Eight North Coast players in Northern Heat

Eight North Coast Force players have been rewarded for their strong performances at the recent  Northern NSW Representative Carnival with selection in the Northern Heat Under 17 team.

The Heat program is a combined initiative of AFL North Coast, AFL North West NSW, and AFL Northern Rivers with selections made by the representative co-ordinators from the three Leagues.

The selected North Coast players are:

• Joel Ashby (Grafton Tigers)
• Jake Benson (Coffs Harbour Breakers)
• Kade Bagnall (Grafton Tigers)
• Coen Chambers (Coffs Harbour Breakers)
• Noah Dalton (Coffs Harbour Breakers)
• Ben Gibbeson (Coffs Harbour Breakers)
• Angus Kelly (Grafton Tigers)
• Marraki Kilpatrick (Port Macquarie Magpies)

Matt Anderson, North Coast Force Representative Co-ordinator, said that the return of the Heat program is a welcome boost to the payer pathway. “The Northern Heat program hasn’t been active the last few years but we’ve identified the need for a next step in the pathway following the Northern NSW Carnival.

“Our selected athletes will really benefit from training and playing with strong players from other regions and being exposed to different coaches from these regions. The off season nature of the program should really help prepare the boys for the 2019 season as the majority of them will be stepping up to the Senior ranks. The Northern Heat is a great reward for the effort they’ve put in at both club and representative level.”

The Northern Heat program will be conducted during the off-season with players to undertake a strength and conditioning, train with the players from North West and Northern Rivers, and to play a match in Queensland in February.