Morningside’s Ben Keays has been rewarded for an outstanding U18 National Championships, with selection in the All-Australian side.
Keays, who won’t be eligible for the draft until 2015, was a standout for Queensland through the championships.
He started the tournament with a bang, collecting 29 touches and booting four goals in the opening match against Tasmania, following that effort up with 21 touches against NT and a best on ground performance against NSW/ACT.
Keays was also named Queensland’s MVP for his efforts, an outstanding achievement in his bottom-aged year.
The 17 year-old has a strong representative history, winning the U16 MVP for Queensland last year.
Keays was one of five bottom-agers in the 2014 U18 All-Australian team and the state’s only representative, named on the interchange bench.
Vic metro had the most representatives, with seven, while Vic Country had five and Division One champions, South Australia had four representatives.
Division two champions,NSW/ACT also provided four representatives, including Head Coach, Jason Saddington, while Tasmania’s Josh McGuinness was his state’s sole representative.
DEFENDERS: Harrison Wigg (South Australia), Ed Vickers-Willis (Vic Metro), Josh McGuinness (Tasmania), Darcy Tucker (Vic Country), Caleb Marchbank (Vic Country), Angus Brayshaw (Vic Metro)
MIDFIELDERS: Paul Ahern (Vic Metro), Christian Petracca (Vic Metro), Billy Stretch (South Australia), Peter Wright (Vic Metro), Isaac Heeney (NSW/ACT), Jake Johansen (South Australia)
FORWARDS: Callum Mills (NSW/ACT), Darcy Moore (Vic Metro), Rhys Mathieson (Vic Country), Jayden Laverde (Vic Metro), Patrick McCartin (Vic Country), Caleb Daniel (South Australia)
INTERCHANGE: Jack Steele (NSW/ACT), Darcy Parish (Vic Country), Ben Keays (Queensland), Connor Blakely (Western Australia)
COACH: Jason Saddington (NSW/ACT)
ASSISTANT COACH: Brenton Phillips (South Australia)
