Peter Knights and his selection panel have named a preliminary WorkSafe AFL Victoria Country Squad.

The squad, chosen after the WorkSafe Country Championships on Saturday May 24, will eventually be trimmed to 24 before tackling the might of a Metropolitan representative side in the AFL Victoria Community Cup on Saturday July 12 at Simonds Stadium.

All players who participated in the WorkSafe Country championships were eligible for selection, with the 39 players chosen from 11 separate leagues.

The Goulburn Valley FL is the most represented league with nine members, followed by the Ovens and Murray FL with seven and title holders Geelong FL with six.

Swan Hill star Xavier Moloney (Central Murray FL) is the only player selected in the 39-man squad from outside the top 10 ranked leagues.

Knights said it was an extremely difficult task cutting the squad to 39.

"We had a member of our selection panel at each of the matches involving the top ten leagues and also spoke with a number of other parties to see if there was anyone from outside those games that warranted inclusion."

"When we first met last week we had more than 70 players who had been nominated as worthy inclusions and to reduce that to 39 was an extremely difficult task."

"Playing the Metro side will no doubt be the toughest challenge we've faced in my five years as coach but we think we've picked a side that will be committed to representing WorkSafe AFL Victoria Country and give us the best possible chance of victory."

A second WorkSafe AFL Victoria's Country side will be named this week to take on a representative side from the Victorian Amateur Football Association on the same day.

The EnergySafe U19 side will be also be announced this week.