ZONING IN

Suns bring in talent from Northern Territory program

TEN Northern Territory talent pathway players – including 2020 AFL national draft prospect Joel Jeffrey – are spending a week on the Gold Coast as part of a Suns training and development program.

The Darwin region became a Suns academy zone in September last year and Suns general manager of list management and strategy, Craig Cameron, said it would be a key recruiting area for the club.

“We are very committed to developing the next batch of AFL and AFLW players from Darwin region and this visit is part of that,” Cameron said.

“The Darwin region will be an important recruiting area for the Suns because it has a long track record of producing quality players.

“We expect to have more Territorians on our AFL and AFLW lists in coming years.”

The three-year academy agreement means Darwinbased players – like Jeffrey – who are signed to the Gold Coast academy may be presigned to the senior Suns list without bidding.

Cameron said Jeffrey had shown plenty of promise and would likely have drawn a first round bid from another club if available at the 2020 draft.

“We are excited by Joel and look forward to continuing to work with him and develop his game ahead of the national draft,” he said.

“He comes from a great Territory family and his dad, Russell, played at the highest level for St Kilda and Brisbane which is a good sign too.”

The 10 visiting players and NT Thunder academy coach, Jason Roe, will train at the Suns Metricon Stadium base, attend AFL games, including tonight’s match against Richmond at the Gabba, and work with Suns staff during their visit.

Four of the players featured in Gold Coast’s seven-point win over the Brisbane Lions in Sunday’s academy game and academy head coach Andrew Raines was pleased with what he saw.

“They were very good,”

Raines said.

“They adapted well to the team style. We played Joel across half-back, forward and on the ball so we mixed it up a bit.