A focus on fostering local talent has seen Benalla scale the Goulburn Valley league ladder this season, writes  As far as decision go, they don't come much tougher.

On the cusp of fulfilling a dream of representing WorkSafe AFL Vic Country, Benalla playing coach Luke Morgan was forced to make the difficult phone call to rep team coach Peter Knights earlier this month and tell the Hawthorn champion he was withdrawing from the final squad.

"Being the playing coach of Benalla and in my first year in charge of a very young side, I thought missing the game against Mooropna would hurt the image that we've been working so hard at creating over the past eight months," the 23-year-old said.

"It's always been a goal of mine to represent (AFL) Vic Country and I'm still determined to achieve that one day but we'd been making such big strides that I didn't want to see the club suffer by me choosing to play.

Morgan's support for representative football was proven with his backing of three of his young stars to line up in AFL Victoria's EnergySafe U19 side against the Victorian Amateur Football Association U19s.

Lachlan Smith, Sam Martyn and Jake Palpratt (pictured) all made the trip to the Junction Oval for big match, with Martyn close to best on ground as the country boys fell agonisingly short of a come-from-behind victory.

"I told the three boys that I wouldn't pick them for Benalla if they made themselves unavailable for (AFL) Vic Country."

"I know that goes against the decision I made myself, but I'm big believer in playing at the highest standard you can and hopefully I'll get another chance in the next few years."

Morgan's decision to remain in Benalla was justified when he led the depleted Saints to a memorable nine-point triumph over Mooroopna.

"I think we had something like 11 of our best 18 missing that day and it was a pretty important win for our season."

Regardless of whether the Saints can improve their current third position on the ladder and be a force in September is almost irrelevant, given how far they've already come.

Last year Benalla won just two games on the way to collecting another wooden spoon, one of many after six years struggling at the bottom end of the table.

"From the outside people will say we've obviously thrown some money about this season but it's really not the case," Morgan said.

"Out of our whole list there is only myself (born and bred in the nearby King Valley region) and one other (Jordan Daniels who hails from Finley) that aren't originally from Benalla."

What is even more pleasing for the local school teacher is the fact the average age of his playing list is between 19 or 20.

"We have re-jigged a few things at the club and made sure our structure was a lot better. Out seconds coach - who is a really popular guy in town - has played a big part in getting a lot of guys back to the club.

"I've never seen such a driven group of young guys and we've have kids that are only 19 or 20 step up and play like 27-year-olds."

It's a sentiment echoed by Benalla President Bruce Biggs, who hailed his young coach's ability to unite the club and transform its fortunes.

"The real proof of how far we've come is the fact last year our seconds lost to Rochester by 300 points, and last month we beat them by a point," Biggs said.

"We've got some of the best facilities in country Victoria and we've set the criteria for recruiting guys who have ties to the club."

"There's a real buzz around the town this year and we're determined to be sustainable for the long term and not just be up for one or two years."

By David O'Neill

Article first appeared www.vcfl.com.au July 17, 2013