli and Team Murphy.
"That experience was unreal for me and a couple of other boys like Jackie [Callinan] and Colb [McKercher], just learning how to be professional with training standards," he said.
"The way they moved the ball was elite so playing at that standard was a lot of help coming into this season."
Formerly a burgeoning cricket talent at Riverside, Schoenmaker's strength on the football field is his kicking ability, something he described as his "one-wood".
He was described as "a beautiful kick of the ball" by Devils coach Jeromey Webberley last year and showed his abilities in his 36-disposal return to the Coates Talent League, where he had 19 rebound-50s.
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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.
