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31 January 2025 Posted by 

Blacktown local star lands in the AFL

BLACKTOWN local and former Kellyville Magpies Junior Australian Football Club player Josaia Delana has become the latest western Sydney product to land in the AFL.
 
The talented forward taken by the GWS GIANTS as a Category B Rookie.
 
The 18-year-old, who has been a part of the GIANTS Academy for two years, joins GWS after deciding to hone his focus on AFL, having grown up playing soccer, rugby union and rugby league.
 
Delana is a small forward of Fijian descent who plays with flair and energy.
 
Possessing clean hands, strong decision-making and an explosive sidestep, Delana represented the Allies on four occasions in 2024 while also playing eight games for the GIANTS’ VFL side. 
 
Delana centres the opportunity to represent his upbringing and the western Sydney community as a point of excitement ahead of his first season.
 
“I’m extremely excited to represent the Western Sydney community,” Delana said.
 
“AFL is still a growing sport out there and I’m glad to put it forward as an opportunity and pathway for kids in western Sydney to take.
 
“It’s not a foreign sport, there are plenty of pathways that they can take to be drafted and become a professional sportsperson.”
 
A multi-talented sportsperson, Delana forewent other sports when selected to the Academy, a move which the GIANTS have repaid in their selection.
 
“I only started playing AFL when I was 13, through the school system and AFL NSW/ACT setting up the clinics, they actually paid for my registration the first year,” Delana says.
 
I was always playing AFL and league or AFL and union or AFL and soccer, always Sunday footy and I just always enjoyed footy the most, it was always that escape for me to have fun.
 
“When I hit 16, Mum and Dad said it’s time to make a decision on what I wanted to focus on and I chose AFL.
 
“I love the freedom of the game and it was also nice to not be running at my opposition and being tackled so harshly, they weren’t as enjoyable a sports for me.”
 
Delana has begun the pre-season at GIANTS HQ in Sydney Olympic Park, with the full 44-player GWS GIANTS squad now in pre-season ahead of the 2025 AFL Opening Round.


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Michael Walls
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0407 783 413

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