In an age where the likes of the TAC Cup, NAB AFL Championships and state leagues dominate draft talk, it can be easy to forget about school football.
The School Sport Australia Under 15 Championships take place in Darwin in August and lining up for Vic Metro will be Bundoora resident Matthew Signorello.
It’s been a busy year for Signorello, who attends Ivanhoe Grammar. He plays footy with the school, South Morang in the Northern Football League as well as being part of the Northern Knights’ under 15 development squad.
The squad he will travel with to Darwin includes fellow Ivanhoe student Luke Bunker and kids from throughout the Melbourne metropolitan region.
Signorello says he was stoked upon hearing the news. “It was pretty good, I was just sitting down watching a movie and it was pretty good when Dad told me,” he says.
“It’s up there with making the under 12 Victorian side and the Northern Knights.”
The team – which has in the past included AFL luminaries such as Chris Judd, Jobe Watson and Luke Ball – was selected on the basis of two tryouts and performances at the Junior Metropolitan Championships in June.
Signorello was captain of the Northern Football League, playing against the likes of the Yarra Junior and South Metro Junior Football Leagues. He was named in the best in all three games, and was best on ground against the South East Juniors.
And then there is his junior club, South Morang, where he’s been named in the best four times in nine games, as well as kicking 14 goals.
“We’ve got 26 junior teams,” Signorello says. “Our side has only lost two games so we should make a good run at finals.”
Despite being a Collingwood supporter, Signorello is modelling himself on Richmond’s Trent Cotchin. “He was at the Northern Knights as well, and he played in the Vic squad,” Signorello says.
He is the latest in a line of talent to come out of Ivanhoe Grammar.
Ben Lennon, a year 12 student, was chosen in the Under 18 All-Australian team after a sensational carnival at the under 18 championships.
Named on a half-forward flank, Lennon is rated as one of the best kicks going, and slotted four second-half goals to lead Vic Metro to a win over Western Australia.
Lennon is one of the leading lights of this year’s potential draft crop, having been part of the AIS-AFL Academy and also having played with the Northern Knights.
Given a few years, Signorello could be joining him.
