Three Walcha boys represented the North West region as part of a 22-man squad that played in the junior AFL Northern Carnival in Coffs Harbour on July 11 and 12.
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Brayden Bloomfield, Nicholas Buckland and Morgan Dunn were all part of the under 17s team that took Hunter, Central Coast, North Coast and Northern Rivers.
The NW team was made up of players from Moree, Inverell, Tamworth and Armidale.
The first game the boys suffered a major defeat from competition favourites and eventual overall winners, Hunter. Their second game the boys came within four points of beating Northern Rivers and by game three the boys found their form to defeat Central Coast by 18 points.
After two days and four games, NW finished fourth which was a great effort for their first appearance at the carnival. Bloomfield played in the back pocket, while Buckland played as a winger and Dunn got to play his favoured position as a centre.
All games were watched by Sydney Swans Academy selectors who were offering two places per team for an under 15s Swans Academy trial to be held the following day after the carnival. Dunn was shortlisted by the selectors and just missed entry. He hopes he may get a phone call in the future to be able to try out for the Academy.
All the boys in the North West Stars team wish to thank Darrell and Margaret Parsons for their very kind sponsorship of the playing uniforms the boys wore.
