FOOTBALL
GIPPSLAND LEAGUE
The Gippsland Football League’s best and brightest will band together to take on the Murray Football League in this weekend’s AFL Victoria Country Championships at Moe.
More than 30 community football leagues from across the state will take part in the Country Championships in a bid to be crowned the premier community football league in Victoria.
Traralgon boasts the most representatives in the Gippsland League side for the 2018 championships with seven players in the final squad of 24.
Moe is also well represented with five players set to line-up while Leongatha has four and Drouin three.
Gippsland League coach Harmit Singh said a “relatively young” Gippsland League side was shaping to take on Murray on Saturday.
“We’ve got representation from basically all the clubs bar Maffra, and the commitment from the guys that have taken part through the first few weeks for training has been really strong,” Singh said.
“The main thing for us is that we’ve got a young group and guys who wanted to be a part of the program … and the players have really bought into it.”
Singh cited Gippsland’s midfield as a potential source of fire but said a final training run on Thursday night at Traralgon would provide a clearer picture of where the side’s potency lies.
“It will be really good for the final squad to spend some time together and work in their divisional groups this week,” he said.
“A number of the players have been in good form and our backs are quite strong as well so we think we’ll be able to win the contested ball and we’re quite strong through there.
“With that being said, we’ve probably lost a few key forwards to injury but we go in with a different look and are a bit smaller, which will give us the ability to apply some good pressure.”
Singh said the Gippsland League coaching panel had done a “fair bit of research” on the Murray Football League ahead of this weekend’s clash.
“Murray have a number of proven players who have played VFL football,” he said.
“I think they’ll be quite young but that creates a lot of energy, so they’re definitely prepared.”
Gippsland League will take on the Murray Football League on Saturday at Ted Summerton Reserve, Moe from 1pm.
Gippsland Football League full squad:
Bob McCallum, Tom Barr, Eddie Morris (Drouin); Chris Dunne, Tom Marriott, Cade Maskell, Luke Bowman (Leongatha), James Blaser, Tyson Biffin, Darnell Grech, Charlie Rieniets, Mitch Stanlake (Moe); James Jacobsen, Ryan Hearn (Morwell); Jordan Dessent (Sale); Kody Wilson, Lee Stockdale, Mark Collison, Haydn Hector, Michael Jacobson, Connor Ambler, Jackson McMahon (Traralgon), Shannon Bray (Wonthaggi Power). Emergency: Daniel Musil (Morwell)
