By Beth Newman
It’s New South Wales-ACT. It’s a national title. It’s Etihad Stadium.
The stakes won’t get much higher for the Queensland U18 team, than in their final National Championships match tomorrow, and coach, Adrian Fletcher, had some fighting words ahead of the decider.
“We’re Queenslanders, we’ll go in and step on those cockroaches,” he said.
The spotlight will be on Queensland in that final National Championships game and Fletcher is confident his charges can handle it.
“Pressure’s just a state of mind, isn’t it?” he said.
“The unknown is not a problem when you have a plan.
“Our skill level’s good, our physicality’s pretty good and we must go in confident.”
Both sides go in undefeated, with Queensland coming off a comfortable defeat of NT.
They’ll be hoping that Lachie Weller can replicate his sensational form from that match, while twin peaks, Matt Hammelmann and Metthew Uebergang, will be crucial for the team in their forward line.
The younger members of the team have stepped up to the U18 representative challenge with ease, with Corey Wagner and Ben Keays among the standouts, who will again be asked to step up tomorrow.
While Queensland are on the verge of claiming an elusive Div Two title, Fletcher said they weren’t preoccupied with the possibility of glory.
“It (Winning the title) obviously gives you a reward, but we live in the moment,” he said.
“We need to live in the moment or you get clouded vision and we don’t want that.”
A win would give Queensland a national title for the first time since 2006, but they will need to be on their game to beat an equally in-form Rams outfit.
“Our best will be fine, but our best has got to be there on the day,” he said.
“It’s what you train for over the program, to show your wares when it’s important.”
NSW/ACT midfielder, Isaac Heeney, is one of the hottest prospects this year, tied to the Sydney Swans via its Academy and will pose a great danger for the Queenslanders tomorrow.
Heeney heads a hard-running Rams midfield which also includes Jacob Hopper and Callum Mills, who played vital roles in their hard-fought win over Tasmania on Saturday.
Defender turned forward, Abe Davis proved a revelation in the Rams’ forward line, with two goals and 15 disposals against Tasmania.
Brisbane Lions fans will have a glimpse of a possible father-son prospect in the game, with Tyler Roos, son of Paul, lining up for NSW/ACT.
The QLD v NSW/ACT game kicks off at 3pm at Etihad Stadium and will be broadcast live on Fox Footy and the AFL Live App.
If you can’t watch it, AFL Queensland will be live-tweeting the match on @AFLQ.
QUEENSLAND 25
James Holland
Jessie Walton
Jacob Watson
Daniel Henderson
Harris Andrews
Darcy Trask
Corey Wagner
Darcy Cameron-Reeves
Dylan Mutu
Soul Cormick
Matthew Hammelmann
Lachlan Weller
Mabior Chol
Matthew Uebergang
Liam Dawson
Braydon Preuss
James Rayner
Ben Keays
Nick Jackson
Liam Moseley
Isaac Corvo
Nate Dennis
Hayden Bertoli-Simmonds
Henry Leong
Cameron Stevenson
