Daniel Brown, Brayden Macey and Jess Maher had a glimpse of the professional footy world; meeting the players, training with experienced coaches and playing in front of thousands.

Macey and Brown joined a Northern Stars team made up of Northern Inland Academy of Sports (NIAS) and Northern Rivers players, which took on the North Coast Academy of Sports (NCAS) in a pre-game match. Lonestar NIAS athlete Maher played an energetic game with the female Northern Stars team during half time.

Brown made his mark, named among the best on ground from Northern NSW, and was in the top two picks for four separate coaches. 

Despite a narrow loss to NCAS, opposing coach Mathew Anderson was impressed by the Northern Stars and their coach Alan Martin, from NIAS.

“Alan did a great job building and forming a team of boys from across the northern region. By the third and fourth quarter they looked like a seasoned team,” he said.

AFL development/program leader Sonia Martin said Maher was one of the most dominant players in the girls game.

“It was an excellent exhibition match, and because they didn’t have full teams, they played on a smaller ground directly in front of the grandstand, so they had the whole crowd there,” she said.

The trio also had the chance to train with the well resourced NCAS, which had nutritionists, assistant and running coaches.

“It was mind blowing. It was amazing to see that this is the level that these guys were stepping it up to,” Martin said.

They were thrilled to watch the Sydney Swans train and chat with their idols.