WAFL 2024: Host of Great Southern young guns in Claremont side for Albany colts showdown with East Perth

There will be a rich Great Southern flavour to Claremont’s colts side when it travels to Albany this weekend for its annual WAFL clash at Retravision Stadium against bottom-placed East Perth on Saturday night. Albany has historically been a happy hunting ground for the Tigers colts, who have won four of their past five outings at their home away from home. The round 17 WAFL colts fixture will take place under lights after the Great Southern Football League’s round 12 clash between Albany and North Albany. Sitting top of the ladder with a 12-1 win-loss record, the Tigers are equipped with flourishing players from the region who have become mainstays in their side including Royals’ Rory Luscombe and North Albany’s Lucas Ravenhill. Four Great Southern products played in last year’s 24-point win over Subiaco at Albany’s premier sporting facility Retravision Stadium including current Albany Advertiser Footballer of the Year leader Ryley Valli. A host of Perth-based players in the Tigers’ colts system who hail from the Great Southern will make the journey back to Albany for the match while a trio of local encouraging GSFL prospects will also play. Albany pair Harvey Taylor and Aiden Clark and Denmark-Walpole’s Marlon Mastalerz have all been selected to play in the fixture after showing promising signs for their clubs throughout 2024. Among the Perth-based contingent is Railways’ Clay Michael, who will play his first WAFL match for the Tigers on Saturday night since rupturing an anterior cruciate ligament at the 2023 Great Southern Colts Carnival. Lachlan Cale (Railways), Blake Panizza (Royals) and Tait Hartfield (Denmark-Walpole) are among the Perth-based Great Southern players who are a chance to play in front of their home crowd. Claremont talent manager Jordan Smith said the annual encounter was important to maintain the club’s strong links with the Great Southern. “It’s really exciting for us, ,” he said. “It’s become a staple of our calendar over the last five or six years and something that we always really look forward to. “(Our presence in the Great Southern) is a massive focus for us and I think the beauty of it is the scope of our engagements in the region is so varied. “Whether that’s talent pathway staff, women’s footy or our senior pre-season camp down there, school holiday clinics, we try and find a number of different ways to engage with a broad cross-section of footy players from within the region. “We want the pathway to be really visible for the young boys and girls that are growing up playing footy in the Great Southern . . . to Claremont and it’s something to work towards.” While the match aims to showcase the rising stars of the region and foster direct pathways from grassroots football to WAFL level, it also allows local umpires to showcase their abilities. “It’s also an opportunity for a selection of GSFL panel umpires to be part of the game as well,” Smith said. “The third field umpire and then all the boundary and goal umpires are all GSFL-appointed. “The WA Football Commission have got their (umpire) head coach of their talent pathways for umpires coming down, and he’ll be part of coaching the umpires on match day as well.” After being awarded umpire of the carnival at the Great Southern Colts Carnival, Ryan Ballard has been chosen as the third field umpire for the match. Bouncedown for the colts clash will be at 5pm and there will be a juniors game played during the half-time break.