Sons of guns earn Falcons shot
- Updated: March 7, 2023
BETWEEN them, their fathers played a combined 682 AFL games for seven premierships.
However, River Stevens, Alfie Wojcinski and Noah Caracella are looking to make a name for themselves after being named in the Geelong Falcons’ under-18 squad for the 2023 Victorian Talent League season.
The trio has been selected as bottom-age players and will become eligible to be drafted in 2024.
Stevens is the son of North Melbourne great Anthony and is a left-footer like his dad.
“He’s really silky,” Falcons coach Paul Corrigan said of the half-forward.
“He’s really come into his own when we’ve started to do some match sim scenarios.
“He’s shown how classy he can be. He’s got a good turning circle and a real knack of getting away from his opponent and finding space.
Wojcinski is the son of triple-premiership-winning Cats speedster David and has been training as a winger/half-forward.
“He sees the game really well; he uses the ball really well, too,” Corrigan said.
“We’ll look at developing him through those two areas.
“He’s got the ability to carry the ball – a bit like his dad – on the wing, and he’s quite crafty when he does go forward.
Caracella’s dad Blake was a premiership winner with Essendon and the Brisbane Lions before finishing his career at Collingwood.
However, the Bombers were the only club he managed 100 games for to allow for father-son selection.
“He’s a rangy type … a bit like his dad,” Corrigan said. “He can play high and deep forward.
“He’s got good game awareness, and you don’t see that sometimes in bottom agers.
“His ability to get to space, (and) put himself in really good positions – both in offence and defence – across the ground has been really special through pre-season.
“He’s really good in the air as well.”
Stevens, Wojcinski and Caracella are among a 60-strong squad that received their jumpers for 2023 at a function at on Sunday night.
Corrigan says they’ve named a bigger squad this year due to the high number of players from Geelong College and Geelong Grammar while factoring in those playing for St Joseph’s College during the week.
He says the coaching staff moved from the theory of naming just the best players in the squad and went for balance across the field.
“We try and remove ourselves from thinking the best 50 or 60 players within the region, and how do we break that down into different sections of the ground,” Corrigan said.
“And how do we complement our talls with our rucks? How do we complement outside players with inside players?
“And just making sure that we’ve got guys that have a lot of versatility, too.”
The Falcons will carry four 19-year-0lds: returning trio Archie Sinnot, Cooper Hayes and Hamish Peirceson, while former steeplechaser Ethan Grills has also earned a spot.
The Falcons players will participate in the annual Talent League testing day this weekend before a practice match against the GWV Rebels at Windsor Park (North Shore) on March 18.
They open their season at Colac’s Central Reserve against Dandenong Stingrays on March 25.
The Falcons have also unveiled their under-16 squad, which includes the surnames Mooney, Riccardi and Robbins.
Jagger Mooney and Boston Riccardi are the sons of Geelong greats Cam and Peter, respectively.
While James Robbins’ dad, Matt, played seven games for the Cats before becoming a dangerous small forward in 139 games with the Western Bulldogs.
Former Bell Park and Drysdale star Chris Lynch will lead the under-16s.
Twitter: @krockfootball
GEELONG FALCONS UNDER 18 LIST
| 1 | Cooper Ward-Devlin | St Joseph’s |
| 2 | Tobyn Murray | Colac |
| 3 | Tom Burke | Torquay |
| 4 | River Stevens | Newtown & Chilwell |
| 5 | Tom Anastasopoulos | Newtown & Chilwell |
| 6 | Lachie Jaques | St Mary’s |
| 7 | Kane Reid | Newtown & Chilwell |
| 8 | Gus Hanley | Torquay |
| 9 | Joel Cooper | Torquay |
| 10 | Paddy Hughes | Torquay |
| 11 | Flynn Chrigwin | St Mary’s |
| 12 | Noah Tullio | Newtown & Chilwell |
| 13 | Xavier Ivisic | Bell Park |
| 14 | Mal White | St Joseph’s |
| 15 | Liam Kershaw | St Joseph’s |
| 16 | Rhys McWaters | Bell Park |
| 17 | Alfie Wojcinski | Newtown & Chilwell |
| 18 | Tom Bartlett | Modewarre |
| 19 | Angus Hastie | Geelong West Giants |
| 20 | Fletcher Hughes | St Mary’s |
| 21 | Jack Skinner | Colac Imperials |
| 23 | Nick Dowling | St Mary’s |
| 24 | Hamish Codd | Newtown & Chilwell |
| 25 | Michael Rudd | St Mary’s |
| 26 | Mack Butcher | St Mary’s |
| 27 | Archie Sinnot* | Newtown & Chilwell |
| 28 | Dan Lowther | Lara |
| 29 | Joe Pike | Barwon Heads |
| 30 | Edan Ibbetson | Newtown & Chilwell |
| 31 | Noah Caracella | St Joseph’s |
| 32 | Reef Page | Torquay |
| 33 | Brady Hall | Colac |
| 34 | Tom Peirce | South Barwon |
| 35 | Hamish Pierson* | Grovedale |
| 36 | Joel Grigsby | Newtown & Chilwell |
| 37 | Caleb Foster | St Joseph’s |
| 38 | Cooper Hayes* | Colac |
| 39 | Kobe George | Bell Park |
| 40 | Ethan Grills* | Geelong Amateur |
| 41 | Josh Sanders | Lara |
| 42 | Hunter Lewis | St Joseph’s |
| 43 | Jack Henderson | Barwon Heads |
| 44 | Ethan Borys | Grovedale |
| 45 | Marley McCombe | St Mary’s |
| 46 | Will McLachlan | Colac |
| 47 | Lachie McLean | Leopold |
| 48 | Sol Bowtell | Queenscliff |
| 49 | Tom Kiddle | Newtown & Chilwell |
| 50 | Cooper Patton | Torquay |
| 51 | Ben Pennisi | Newtown & Chilwell |
| 52 | Sam Sinnot | Newtown & Chilwell |
| 53 | Finn Cornell | Barwon Heads |
| 54 | Marley Cornell | Ocean Grove |
| 55 | Zac McInnes | Bell Park |
| 56 | Will Smith | Leopold |
| 58 | James Ward | Torquay |
| 59 | Will Montebello | Torquay |
| 60 | Zekiah Davey | Lara |
| 61 | Gus Morrison | St Joseph’s |
| 62 | Matt Jones | Bell Park |
| Oliver Maddalena | Torquay | |
| Jude Payne | St Mary’s | |
| Sonni Walter | Ocean Grove |
*Denotes 19-year-old player
GEELONG FALCONS UNDER 16 SQUAD
| Lenny Allen | Ocean Grove |
| Ben Coote | Ocean Grove |
| Josh Falconer | Geelong West Giants |
| Angus Ford | Barwon Heads |
| Lucas Gray | Torquay |
| Tom Handley | Geelong West Giants |
| Archer Hanegraaf | Geelong Amateur |
| Oliver Johnston | Newtown & Chilwell |
| Cooper Kitchen | Newtown & Chilwell |
| Zach Lamb | Bell Park |
| Will Lane | Leopold |
| Charlie Lawless | Anglesea |
| Josh Lindsay | Newtown & Chilwell |
| Hamish McGowan | Torquay |
| Charlie Meadows | South Barwon |
| Jesse Mellor | Geelong West Giants |
| Hugo Mikunda | Bell Park |
| Jagger Mooney | Newtown & Chilwell |
| Harry Morphet | Leopold |
| Giuseppe Posterino | Newtown & Chilwell |
| Boston Riccardi | Newtown & Chilwell |
| Geordie Richardson | Geelong Amateur |
| James Robbins | Ocean Grove |
| Tyson Roberts | St Albans |
| Ben Rongdit | Colac |
| Gus Uytdehaag | Colac |
| Hugo Walsh | Ocean Grove |
| Lucius White | Torquay |
| Taj Hinkley* | South Barwon |
| Mitchell Lindsey* | St Mary’s |
| Jordan Monahan* | Queenscliff |
| Luke Norsworthy* | Newtown & Chilwell |
| Max Pell* | Bell Park |
| Charlie Richmond* | Geelong Amateur |
| Eamon Roberts* | St Mary’s |
| Jordie Stone* | South Barwon |
| Ethan Taylor* | St Joseph’s |
*Denotes development player
