THERE is morning dew on the grass and a slight chill in the air at Casey Fields, but the atmosphere in the NSW/ACT coach's box is coming to a boil. It does little for the theory that the young men of a football frontier may be enjoying an armchair ride.

"Get out and tell Josh (Duncan), if he wants to go back and play at Pennant Hills, he's doing everything he can to make it happen," coach Danny Stevens barks down the phone, after an errant kick around the body turns the ball over.

Former Bulldog Rohan Smith, assisting as part of his development role north of the Murray, continues the tough love. "Can we tell Scott Reed his man's at full-forward, and can he get down there and pick him up? If he reckons he got a spray at quarter-time at the MCG (on Saturday), he won't know what's hit him in a minute."

An exasperated Stevens again, after an impromptu test of the box's stability: "Why aren't we listening today?"

The NSW/ACT under 18s battled on in yesterday's national championships division-two grand final, but were ultimately overrun by Tasmania, ending their bid for back-to-back titles. In the post-match calm, Stevens could hardly have been prouder of them. "If we'd known we'd finish one or two (ahead of Queensland and Northern Territory), you'd take that every time."

Their reward, along with Tassie, is to join Victorian Metro, Vic Country and South and Western Australia in the division-one play-offs, starting later this month. Smith, too, was stoked.

"These kids have been knocked around, people saying, 'They're just from New South Wales, we're not going to worry about them'. Last year, our average winning margin was 50-odd points and we won all three games, and this year, we've had two wins again, when everyone wrote us off, all the recruiters. It makes me feel really proud."

There are no apologies for the hard school, Smith emphasising that they are coaching with the express purpose of preparing AFL footballers.

The Casey grandstand was full of club scouts yesterday and the boys were reminded that lapses as well as the laudable would be duly noted. "It does get a bit hairy, but we're just trying to help the kids get drafted — as many from the NSW region as possible."

One who is in the frame — and could leave commentators contemplating early retirement — is Ranga Ediriwickrama, a prolific onballer whose Sri Lankan parents settled in the Sydney suburb of Epping via Griffith. His state's captain, he is on Geelong's books as a NSW AFL scholarship-holder, which gives the Cats first dibs on him come draft day.

Reed is similarly tied to Collingwood and it is no coincidence that those already identified as the elite are ridden hardest. "They're not past the post," Stevens says. "They've made one small step in the system, but there's a big gap to go. We've got to drum that into them."

Ediriwickrama specialised in cricket and later soccer, but at 12 was asked to fill in for a mate's Australian football team. Like became love, which has grown year by year.

"Footy's definitely getting bigger (in NSW). At the start, I was getting bagged out for playing, now my mates are asking me, 'How was it? What's going on?' They all watch it on TV and they want to kick the footy at school."

Stevens says Ediriwickrama "will find a way to play, he's an A-grade kid", and points to other prospects in his squad who illustrate the melting pot north of the Murray: ruckman Max Wilson, a basketball convert; athlete Jeremy Kirkwood; and Mitch Frail, who has played only a dozen games since turning his back on rugby.

The contrast with the celebrating Tasmanians next door is stark. Co-captains Aaron Cornelius and Tom Salter speak of their pride in "a traditional football" state, where many believe they have more right to an AFL team than the proposed West Sydney franchise.

"It's embedded in us," says Cornelius, a key forward of class who will surely make his AFL mark. "Before every game, we get in the room together, take off our jumpers and look each other in the eye, then we put the map on and go out and play for Tasmania. It's a really big thing."

Salter is acutely aware of "all the things this jumper represents", and hopes they get the chance to wear it as AFL players. "If we can get a team and hold all the Tassie boys in there, we can produce a good AFL side. We've just got to get the chance to start with."

As for the much-trumpeted "north-south divide" that has supposedly stymied football on the Apple Isle, it is lost on the new generation. Salter, from North Launceston, said they are all very close, while Glenorchy boy Cornelius reckoned the only problem with last night's celebrations back home was getting everyone together.

"There's a couple of boys thinking of taking the two-hour taxi ride from Lonny."

The geographic breadth of their opposition's stocks was underscored by players flying out to seven different destinations yesterday afternoon, but not before Smith cornered Reed for a final debrief.

"We told him at quarter-time we wanted him to run with his man and he didn't take those instructions in. That's just a learning curve — he was our best player on Saturday against Queensland, had an outstanding game.

"I said to him: 'Play like that every week, you'll get drafted. Do what you did today, how are we going to help you?' He just said: 'Yeah, I mucked up, I didn't listen.' He'll learn from that …"

NSW/ACT SCHOLARSHIP-HOLDERS

Adelaide: Sam Martyn

Bris Lions: James Brain, Jack Lawson

Collingwood: Scott Reed, Nick Perry, Thomas Young

Carlton: Joshua Fenaroli, Jake Pianta

Essendon: Benjamin Simon, James Webster

Fremantle: Matthew Long, Max Wilson

Geelong: Kale Temple, Ranga Ediriwickrama

Hawthorn: Michael Johnston, William Sierakowski, Trent Stubbs, Thomas Kickett

Melbourne: Teddy Strudwick

Port Adelaide: Jordan Johns

N Melb: Lachlan Pryor

Richmond: Harrison Lee

St Kilda: Joshua Duncan, Kane Murphy, Blake McGrath

Sydney: Ryan Bottin-Noonan, Jay Lewis, Matt May

West Coast: Anthony Stubbs

Western Bulldogs: Braedon Jones, Chris Ogle, Daniel Lloyd

■ The NSW AFL Scholarship scheme allows clubs to sign teenagers aged 15-17 within certain development regions in NSW, excluding Canberra and the Riverina. The player receives financial assistance and the club has first option to draft them, either to the full or rookie list.