HAMILTON Kangaroos’ decision to enter a Hampden league under 16 side for the first time this season is already paying dividends.
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Two players from the grand final-bound outfit – co-captains Rory Gill and Dylan Starkie – have made their senior debuts in 2017.
Roos under 16 coach Bernie Porter hopes some of their junior teammates will follow suit in 2018.
“It’s great for the club (to be successful in the juniors),” he said.
“The senior side is a bit lower on the ladder and we can showcase our future I suppose and in a few years’ time, if this is anything to go by, our seniors should be playing finals.
“We’ve had a couple of kids play senior football already and next year I can’t see why five or six more won’t play seniors.”
Porter said Gill and Starkie deserved to get a taste of top-level football this season.
He said the midfield duo played a crucial role for the Roos’ under 16 side, which will play junior powerhouse South Warrnambool in the grand final at Cobden on Sunday.
“They’ve got old heads on young shoulders,” Porter said.
“They direct traffic out there. It makes my job a lot easier.”
Porter said the Kangaroos had exceeded expectations in their maiden season.
They finished second with a 10-3 win-loss record, knocked off Camperdown by 10 points in the qualifying final, fell 19 points short of the Roosters in the second semi-final and won a two-point thriller over the Magpies on the preliminary final stage.
The Kangaroos are yet to beat the Roosters.
“Being a new team, it was all about the kids growing in themselves and getting ready for senior footy and I think we’ve ticked those boxes,” Porter said.
“Now there’s something there at the end to reward them, if they’re good enough.”