The AFL Joss State Zone U18’s carnival has already seen some upsets after just the first night of competition.

The Western Sydney Zone won each of its matches on the opening night of the carnival, which is a first for the Zone at U18’s level.

The Western Sydney Zone defeated both the Riverina and Sydney South zones and Western Sydney coach, Terry Mudge put the success down to a simple philosophy.

“It’s not someone telling the players to do something, they are doing it themselves,” he said. “Thanks to all of the information that they have been given through the Slater & Gordon Academy squads and watching the GIANTS train. There is a lot of confidence about the group.

“The bottom line is the players have to think for themselves, they have to do it. If you know what you’re doing you’re going to do it to the best of your ability.

“It’s about empowering the players and giving them the power to say, ‘hey listen, there isn’t a blueprint. If I had it, I would have Kevin Sheedy’s job.’

“You have to make decisions and you are going to get some wrong but it’s not about dropping your heads, it’s about continually wanting to be better”.

Mudge said the results of the Western Sydney zone show that AFL football is growing in the region and the improvement shown is due to the partnerships provided by the Slater & Gordon GIANTS Academy as well as being the result of the hard work by many at the GIANTS and NSW AFL/ACT.

“I’ve been involved in junior football in Western Sydney, and what Darren Denneman has done with the Talent Pathway program has been phenomenal. There have been giant steps made in the representative program and now the region is starting to gather a lot of momentum, and it is flowing through.

“Players are going back to their own clubs and actually teaching their own coaches and players, and the standard is just lifting, because now there is a real vision, and we now have someone to support and work alongside us in the GIANTS.

“Now that the GIANTS are here, they are very accessible and everything is just moving forward. It’s easy to be critical but the facts suggest otherwise, which has shown with wins in our first two games.”

Mudge highlighted two players, Captain Karl Merson and GIANTS scholarship player, Stuart Turner as those who have impressed so far.

“There has been a significant improvement by every player, they know they have to be fit and do the extra work. Our Captain, Karl Merson played for the GIANTS in the NEAFL competition last season and he has been a standout, and GIANTS scholarship holder, Stuart Turner has been impressive as well.

“They set standards for the other players follow, and each has proven to be a great ambassador for the Slater & Gordon Academy and the GIANTS scholarship.”

While two wins in two games is an impressive achievement, Mudge said that the side still has a lot to learn and some tough football ahead over the remaining two days of the state trials.

“We do not set ourselves any targets regarding the scoreboard, the feeling of winning comes when we have worked extremely hard for the entire thirty four minutes of the match.

“We focus on the things we can control, right now. We can’t control anything if we don’t have the football.”