The Cairns Post

Pressure on for Alice footy stars

Max Bennett

24Jun08

Stanley Long Turner, Scott Taylor, Jarred Erlandson, Ben Barry and Curtly Hampton are travelling to Darwin to play in the Territory Thunder team in the curtain-raiser game for the Bulldogs v Port Power Saturday night. Picture: Hannah Millerick

THE pressure is on as the cream of the region's football future prepare for the final hit-out before the NAB national under-16 championships.

Six Centralians will be heading up to Darwin in an attempt to earn a place in the 25-man squad heading to the Gold Coast.

The match against the NSW/ACT Rams is the curtain-raiser for the highly anticipated AFL clash between the Western Bulldogs and Port Adelaide.

If you thought the group would be nervous about playing in front of an expected crowd of 10,000 spectators, think again.

All have played on the hallowed turf of the MCG and are confident they can impress come Saturday night.

West on-baller Scott Taylor feels he and his teammates are a good shot to earn selection.

He said: ``My form has been pretty good, but you still need to perform well to get in the team.

``You look at Curtly (Hampton) who is a gun, then you've got Ben Barry who's a bit quiet but is a really good player.

``Then you've got Stan, who can do amazing things and Jarred Erlandson who's got heaps of speed.''

Taylor's teammate Ben Barry said the players were feeling the pressure having to impress in the one and only trial match before the championships.

He said: ``There's a bit of pressure to play well up there so your preparation has to be good.

``The chance to go to the Gold Coast is really big because all the talent scouts will be there watching us play.''

The game against NSW/ACT will be played at TIO Stadium in Darwin on Saturday night.