During the second round of the NAB AFL Draft on Friday 23^rd November, local Pennant Hills player Kieren Briggs made his way to the GWS Giants via pick 34.

As a member of the GWS Giants Academy since 2013, the club was offered first preference to Briggs under the guidelines of the AFL academy system. With the West Coast Eagles bidding on the 200cm ruckman at pick 34, the Giants decided to match the bid.

The selection capped off an impressive 2018 for Briggs, which saw the 18 year old awarded MVP of the GWS Giants Academy in the U/18’s Division Two competition, MVP of the Allies in the U/18’s Division One competition and selection as the ruckman in the All-Australian team.

During his time at Pennant Hills, Briggs played 97 games for the Junior Club and 17 games for the Senior Club, including being a part of the successful Premier Division side which won the 2017 Sydney AFL Competition against Sydney University.

Briggs was one of seven local U/19s who played in the 2017 Premiership including Cooper Lee, Mikey Carroll, Josh Boag, Luke Skrivanic, Josh Stern and James Peatling.

“We couldn’t be more excited for Kieren. Despite his representative commitments over the last few years, he has still been a massive part of the club, regularly coming down for Thursday night trainings and running water for Saturday games. From everyone at the club, we wish him all the best,” Pennant Hills President Josh Mott said.

Former Westbrook Junior Ely Smith was the second local Junior to be drafted, having played 112 games for the Junior Club, and 13 for the Pennant Hills U/19s. Smith was selected at Pick 21 by the Brisbane Lions after relocating to play for the Murray Bushrangers in 2017.

The Pennant Hills Demons have commenced training for the 2018/19 season. If you are interested, training is on a Thursday night from 6:30 at Mike Kenny Oval, Cherrybrook (bottom oval).