This team was selected from the 2003 School Sport Australia 15/Under carnival held on the Gold Coast. The lads from the West took out the honours and provided nine of the AA’ers.
The photo above did not come with the usual annotation of player names.
*** Update 27/4/2015 ***
Thanks to APS and SSA legend Luke Soulos, here is the lineup
Back Row (from left) NICHOLAS SMITH VIC M, JUSTIN SIMPSON WA, CLINTON BENJAMIN WA, ELLIOTT PEARS WA, THOMAS McCARTHY VIC C, BRAD COLLINS VIC C, NATHAN JONES VIC M
Middle Row (from left) SHAUN COLBUNG WA, RODNEY JOSEPH WA, LEROY JETTA WA, CLAYTON COLLARD WA, MATTHEW GESTIER (UMP), BACHAR HOULI VIC M, TREVOR OLIVER NT, JACOB NEAL VIC C, CAMERON JETTA WA
Front Row (from left) MATTHEW PAGE QLD, JOEL SELWOOD VIC C, NICHOLAS PAINE ACT, LEIGH ADAMS VIC M, SEAN LOGIE NSW, MATT VIRGO WA, DAN FARR QLD
It has become customary for these sides to have a few stars at AFL, State and Local level. Others pursued something else.
Hey, you Sandgropers, did any of these kids have an impact on the other side of the continent that the rest of us may not be aware of?
Please let us know of any stories you may have about their time post-2003.

About Mark 'Swish' Schwerdt
Saw my first SANFL game in 1967 - Dogs v Peckers. Have only ever seen the Dogs win 1 final in the flesh (1972 1st Semi) Mediocre forward pocket for the AUFC Blacks (1982-89) Life member - Ormond Netball Club -That's me on the right
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Did SA participate ? Thanks zSwish
Book, SA resumed its participation a few years after this. Stay tuned for the appearance of one future Crow with Blacks connections
Nathan Jones with hair!
I wouldn’t have spotted Bachar Houli to save someone’s life – amazing transformation. Great stuff Swish.
So why was SA in the wilderness?
Did the other states kick us out because we had better iced coffee?
Or did we have our own version of the World Series in which we played among ourselves and then declared the winner to be the World Champion?
Jacob Neal is Scratcher’s son
Nick Payne is now back at Ainslie F.C. after a stint with East Perth.
Fantastic undersized full forward.