Angus picked in Allies squad

Angus Anderson has been selected to play with the Allies in the upcoming National Championships. Photo: Green Shoots Marketing

SAWTELL/Toormina player Angus Anderson has earned himself a wonderful football honour.

Angus, who turns 19 this week, has been selected in the Allies squad to play in the NAB AFL National Championships.

Every match of the championships will be closely watched by talent scouts from all 18 AFL clubs. The large majority of players selected by AFL clubs later this year in the AFL National Draft will be players who’ve shone at this event.

The championships provide an enormous opportunity for Angus and it’s one that he’s looking forward to.

“We’ll be playing against the best of the best in my age group so it’s a great opportunity to put my name forward and show people what I’ve got,” Angus said.

The Allies is comprised of players who come from New South Wales/ACT, Tasmania, Queensland and the Northern Territory.

The Allies will play matches against South Australia, Vic Metro, Vic Country and Western Australia across four consecutive weekends in June and July.

Angus said his selection in such a prestigious competition still hasn’t completely sunk in just yet.

“It’s a great honour first of all. There’s players from four different states in the squad so it’s a hard team to get into. There’s only 46 players in the squad,” he said.

“Obviously the initial reaction is shock but a while after that it’s just relief that all of the hard work I’ve done has paid off and moving down to Sydney at the start of the year has been worth it.”

Earlier this season Anderson was selected by the Sydney Swans to be included on the club’s Covid contingency list.

Despite his incredible training ethic, he said training with the Swans players this year has been an eye opener.

“The first couple of weeks was a huge shift and change with moving down to Sydney and getting used to that as well as all of the training,” he said.

“When you’re doing full time training you really get a glimpse of how hard AFL players work.

“It was a challenge living in the city and being at a new club and learning a new system but it’s been worth it.”

The Allies squad will gather for the first time in the first weekend in June for a training camp at Sydney’s Olympic Park before a practice match of NSW/ACT players against South Australia.

Not long after that it will be the first match of the championships in Adelaide.

Back home, Sawtell/Toormina president Matt Flynn said that everyone at the Saints is so proud of Angus’ achievements and that he deserves every one of them.

“Angus is one of the hardest working footballers I’ve ever come across and he deserves every single moment of success that he’s getting. Everyone at the club wishes him every success,” Flynn said.

“It’s an absolute pleasure to watch him play on the TV and his work ethic is second to none.

“Before he moved down to Sydney, every day I would see Angus running past my house at 5am. That’s how dedicated he is. He deserves every opportunity he’s been given.”