Old Collegians continue to focus on youth development in their senior football side

Twelve new players have debuted for the Warriors in 2022 - four of whom are juniors.

Van de Camp said the youth movement is fuelled by the club's need for more experienced players between the early to mid-twenties age bracket.

"What we're trying to do is take the opportunity to build on the work of Nick Sheehan and Matt Dempsey last year, which was to put games into kids," he said.

"We're talking 16, 17, 18-year-olds who are still eligible for under 18s and it's just really good exposure for them.

"It also highlights for them with the right coaching and the right mindset, the step-up is not insurmountable."

Van de Camp is hopeful that by playing younger players in the seniors their confidence will continue to grow at the level.

"So when they're in the heat of the battle they are making decisions that are good, they're making decisions that are right for the team and helping us get into a better position," he said.

"It's that fine line between exposing kids when they're not ready and we're confident that all the kids that have played senior football this year have really stepped up and thrived on the challenge."

Some of the junior debutantes that have impressed van de Camp in 2022 include Isaac Williams, Noah Dawson, Jayden Cleaver and Joe Douglas.

"The thing that probably puts confidence in us above their skill and ability is their confidence to put themselves in a challenging environment and to learn from that," he said.

Cleaver has played the most senior games of the group, with four appearances to his name.

"He (Cleaver) is a big boy, he's lanky, he's got a lot of growing to do and still a lot of learning but his raw ability is really good and there's a lot of upside to that," van de Camp said.

"We've just got to continue to work with him."

The Warriors' coach understands that managing the workload of his young players is crucial as some of them are playing two games of football on a Saturday.

He said that the side will continue to rotate so more under 18s are given opportunities at the top level.

"That's the beauty of our under 18 list is that we have a number of them who can do that," van de Camp said.

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