Shore AFL – Melbourne Tour 2023

This is Shore AFL’s second tour ever and first time travelling to Melbourne. At the end of last year, we spoke to the coaching staff and senior leaders about doing a tour and what we wanted to achieve out of it. Based on the feedback, we wanted a tour that would help build and develop the program. So, we decided to try and travel to the heart of AFL, Melbourne. Reaching out to Xavier College in Melbourne, they approved for our team to stay in their boarding house for the week.

Day 1:

The boys and staff met at Sydney Domestic Airport and flew down to Melbourne. A hire bus was organised and drove them to Xavier College where they were warmly greeted by the Head of Boarding who showed them to their accommodation and the dining hall. That afternoon, the team caught the train to Melbourne Cricket Crowd to watch the Geelong Cats vs Hawthorne. AFL and Geelong Cats had kindly offered our team VIP seats and be a part of the Guard of Honour for the Geelong Cats. This was an amazing experience and the main highlight of the trip for many of the boys.

Day 2:

We had arranged for a trial match against Melbourne Grammar School Third XVIII Team to be played at Fawkner Park. The boys made their own way there using public transport and were warming up to play their first fixture for the season. For some boys this would be their first ever AFL match. MGS were far to strong for our boys and won 112-20. James Collier kicked two goals and Mitch Dettman kicked one goal. The scoreline sounds one sided, but our boys played very well and should be proud of what they achieved against such a strong AFL school.

Day 3:

Xavier College Football kindly invited our Squad to be involved in their Testing Day for their senior players. The day involved skills testing of handballs and kicking, 40 metre sprint test, vertical leap and a seminar discussing GPS trackers and how to analyse the data. It was great to see the Xavier boys perform so well at the Testing day and what areas we can improve on.

That afternoon we travelled back to the MCG where we had an MCG Tour booked. This was another great experience learning about the history of stadium and seeing the enormity of just how big it is. After the tour the team was able to go downstairs to the museum where there were interactive games for them to play in.

Day 4:

Our second trial match was against the powerhouse of Xavier College’s Third XVIII. This was going to be an even tougher challenge. The game started with plenty of intensity with both teams going very hard at the ball. The main difference was Xavier’s execution when exciting from the ruck. Unfortunately, our best player from the first game, Joslin Barnes, was involved in a swing tackle and his head hit the ground hard causing a slight concussion. That ruled him out from the remainder of the game and he spent the rest of the morning in Alfred Hospital. The team soldiered on and again fought hard throughout the match. They went down 103-13 with James Collier and Archer Hall scoring a goal each.

Xavier were nice to offer seven of our boys to wear the GPS Tracker during the fixture. They then provided our boys database about intensity, work rate and distance covered.

On the final day the squad had an internal testing period with handballing and kicking, followed by mini games of soccer and basketball.

Overall, it was a very successful tour with the boys getting a great insight to how professional the School AFL programs are. Everyone had a great time and a huge thank you to Xavier College and Melbourne Grammar School.

G Tesoriero
MIC of AFL