WARRNAMBOOL-based footballers Renee Saulitis and Will White will return to the south-west with national championship gold medals.
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The pair represented Victoria at under 15 and under 12 levels respectively in Queensland, helping their sides go through undefeated.
Victoria scored 40-point wins over Western Australia in the under 15 girls’ decider and South Australia in the under 12 boys’ grand final on Saturday.
Renee, 13, said she was thrilled to win a national title at her first attempt.
“It is incredible. It was pretty tough but we got the win,” she said.
“It means a lot and was really fun.”
Renee plays for Warrnambool at under 14 level and has aspirations to take her football further.
The new AFL women’s competition is a long-term goal.
“I look up to it but there are still a few stages I need to go through to get there,” she said.
Will, 12, said he was thrilled to be part of a strong Victorian team.
The Hawks-aligned junior played at half-back and was named Joel Selwood Player of the Day on Thursday for his efforts in one of its preliminary matches.
“We used the ball well and used the wing well and everyone kept running,” he said of the grand final.
“In the first quarter we got a good start and followed it up for the four quarters.”
Will, who played at half-back, said the competition pitted him against a number of talented opponents, including Queenslander Will Ashcroft, son of Brisbane Lions triple premiership player Marcus.
“There were some standouts in the other teams whose dads had played AFL,” he said.