Over the last fortnight, 25 of the Territory's best under 15 AFL footballers travelled to Perth to compete against all other States and Territories.
On Saturday the young fellows were put through a one hour training session and were looking great going into their first game.
The Sunday consisted of an opening ceremony, with all teams attending. It was a great start to the week as all the teams marched on to the field then sang the National Anthem together.
The week started in great fashion for the NT boys who played some exciting and great football with fast movement of the ball and fantastic pressure. The lads were over run in the last quarter, as bad kicking was costly with NT scoring 1.6 in the last half.
The second game was a real struggle against the Victorian Metro side. They a were strong and powerful side but credit to the NT lads that continued to pressure and chase but size was the real issue.
Day three was rest day the whole side went to the Fremantle Jail and heard some great stories and learnt some history of the place, they seemed to really enjoy the tour.
The third game was against the eventual winners W.A. They were a very clean hard running side with some players having exceptional talent. With out showing real score board pressure the young Territorians put up a great effort and their pressure was amazing as they continued to work hard all game which was a win for all involved.
The fourth game was against NSW. Apart from a small lapse for 10 minutes the whole game was controlled by the NT boys. Bad kicking was the real killer in this game with NSW having a great conversion rate. The lads were really disappointed after this game.
The following day we had rehab and worked on some set plays and tried to get the fellows up for their last game against Queensland which was going to be a big ask.
The game started at 8am so the boys were up and about at 5.30am, most with a bout of the flu they played their hearts out but the Queensland team were too big and strong.
It was a tough week for the whole team not winning a game but the experience some of the young players will take away from the week will be priceless for the future. Most players will reflect on what a great experience the trip was and try to improve their running capacity and skills for future competitions.