2024 Hostplus Woodville-West Torrens Pocket Profile

SANFL’s ZAC MILBANK breaks down all you need to know about the Eagles heading into the 2024 Hostplus SANFL League season.

COMING
Cameron Fleeton (GWS), Josh Morris (returned/Hawthorn), Jarrad Redden (returned/Southern Eagles), Luke McKay (Narrandera/Canberra Demons), Jack Boyd (Werribee), Nathan Barkla (returned/Port Adelaide), Jordan Moore (Glenelg), Blake Renet (Narrandera)

GOING
Jimmy Toumpas (retired), Daniel Menzel (retired/Coorong Cats coach), Rory Lehmann (Coorong Cats), Jesse Lonergan (retired), Kai Pudney (Central District), Jake Comitogianni (Personal), Riley Collier-Dawkins (Williamstown), Clay Cameron (Redland-Victoria Point, Queensland), Lachie Hoile (RSMU), Tyler Welsh (Adelaide – SANFL Rookie Program), Tyran Hill (Broadview)

Saturday March 2
Woodville-West Torrens 14.10 (94) d South Adelaide 9.4 (58) at Flinders University Stadium

Saturday March 16
Central District 9.11 (65) d Woodville-West Torrens 9.8 (62) at X Convenience Oval

Friday March 22
Adelaide 7.10 (52) d Woodville-West Torrens 6.7 (43) at Football Park

Little is known about Woodville-West Torrens’ star recruit outside of Oval Avenue.

But inside Maughan Thiem Kia Oval, heads have been turning such as been Cameron Fleeton’s form on the training track.

Arriving from the Greater Western Sydney Giants, the 21-year-old is set to impress as an intercept defender in 2024.

Originally from Geelong, the 192cm backman is eager to learn from veteran premiership captain Luke Thompson while establishing himself in the Eagles’ best 22.

Excitement surrounds the continual development of fleet-footed midfielder Kade Herbert, who is poised to shine in 2024.

Playing five Hostplus SANFL League games last year as a 17-year-old, the wingman certainly didn’t look out of place confronting his mature-age opponents.

Boasting speed and aerobic running power, Herbert can also run and carry the football across lines while delivering it with precision.

Originally from Bute/Paskeville on the Yorke Peninsula, the teenager will look to play League games early before he sets his sights on lining up with SANFL’s U18 team in the middle part of the season.

SA U18 Coach Tony Bamford profiles the Eagles players for 2024

Tyler Welsh
Tyler will be in a unique situation this season as a “Father Son” player for the AFC in the SANFL League competition while also being eligible to play SANFL U18s for his club, Woodville-West Torrens. Tyler is an experienced SANFL Talent Pathway player having played U16 state level, U18 state level as an U17 last year and also a member of the AFL National Academy. He had a slow start to the State Academy pre-season program but to his credit was able knuckle down and lift his training standards before Christmas quite well. Tyler plays as a deep forward and has elite speed and power and plays with an unpredictability about him that makes him a very difficult match up for most defenders. We have challenged Tyler to find ways and opportunities to become a more professional athlete and footballer who builds a consistent weekly schedule that allows him to perform at his best.

Kade Herbert
Kade is one of our State Academy players who has some SANFL league level experience under his belt already. During our pre-season program he was one of our key leaders when it came to driving and setting high performance training standards. Originally from the Yorke Peninsula, he has been living in Adelaide for a couple of seasons now and this experience has helped him mature as a person and that has also helped his game-day performance. Kade experienced AFL U18 Nationals last year as a bottom age player. Playing on the wing and high HF he was able to impact the game in both offense and defence. This year, we see Kade as potentially our most versatile player with skill sets and game IQ to be able to play as an inside midfielder, outside midfielder and in any of the hard-running high forward roles that are so important in modern AFL footy. For Kade to maintain his development projection we need to help him continue to improve his ball take skills and decision making.

Charlie West
Big Charlie has a busy year ahead of him with Yr 12 at Immanuel College in front of him while also trying to maintain his investment in his ongoing football education & development. Like many talented tall players, his overall development has been steady and not without some speed bumps along the way. In our State Academy program he was slow to get going and pick up and adapt to the standards being asked by his coaches and set by his peers. To his credit, by the end of our program in February, he was often one of the most noticeable players in our sessions. Charlie possess elite acceleration and speed over 0-20m and some serious power. Playing as a Key Forward for College and club he has been able to use his size and strength to win the footy in most situations. We have made a strong focus area for Charlie to develop is understanding of forward leading patterns in fast play while also learning how fwds work together to create space for each other.

Tom Luck
Tommy is an experienced SANFL Talent Pathway player having played U16 state level, U18 state level as an U17 last year. His ability to play at a high level is evident across his U16 & U17 years where he has been the best ruckman in his age group in SA. Tom is from the Yorke Peninsula and has recently moved down to Adelaide to live and to allow him access to a more consistent training, recovery and playing routine. In our State Academy program when he was able to train fully, he worked on his key position craft as well as his ruck craft. At this stage of his development he isn’t tall enough for AFL clubs to consider him a lead ruckman, so he needs to showcase his skills and competitiveness in other roles. Tom has been more of a footballer than an athlete up to now, but if he wants to keep progressing up the pathway he will need to improve his athletic profile while also showing he can impact as a tall forward to tall back.

Harry Dodd
Harry was our best and most consistent “athlete” in our State Academy program over pre-season. His dedication and work rate are second to none and his ability to back up high end loading & high speed sessions back to back was outstanding. His GPS numbers in training were more often than not at the top of the tree for the whole squad. He can clearly run hard and run hard often, a great trait to have in modern footy. Harry has played mainly as a high defender and inside midfielder at SANFL U16 & u18 level so far. We feel he may be more suited to high forward roles at AFL level, not totally discounting him as a defender. We have challenged Harry to improve his Ball use and decision making process when he has the ball in hand.

Jett Hasting
Jett is also from the Eagles country zone and has been at St Peters College as a boarder for a few years. He is completing his Yr 12 studies this year while no doubt playing a significant leadership role at St Peters on and off the footy field. He is a very mature, independent and organised young man. Jett is a very flexible player who has shown he can play well behind the ball, on the ball and as a high forward in front of the ball. He maximises his elite running ability with an unquestionable work rate. To complement that, his leadership skills are at the high end for a young man his age. We have challenged Jett to maintain his continued development of clean hands, contest impact / balance and overall ball use.

Tate Delmenico
Tate is in the State talent pathway for the first time. His performances as a key defender last year in the Eagles U18s as an U17 player were very impressive and why he was identified for our U17 Futures program last September. No other player in the U18 competition last year was as effective as he was at intercepting the ball from the opposition kicks. Tate currently stands around 191cm, so in AFL terms is not quite tall enough to be considered a Key defender, so over the pre season he was given experience defending the smaller more mobile forwards. While is natural game is to stand the taller forwards and beat them in the aerial / ground contests, he will need to show that he can negate his opponent while still reading the ball movement and assisting other defenders as the second man in. His weapon is his marking while is growth area is around his composure and ball use post intercept possession.

Rome Burgoyne
Rome is a potential father son at Port Adelaide and is an experienced player in our State talent pathway. He was selected in the SAU18s last year as a bottom age player but due to injury at the wrong time missed an opportunity to play. Rome plays as a high defender who can be very dangerous with the ball in his possession. He see’s the game well in front of him, has composure and makes sound decisions on what to do with the ball. Rome is well aware that to continue to evolve and develop his whole game he will need to improve his ability to compete and win more of his one on one contests while increasing his desperation and work rate when the opposition at attacking. Rome is also completing Y12 studies at PAC college and will need to find balance between multiple football programs.