Tyson Carracher will use former Adelaide Crow Ken McGregor as more than just a target in the Ainslie forward line.
Carracher was one of 11 Canberra players selected in the GWS Giants Academy squad last month and he will tap into former AFL forward McGregor's experience in his bid to make this year's AFL Draft.
The academy squad was picked following the under-18 Joss state zone trials held at Coffs Harbour in January, and while Carracher wasn't overly impressed with his own form, he did enough to make the squad.
''I haven't played footy for about eight months so I was sort of getting back into it but the more games I played the better I got,'' he said.
Three games between the Giants Academy and Sydney Swans Academy will be used to pick this year's NSW-ACT Rams under-18 side to contest the Australian championships, which will be watched by scouts from every AFL club.
After suffering a season-ending knee injury while playing for Ainslie last year, Carracher has his sights set on making the Rams side in order to live his dream of playing in the AFL.
And he'll call on McGregor's 152 games of AFL experience to help make that happen.
''It always helps [having that experience] when there's juniors at the club that are aspiring to play AFL,'' Carracher said.
''I'm sure he's got a lot of experience and knowledge that he can share with us and help me.''
Carracher was on a NSW scholarship with AFL team Collingwood and looked set to make it to the top level before he injured his knee. He is back to full fitness and has been training hard with the Tricolours.
The academies will play each other for the first time at Blacktown on March25, with the other two games at Lakeside, near the SCG, and Wollongong in April and May.
The Rams side will be announced before a training camp held from May18-20.
ACT members of Giants Academy
Christopher Jansen (Belconnen), Lachlan Harper (Belconnen), Issac Taylor (Belconnen), Logan Austin (Belconnen), Liam Flaherty (Marist), Daniel Owen (Eastlake), Matt Laing (Marist), Michael Ryan (Eastlake), Tyson Carracher (Ainslie), Sam Jensen (Queanbeyan) and Ben Halse (Eastlake).
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