By JARROD POTTER
EARNING their places in the Young Guns Game, some south eastern footballers featured in the best 40 young prospects in the lead up to the AFL National Draft.
Donning the BIG V just for one day, players from the VFL, TAC Cup and some local leagues were divvied up and given one simple goal: give this match your all.
The Young Guns Game is the last chance for many footballers to show off their credentials in 2015 and despite the exhibition match being played for no points or premierships, the competition remained fierce.
Gippsland Power tandem Tom Papley (from Bunyip) and Matthew de Bruin (Pakenham) lined up for the Black Team while up and coming ruck/forward Liam Hulett – Dandenong’s sole participant – wore 21 for the Green Team.
Papley had the ball on a string through the first term, setting up the first two goals with hard-ball gets, contested marks and a dogged attack on the ball that had to impress the sea of recruiters taking their spots in the Norman Goss Stand.
But the Black side’s chances faded after quarter-time with Team Green waltzing away to boot 13 goals to three in a one-sided display on Port Melbourne’s home ground.
Hulett – who featured predominantly in an unusual position for him at full back – and his Green Team ran away with the match through the second quarter to build a 62-point lead by the final siren.
“It’s a privilege and a good game to be playing in,” Papley said.
“It’s a good honour and there’s a few good players playing in this game today and a few boys showed a lot and that they can play AFL.
“It was a good standard – nice, fast play – but the other side just had the better of us and really killed us in the middle and we didn’t have much of a chance up forward, but that’s how footy goes.”
On Team Black, De Bruin also showed promise – with the exciting athletics-convert breaking tackles and flying for contested grabs of his own on a tough day for the Black Team.
Gippsland’s other representative in the clash – Christian Buykx-Smith – booted two goals as he was thrown into the opposite end of the ground.
Casey Scorpions quartet Luke Hannon, Jordan Moncrieff, Bryce Rutherford and Declan Keilty also gave their all in the recruiters’ dream – the best of the already finals-eliminated clubs from the elite leagues around the state.
The match was a curtain-raiser for the VFL preliminary final between Williamstown and Essendon.
YOUNG GUNS GAME
BLACK TEAM 4.1 4.4 6.6 7.9 (51)
GREEN TEAM 3.3 7.4 13.9 17.11 (113)
