AFL: Tamworth Roosters under 14s lose narrow grand final to Inverell

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That's the take from Tamworth Roosters co-coach Josh McKenzie said, following a mixed day in the last round of the season which saw his junior teams record one win and one loss.

"It's more about the kids enjoying themselves and developing a bit of footy," McKenzie said.

"We couldn't be unhappy with the way that the kids played."

The Roosters' under 17s side played an exhibition match against the Celtic Saints to close out their season on Sunday, and recorded a win in which they played "really well".

Their under 14s, however, played in the grand final and fell to a narrow 7.4.46 to 4.9.33 loss against the Inverell Saints.

Playing away from home against older opposition, the odds were stacked against the Roosters.

But McKenzie was thrilled with the perseverance they showed after falling to an 18-point deficit coming into the last quarter.

"If you looked across the board at the way each player played, you'd have to be happy with their efforts," he said.

"They were just outmatched by a slightly older, stronger, faster team."

The Roosters kicked two goals and five behinds in the final term, and "gave [Inverell] a bit of a scare late".

The results confirmed in McKenzie's eyes that there is an abundance of talent available in the region - the challenge is accessing it.

"The talent's there, it's just getting enough numbers for a competition," he said.

"It's hard to be too optimistic with the way the competition went this year. There's a fair bit of work that's going to happen in the pre-season to work out where we're at next year.

"But certainly those kids love it, and the more we expose kids in that age group to our game ... they'll come away realising what a great game it is."

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