West Coast and Fremantle locked horns recently in a battle of the clubs two next generation academies.

The Eagles showed some positive signs but ultimately fell short in both games. 

The Naitanui Academy boys aged between 14 and 15-years-old from First Nations and multicultural backgrounds, went up against the Fremantle Dockers Next Generation Academy in their first game for the blue-and-gold this year.

Naitanui Academy Manager Chris Brown praised the showcase of football put on display by both teams and reinforced the importance of playing strong opponents to the development of these up-and-coming footballers.

The 14’s played a night game under lights Friday 24^th March at Mineral Resources Park, their first official match as part of the Eagles Next Generation Academy.

“The Fremantle side was really slick, strong and powerful and played a good brand of footy, which was great for our boys to learn what it’s like to go up and play at a higher level,” Brown said.

“The strength of our play on the night was using some speed and we got some really nice, fast entries inside 50 and moved the ball relatively well from half-back and gave ourselves a chance, while the Freo team were a little bit too good for us on the night, we saw some great learnings and development from our players and saw some really exciting signs for some kids in the future.”

The big takeaway for the night was the boys got exposed to elite football for the first time and the learnings in that alone is worth its weight in gold.”

The 15’s had the opportunity to play a curtain raiser before the Eagles round three match at Optus Stadium in front of their friends and family.

Chris Brown said there was immense talent on display and praised the boys on the team who travelled from regional places to be a part of the NGA derby experience.

“Fremantle probably jumped us in the first quarter and settled a little bit better as a few of our boys were nervous obviously playing at Optus Stadium in front of friends and family in what ended up being a pretty big crowd in the end but we couldn’t fault the intent, the effort or the ability and some really nice showcase of skills and talent as they represented the club fantastically.”