Players to watch for WA in AFL U18 Championship opener against Vic CountryThursday, June 5, 2025 - 9:59 AM - by Jordan McArdle

Western Australia’s AFL National Under-18s Championship campaign gets underway against Vic Country at Mineral Resources Park on Saturday morning.

WA coach Marc Webb joined the WAFL’s official podcast Seven Point Play to chat about how things were tracking and some of the players to watch for the carnival opener.

Fred Rodriguez – midfielder from South Fremantle

“He’s a big-bodied inside mid who’s really good at getting contest to contest, he can kick both sides of his body really well, he’s super competitive and a really good clearance player as well.

“He’s a great character who works really hard on his game.

“Obviously being voted captain of our 18s program by his peers is a strong reflection of how high esteem he’s held.”

Cody Curtin – key forward/defender from Claremont

“He played our whole carnival last year as a defender and acquitted himself quite well in defence.

“We decided early on to give him his opportunity as a forward because a lot of people had seen him back.

“He’s shown that capability to take a really good one-on-one mark and he’s also added his running capacity.

“He’s 200cm and has started to back-up ruck for us the last three weeks and acquitted himself well which is another thing he’s added to his game.”

Toby Whan – midfielder from South Fremantle

“He’s a hard-working inside mid, pretty similar to Fred (Rodriguez). He’s got a really top-end running capacity and is able to keep those repeat efforts at high running intensity.

“His work rate doesn’t stop so from the first quarter to the last quarter he’s outstanding.

“He’s really good in link-up play so he’ll be able to hit a target then stay involved in the chain and be able to work the ball from defence and still be involved in moving the ball forward.

“He’s versatile in that he’s played forward and half-back at different times and late last year, we played him a little big wing/forward in our last championship game.”

Wes Walley – small forward from Subiaco

“Wes is a forward that has good capacity to hit up into space, take a mark in the air and he’s stronger playing closer to the goals.

“He was in the AFL National Academy and he kicked a couple of goals in the last game so he’s got that athletic ability to take a strong mark and kick a goal.”

Sam Swadling – midfielder from West Perth

“Sam has come on a lot. He was a forward last year, went on ball this year at West Perth and he’s been getting a lot of the ball.

“He’s a strong player in getting the ball from inside to out as an inside mid and he’s good both sides of his body.”

Hudson Walker – midfielder/forward from Subiaco

“He played well again last week. He’s really good in traffic, can get through tackles and has a good burst of pace.

“He’s exciting from an inside-to-outside point of view and he’s a really competent half-forward who played the first couple of games in the Subi league team as a half-forward too which gives us that forward/mid balance.”

Blake Kelly – midfielder from Swan Districts

“He’s another one who’s a good clearance player, good with his hands, is a strong kick and is another one who can play forward.

“He played in our side last year as a small forward and had a real impact, he was probably our best player in our first game last year.

“He has versatility to hit the scoreboard and also as an inside mid.”

Charlie Banfield – wing/half-forward from Claremont

“Charlie played our carnival last year, he’ll play a similar role this year.

“He’s a hard-running, hard-working half-forward/wing who is very good in the air and his work is super impressive, he’s super competitive like his dad.

“He’s in our leadership group and I think he can impact with his work rate and effort.”

Jacob Farrow – half-back/midfielder from West Perth

“He’s had an outstanding early part of the season as a damaging half-back.

“He’s good with his feet, has a bit of burst power and has played a bit inside with us and showed some real capacity.”

Benji van Rooyen – ruck from Claremont

“Benji van Rooyen is the younger brother of (Melbourne key forward Jacob).

“He’s our ruck. He’s 203cm so he’s still growing into his body.

“We’ve had a few injuries to our ruck stocks so he’s one who’s shown his competitiveness and developed well so we’ll see him in our carnival.”