TWO North Bendigo footballers have been given a glimpse of life at an AFL Club.
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Sani Egan and Jamaica Ilsley were among 22 young indigenous footballers involved in the Richmond Football Club's Laguntas Program.
The program, for footballers aged 15 to 18, is a joint-initiative between Richmond’s centre for indigenous youth, the Korin Gamadji Institute and AFL Victoria.
It provides an alternate pathway for indigenous footballers not playing the TAC Cup under-18 competition.
The undoubted highlight for Ilsley and Egan was lining up for the Laguntas against Port Adelaide's Aboriginal Academy at Punt Road Oval on Saturday.
It followed a training session the previous day under the watchful eye of Tigers star Jack Riewoldt and his teammates Nathan Drummond former Laguntas participant Daniel Rioli.
Laguntas were eventually defeated 15.10-100 to 8.7-55.
They were coached by former Brisbane Lions triple premiership star Chris Johnson, who has mentored the side for the past four years.
He said the squad was filled with largely new and bottom-age talent.
“There are a lot of 15 to 16 year olds coming into the program which is great for their development,” Johnson said.
“They’re very mature in their bodies, but whether they’re mature in their minds is a very different thing. That’s our job, to mature them in the mind around football education.”
The Laguntas will meet a further two times this year, including a trip to Adelaide to play the Port Academy.
Egan and Ilsley’s four-day Laguntas experience included cultural activities, football education, training and recovery sessions at the Tigers’ high-performance facility.
They were joined at Tigerland by fellow Northern Zone representatives Ben Bowden (Robinvale) and Derek Smith (Mildura).
Ilsley was the youngest member of the team which represented Bendigo in the Victorian Koori Football and Netball Carnival at Epsom Hunty Recreation Reserve last October.
Egan made his debut for North Bendigo’s senior team in the Bulldogs’ April 16 HDFNL clash against Elmore at at Superior Roofing Oval.