Eight Panthers head west for State duties

Eight South Adelaide juniors will travel to Western Australia this weekend to represent South Australia for Under-16 and Under-17 duties.

Three Panthers have been selected to the McDonald's SA Under-16 team that kicks off their 2017 AFL U16 National Championships campaign this weekend, while five players will represent South Adelaide in the new McDonald's SA Under-17 Futures Squad.

Lining up with the Under-16s will be tall timber Daniel Sladojevic (192cm and 91kgs), Aaron Douglass (188cm, 73kg) and Kangaroo Island product Damon Freitag (195cm, 89kg).

Meanwhile, taking part in the newly coined U17 Futures concept are Cameron McGree (196cm, 90kg), Hayden Sampson (175cm, 66kg), Sam Whitbread (179cm, 77kg), Job Colwell (181cm, 79kg) and Eamon Wilkinson (178cm, 69kg).

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The Under-16s will be coached by championship-winning mentor Darel Hart and are looking to win consecutive titles after claiming last year's crown, while former South Adelaide player and Zone Development Officer, Julian Farkas will take the reins of the Futures team.

The U17 Futures were introduced through an internal trial match curtain-raiser on SANFL Grand Final day last year. The concept has now grown to include stand alone matches as a further way to assist AFL recruiting scouts track the progress of players further in advance.

Listen to Julian Farkas explain the U17 Futures concept below

McDONALD'S SA U16 FIXTURE

Game 1

South Australia vs Western Australia
Sunday, June 25
Leederville Oval, Perth

Game 2

South Australia vs Victoria Metro
Monday, July 10
Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast

Game 3

South Australia vs Victoria Country
Friday, July 14
Gabba, Brisbane

McDONALD'S SA U17 FUTURES FIXTURE

South Australia vs Western Australia
Saturday, June 24
Lathlain Park, Perth