Page 88 - AFL QUEENSLAND 2012 YEAR IN REVIEW

DARLING DOWNS
It has been a great year for AFL on the Darling Downs.
At club level we are making strong strides forward with 735 registered juniors this season (not including Crows). This is an increase of 14% on 2011 and the highest registered count in the history of the Darling Downs Juniors.
NAB AFL Auskick continues to flourish with a record 2,060 participants in 2012 and the addition of many new centres such
as Hattonvale SS (97 students), Glennie (69), Inglewood (40) and Toowoomba Prep (135 combined). The inclusion of a restructured Auskick program in Term 1 has resulted in a much higher transition rate to club football with the Darling Downs now having many more Under 8, Under 10 and Under 12’s than in previous years.
The Darling Downs Under 12 schoolboys returned home victorious, taking out the Division 2 title. The carnival began with a hard fought win in trying conditions over the Northern Region and was backed up with another solid performance against Capricornia. But it was a sterling effort on day 3 of the championships that sealed the win for the Downs as they fought back from an early deficit to beat traditional powerhouse Peninsula.
The win was made even sweeter with Darling Downs Captain Tom Matthews (Dalby) named player of the carnival, earning himself
a place in the Queensland squad. Tom was also named in the Country team (Division 2) along with team mates Eric Rattray (Stingers), Cambell Aston (Coolaroo), and Roly Brosnan and Angus Jakins who are Rookie Search players from Toowoomba Prep. In the Under 15’s Dan Mauch was named in the Queensland side and performed extremely well during the National Championships.
The Darling Downs Crows continue to prosper with the Under 18’s side undefeated in taking out the Division 2 Central Title, the
second in the team’s history. Captain Lachlan Dignan was named competition MVP and best-on-ground in the Under 18 grand final victory over Kenmore.
A big congratulation goes to the Under 14 Crows team who, in their first season of competing in the Division 1 McDonald’s Shield, made it through to the Semi Final’s, narrowly missing out on a Preliminary final birth after going down to Aspley by only four points.
The possible inclusion of Chinchilla and South Burnett into the Darling Downs Juniors competition in 2013 shows the league is taking positive steps forward with the fostering of new club programs and structures.
KEITH WEBB
DARLING DOWNS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
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2012 Year in Review