Young Guns series 2024

The young guns are a national team comprised of MSD eligible players with high recruiter interests across Australia.
They feature in a showcase series played against Vic Metro and Vic Country where they aim to shine through and make their spot on an AFL list.

Photo by Rob Lawson/AFL Photos

iliro was named in this team and played in both games primarily as a ruckman and also spent some time forward. He wanted to showcase his ability to “jump for the ball” in marking contests and centre bounces and around the ground.

Having a larger frame than some of his opponents iliro was able to get dominant in the ruck and still win contests around the ground. He showcased his speed through his high speed pressure acts causing turnovers and laying tackles and getting forward 50 entries.

A highlight in the series for iliro was his marking in the game against Vic Metro where he took strong contested marks and timed his jumps well. All throughout the series you could see high work rate from the big man to push back and help his side defensively taking intercept marks and spoiling then running back to be an outlet option too once they won the ball back. His follow up work around the ground was notable where he worked over the other rucks and retrieved loose balls or went to work in the contest.

Hitouts to advantage were elite.