Four of the most promising talents in the PM CAPITAL GIANTS Academy have spent the week living as professional footballers at the GIANTS’ Sydney Olympic Park headquarters.
Henty’s Harrison Macreadie, Kobe Mutch from Gol Gol and Albury duo Zach Sproule and Will Setterfield trained all week with the GIANTS as part of the NAB AFL Academy program that has seen the best underage talents spend time at AFL clubs across the country.
2015 has been a big year for the four PM CAPITAL GIANTS Academy youngsters.
As part of the NAB AFL Academy, they travelled to New Zealand to represent Australia on ANZAC Day and were part of a curtain-raiser to the AFL Grand Final at the MCG.
All four players also played in every game of the NAB AFL Under-18 National Championships for the NSW-ACT Rams, and are eligible to line up again in the carnival in 2016.
After seeing four of his Rams teammates and fellow PM CAPITAL GIANTS Academy members drafted to the club last month, 17-year old Zach Spoule said he can see a clear pathway to the top.
“To see guys like Jacob Hopper play, it’s inspiring to see how hard he works and how committed he is to the game and that’s why we went so high in the draft and why he’s here and why he’s making a name for himself already,” Spoule said.
“That’s the kind of thing I’m going to try and achieve over the next year.”
Sproule is a tall forward, in the mould of Nick Riewoldt, who leads up to the ball well . He played for the Albury Tigers and Murray Bushrangers when not representing the NSW-ACT Rams in 2015.
Kobe Mutch is a smooth moving outside midfielder with silky skills on both sides of his body who plays like GIANTS wingman Lachie Whitfield.
The 17-year old said he loved every minute he spent at the GIANTS’ Learning Life Centre.
“It’s been the best week of my life. It’s been good working with all the boys and seeing how professional they are and what an elite environment is."
Key defender Harrison Macreadie, who has been compared to Geelong’s Andrew Mackie, said he enjoyed learning off some of the GIANTS defenders.
“It’s a great experience to work alongside so many professional football players like Heath Shaw, Phil Davis that have been around the club for a while and you get into habits of what they do and get to see up close how they became such good footballers.”
The 17-year old still goes to school at Billabong High School and played for his local team Henty in the Hume League Grand Final.
Will Setterfield is a tall midfielder who has the ability to play as both an inside and outside player and combines good endurances with the ability to win the contested football too.
Setterfield, 17, said he learnt plenty off the GIANTS’ midfield brigade this week.
“Dylan Shiel, Stephen Coniglio and Callan Ward have been huge for me this week. They’re real leaders around here and have really helped me out."
The quartet will return for another week at the club in January.
Kobe Mutch, Zach Sproule, Will Setterfield and Harrison Macreadie enjoyed their taste of the life of a professional footballer
