BATHURST Giants president Darryl Macauley knows it is cliched to say the future of his club is bright given their strong juniors, but it's a factor which is hard to ignore.
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This season Bathurst Giants players were named the best and fairest in the under 12s, under 14s and under 16s while second and third place in the youth girls vote count also went to players who don the charcoal and Orange.
Macauley was delighted to see them do so well and hopes that those who polled strongly - as well as their team-mates - will go on to one day play in the senior men's and women's teams.
"It's a great individual result for the kids because there are certainly some good players coming through in those grades, it's the old cliche, the future looks bright for the Giants when you've got good juniors at your club," he said.
"That's how we try to set ourselves to be a little bit distinct, we are a junior football club with senior teams rather than the other way around.
"That's what we sort of hang our hat on and the amount of juniors we've had come through our grades is great.
"We may not be there in terms of the seniors [men] at the moment, but the more we invest in our juniors the closer we are going to get."
One of the club's juniors who is already playing seniors is under 17s best and fairest winner Zac Yandle.
Since being blooded in the top flight two years ago, Macauley has seen his skills improve and that in turn has benefited the under 17 Giants.
"He's played two games every weekend seniors and 17s. The 17s had a bye occasionally, but pretty much he was there every weekend playing both games and you can't get more committed than that," the president said.
"It's fairly physical at that senior level and also still in the under 17s, so it's a testament to his fitness that he can still run it out and compete at such a high level in both grades.
"Zac's playing ability has just elevated the last couple of years. He's certainly a kid that was always headed for first grade, but he's a key member of that first grade squad now, he's taken his football to another level.
Zac's playing ability has just elevated the last couple of years.
- Darryl Macauley
"That's because he trains hard and all those sort of positive things you want your younger guys to have, he's an exceptional athlete and deserves all the accolades."
Will Sloan was the clear winner in the under 14s vote count as he finished on 18, eight clear of joint runners-up Harrison Coleman from Orange Tigers and his Giants team-mate Archer Ryan.
"To get 18 votes, well you are virtually polling in the best on ground in two-thirds of your games and that they didn't win a lot of those games showed how dominant he is," Macauley said.
"His height helps him stand out and he's very mobile around the ground, so he takes a lot of marks around the ground. His skills are second to none, he's got a brilliant, big boot on him.
"Once again he's in the Giants' development squad so he's got a bright future, these are the kids we want to be playing in first grade in three or four years time."
In the under 12s it was Koby Collins who won the league's top gong by two votes over Dubbo's Cameron Healey.
"He's got a big heart this kid, he comes from good football stock this kid - Reddo is his Dad and has been involved in the club since inception, so Koby's always been around footy," Macauley said.
"You can see when kids have been around footy all their lives, he's always got a footy in his hands, he's a tireless sort of kid on the field, he gives his all. He's got great hands and certainly plays everything out until the end.
"It's well deserved, he's played a lot of games for the club even though he's in under 12s. It's always good to see good club kids get the rewards."
