McAuliffe was raised in the regional South Australian coastal town of Port Augusta, 280 kilometres north of Adelaide. [1] He played junior football for the Central Augusta football club in the Spencer Gulf Football League. [2] In addition to his exploits in football, McAuliffe was a talented junior basketball player, being selected to represent the South Australia Country under 16s side at the in 2020 Australian Junior Country Basketball Cup. [3]
At age 14, McAuliffe began boarding at Prince Alfred College in Adelaide. [1] He won the joint best and fairest award in the Sports Association for Adelaide Schools competition as a year 11 student in 2021 while playing football with the school, despite being a year younger than many of his teammates and opponents. [4] During the same time, McAuliffe played representative football with the under 16s team at North Adelaide Football Club where he served as team vice-captain. [4]
By 2022, McAuliffe was named his captain of his school team, leading the side to a defeat in the competition grand final that season. [5] [6] He played with North Adelaide's under 18 team the same year, including in the league grand final. [7]
In 2023 McAuliffe joined the AFL Academy development program, through which he trained with Adelaide's AFL side through January of that year. [8] He later played two showcase matches with the Academy side, against the reserves sides of Carlton and Port Adelaide. [9] [10] [11] He impressed at under 18 level for North Adelaide that year, averaging 27 disposals per game at the level, before earning selection to the club's SANFL reserves side in the latter part of the year, where he averaged 19 disposals and 6.6 tackles per game. [9] During the season, he was hampered by a recurring groin injury. [7]
McAuliffe was selected to represent his state at the 2023 Under 18 national championships, playing in all four matches and averaging 18 disposals, eight tables and four clearances per game. [12]
At the AFL draft combine, McAuliffe recorded the fifth fastest time that year in the 20 metre sprint (2.93 seconds) and placed third in the running vertical jump test (95cm). [12]
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