Talor Byrne is following in his old man's footsteps.
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The 11-year-old not only supports Geelong like his father Peter, he's also becoming a promising young football player for Koroit, who Peter won a Hampden league flag with in 2003.
But Talor can now lay claim to being a state representative after he was picked in School Sport Victoria's 12 and under squad on Monday, the same side Brisbane Lions legend and south-west export Jonathan Brown played for in 1993.
This will see Talor head to Western Australia with the 25-strong squad to compete at the School Sport Australia championships, held from August 3 to 10 in Mandurah.
The Koroit and District Primary student found out the good news through his mum, Narelle, at lunch time.
"I was super excited," he told The Standard.
Meanwhile, Narelle said she was proud of her boy, even though she joked he was "brainwashed" into barracking for Geelong over her beloved St Kilda.
Too young to remember the Cats' 2011 premiership, Talor said he enjoyed reading about it, while his favourite thing about football was "going in hard at the ball", just like his AFL idols Joel Selwood and Patrick Dangerfield.
And this is something Talor's under 12 coach Damian Dobson, who played alongside his father in the Saints' seven-point grand final triumph over Camperdown in 2003, could vouch for.
"Talor's got good skills and plenty of courage," Dobson said.
"We rotate them all but he's definitely an onballer who loves the contest and can run all day.
"He's got a different build to his old man but shares Peter's footy nous and is dangerous up forward as well."
Dobson said Talor was also a great student of the game who deserved his chance to represent Victoria.
"I'm really happy for him," the ex-Saint said.
"He's a hard-working kid who loves his footy.
"I try to get the other boys to watch how hard he trains and plays, because Talor is very professional for a kid of his age.
"They're only young right now and have lots of development to come, but you can already tell the kids who are committed and there to learn."
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