Trio of Panthers named in AFL Academy Squads

Three Panthers juniors have been included in the 2018-19 NAB AFL Academy program for elite footballers.

Kangaroo Island ruckman Damon Freitag (Wisanger - KIFL; pictured above), strong-marking forward Daniel Sladojevic (PHOS Camden) and 2018 South Adelaide U16s MVP Zac Dumesny (Brighton - SFL) have been selected to the South Australian arm of the elite talent program.

The expanded NAB AFL Academy Program will now see 150 players engaged in high performance camps conducted across five talent regions; Vic Country, Vic Metro, South Australia, Western Australia and Allies (New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory, Tasmania, Queensland and the Northern Territory).

The South Australian branch will be headed by former Panthers Talent Manager Tony Bamford. The group will begin initial testing in November, before heading to Alice Springs for a five day camp together from November 30 - December 4.

The talented teenagers will train at both the Crows and Power headquarters throughout December and January before undertaking further Adelaide-based training camps in late January and mid April.

The best Under-17 and Under-18 players from the state academies will also have the opportunity to attend national camps, with activities at these camps including:

• Under-17 Futures Game players to spend a week at an AFL club (December 2018)
• Best 25 Under-18 players to represent Australia against VFL opposition (April 2019)
• Best 25 Under-17 players to represent Australian against New Zealand (April 2019)
• Under-17 Futures Game played on AFL Grand Final Day (September 2019)

2018-19 South Australian NAB AFL Academy Squad