Developing the Southern Region’s talented juniors will continue to be a focus of the Panthers, with 11 of last year’s Under 18s joining the senior squad for pre-season.

It was 12 until Justin Bollenhagen’s selection by the Fremantle Dockers in last year’s AFL Draft. The former Reynella junior will now pull on the Red and Black of the Perth Demons in the WAFL, coached by Andrew Jarman, as he fights for a spot in the Dockers line-up.

With the SANFL proposing to cap the number of interstate recruits from 2011, the experience in recent years gained by the likes of Williams, Splitt, Crate, Turner, Redigolo, Veide and Murphy has the Panthers well placed.

Add this year’s batch of U18’s, and continued development of our coaching programs through the experience of League Coach Ron Fuller and Centre of Excellence Coach Jason Torney, and the future looks bright.