Mandurah Mail football writer Justin Rake takes on the ups and downs of our Peel Football and Netball League in his weekly column ‘Rake’s Rave’. This week highlights the talented youth floating around the league. Who do you think is the standout young gun of the PFNL? Have your say in the comments.
There’s two things I look for at every Peel Football and Netball League game I get the chance to write on.
The first being the obvious, who is the best on ground? Who is the reason their side is winning and who is going to feature at the top of the article when I sit down to wrap this one up?
The second is which debutante, first-year or teenage player is going to make the most impact. Who is the young gun finding the footy? Who is it the senior boys are celebrating the success of?
In most cases priority goes to the former, but the opening two rounds of the 2018 season has been all about the youth, particularly a pair of young forwards.
Halls Head’s Mathew Allen booted six of his side’s seven goals in round two, and Pinjarra’s Michael Hansen slotted seven in a battle with Centrals the week before.
Now, bags of goals aren’t always the whole story, but these performances were impressive given the quality each young player was facing.
Allen put up six on the reigning premiers, a side that for one, doesn’t allow you many inside 50s, and two, has a great defence.
He also got them in a number of ways, taking contested marks and converting set shots for a couple while others came at ground level.
Meanwhile, Hansen nailed seven on Centrals, another expected finals contender with solid backmen.
Together, Hansen and Allen have played a combined eight games, and in the first two rounds of this year they share a combined 14 goals.
And they’re not the only young players making waves for their sides.
Matthew Bennell nailed five goals in his Mandurah Mustangs debut, Jaydon Cullen shadowed ex-WAFL star Paul Mugambwa for South Mandurah in round two and Zayne Selkirk was best on for Rockingham in round one.
As the season wears on I’m sure the senior players will take back their spotlight, but for now, it’s refreshing to watch as the young guys take up some big roles.