Riverina trio Charlie McCormack, Harvey Thomas and Cleo Buttifant tipped to be drafted

Kennelly has been nothing but impressed by Harvey Thomas and Charlie McCormack in the men's program. He's also been blown away by the rise of Cleo Buttifant in the female space.

The former star Sydney Swan has backed all three to be picked up in the upcoming drafts.

"Yeah, 100 per cent. All three of them," Kennelly said this week.

"I'd be more surprised if they weren't on an AFL list, to tell you the truth.

"There are recruiters talking to us, obviously our own club is heavily involved with all three. There's lots to play out but they've done everything right to be on an AFL list.

"There's no reason why they couldn't play AFL football or wouldn't fit in at an AFL club on what we've seen and the way they've played their under 18s year."

MORE SPORT NEWS

Kennelly said all three footballers have taken different paths to this point and that Riverina youngsters should take heart from that.

"Charlie's story is incredible. Harvey has obviously been on a strong pathway for a long time and his trajectory has been going towards an AFL club. Charlie's obviously a different story and Cleo's an even better story," he said.

"In one of year of coming to a trial, all of a sudden she's on the verge of getting on an AFL list. And that's probably the key point for people in the Riverina region, they are so close to being on an AFL lists, it's right there.

"I think sometimes they don't realise the quality and the self belief that they've got in the region. It's there in front of you. There's examples all over the place that you can take strength from, or belief from, in your own region.

"I know from my own perspective as a young Irishman coming out, there was one guy called Jimmy Stynes that had played the game. The fact that I knew someone from my own region had done it gives me a lot of confidence for what I can do."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: