BATEMANS Bay AFL prodigy Elijah Edwards will take the next big step in his development as a player next month.
Edwards, a scholarship holder with Collingwood, was selected in the ACT/South Coast under 18s side that will compete at the Joss state zone trials in Coffs Harbour.
The 16-year-old has been a part of the ACT/South Coast squad since being in the under 13s and in that time he has turned a lot of heads with his talent.
“He has played in our state zone trials since under 13s and he’s captured everybody’s attention by the way he plays,” manager of the AFL’s ACT/South Coast region Steve Mahar said.
“He’s very eye catching with the way he plays because he’s flashy and he does some incredible things.”
However, there’s more to football than just silky skills and Mahar insisted Edwards has improved other, just as important, areas of his game in recent times.
“Probably in the last two years, he’s really developed the defensive side of his game as well,” Mahar said.
Being 16, Edwards is eligible to play at under-18 level for another two seasons and Mahar predicted a large pot of gold for the teenager at the end of that road.
“Hopefully in that 18th year is when he’ll be drafted by an AFL club and Collingwood will have first choice on him, given the scholarship,” he said.
Mahar described the fact that Edwards made the under 18s team a year early as “a big deal”, but he insisted the South Coast/ACT region has become quite a breeding ground for talented youngsters.
“It’s quite a big deal, but he’s not by himself because there are some other players from the coast and Canberra that are (turning) 17 and have made the squad as well,” he said.
“But Elijah is one that we earmarked, thinking he would definitely make the squad.”
Edwards was selected for the under-16 state team last year but missed out on the nationals tournament due to injury.
But he shouldn’t be too disappointed, according to Mahar, who firmly believes he’ll get another crack at under-18 level.
“We look at him potentially making the under 18s state team in 2012 and if he does that as a 17-year old, then that’s quite a big achievement,” he said.
“If he makes that team, then he’ll be within the best 30 players in the state and that’s a huge bonus considering he’s still got another year in the program.”
Having put on some bulk recently, Edwards will be a force to be reckoned with at the Coffs Harbour tournament next month.
But the state trials are likely to act as just another step on what looks to be a promising career path.
“He’s a definite star of the future,” Mahar said.
The under-18 Joss state zone trials will be held at the Coffs Harbour International Stadium from January 15 to 18.
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