Albany teen footballer to play for WA

Talented Albany footballer Dylan Smallwood will represent his State for the first time this weekend after making the final WA squad to compete at the 2014 NAB AFL National 16s Championships.

Smallwood was brought into the WAFL State 16s Academy in its second intake earlier this year.

His selection came on the back of his excellent performances at the WAFL 16s carnival and he was this week named in the final squad of 25 to play in division 1 of the championships on the Gold Coast from July 5 to 12.

WA 16s coach John Hancock said Dylan had been very impressive during the program.

"We brought Dylan into our initial squad of 36 boys and his performances have warranted selection in the final 25," he said.

"It is a credit to him and the support he receives from his family for the amount of travelling involved to participate in this program."

Hancock said Dylan would play a key defensive role in the championships, which start on Saturday against Victoria Metro.

"Dylan has height and athleticism, which are both very good attributes," he said.

"He has a nice vertical leap, is strong overhead and takes a good overhead mark.

"He will play a tall defensive role at the championships.

"He has certainly been very coachable in learning the finer arts of defence."

Dylan, 16, a Sharks product, has played five under-17s games and four colts matches in the Great Southern Football League this season and is excited by the opportunity to play for his State.

"It's a huge honour, I'm really proud (to play for WA)," he said.

"We have been going every week to Perth for the last nine or 10 weeks.

"I've been working on my positioning around the ground, rolling up when the ball is in the for- ward line and my full-body spoils."

The Albany Senior High School Year 11 student said he was really enjoying playing for the Sharks and it had been good to grab a few wins.

Hancock said the championships were the first chance for the boys to show their skills at a national level and was a progressive stage towards the State 18s.

"The State 16s is the entry stage," he said.

"This has been a nine-week program, which is not a long period to get quite a lot of learning in.

"Judging by the quality of this group, we are quite optimistic."

WA will face Victoria Metro on Saturday at 1pm at Metricon Stadium.

They will then play against Victoria Country at Metricon next Thursday and South Australian next Friday at Southport.