Bendigo Advertiser | This weekends interleague teams for the Bendigo, Heathcote & District and North Central leagues.
BENDIGO
v Gippsland - 2pm Saturday at Western Park, Warragul
The team:
B: Codie Price, Brenton Conforti, Tyler Miles
Hb: Brayden Dorrington, Chris Ryan, Jon Coe
C: Isaiah Miller, Jack Geary, Jake Hall
Hf: Adam Baird, Dylan Johnstone, Harry Conway
F: Joel Wharton, Hamish Morcom, Tom Toma
Foll: Michael Pilcher, Trent Donnan, Kristan Height
Inter: Nic Lang, Ben McPhee, Coby Perry, Justin Dorward, Kalan Huntly
BENDIGO will pursue its first inter-league win on the road for seven years when it takes on Gippsland at Warragul in the 11 v 12 match of the AFL Victoria Community Championships on Saturday.
It’s a familiar match-up, with this to be the fourth time since 2010 the two leagues have met.
However, this will be the first of those four meetings to be played on Gippsland’s home turf at Warragul – a 257km trip for the Blue and Gold.
Bendigo has beaten Gippsland in their past three clashes by 34 points (2014), 23 points (2012) and 9 points (2010), with those three matches all played at the QEO.
A new-look team of 23 to be coached by Brett Fitzpatrick will be striving to win Bendigo’s first away game since the against-the-odds triumph against Ballarat at Bacchus Marsh in 2009 – a team that included Adam Baird, who returns to inter-league football with Bendigo on Saturday.
The squad – captained by Jack Geary – features 12 first-time Bendigo representative players, including a pair of teenagers in Coby Perry (18) and Kalan Huntly (19), plus eight players backing up from last year’s 77-point drubbing off Ballarat.
HEATHCOTE DISTRICT
v Bellarine - 2.15pm Saturday at Shell Road Reserve, Ocean Grove
The team:
B: Jordan Ford, Ryan Prendergast, Hoby Bussey
Hb: Daniel Hill, Damien Carmody, Sam Vale
C: Blayne Ryan-Storey, Ryan Semmel, Jackson McEwan
Hf: Tim Lincoln, Rhys Woodland, James Harney
F: Adam Decicco, Danny Brewster, Ryan Hon
Foll: Brett Strange, Harry Whittle, Braidy Dickens
Inter: (from) Jacob Greenwood, John Harvey, Jordan Collins, Jaydon Cowling, Marcus Angove, Cameron Ross
THE Heathcote District Football League is eyeing off its third-consecutive inter-league victory on Saturday.
Heathcote District travels to Ocean Grove’s Shell Road Recreation Reserve to take on Bellarine in what’s the 19 v 20- match-up in the AFL Victoria Community Championships.
Rick Coburn is again in charge of the side as coach after leading it to a 29-point win over Central Murray last year, while the league was also victorious in 2014 when it beat Horsham District by five points.
North Bendigo, Leitchville-Gunbower, Colbinabbin and Huntly are the four power sides in the competition this year, and that has been reflected in Saturday’s team.
The squad of 25, which won’t be trimmed back to 23 until Saturday, features 19 players from those four clubs, including an all-Colbinabbin half-backline of Daniel Hill, Damien Carmody and Sam Vale.
Huntly’s Braidy Dickens will captain the league for the first time, and is one of three Hawks – along with Ryan Semmel and Harry Whittle – selected to line up in the centre square with North Bendigo ruckman Brett Strange at the opening bounce.
NORTH CENTRAL
v Central Murray - 2.30pm Saturday at Swan Hill Recreation Reserve
The team:
B: Lachlan Cohen, Jacob DeAraugo, Boe Bish
Hb: Nick Garner, Sam Dunstan, Daniel Pearce
C: Robert Tonkin, Caleb Bloomer, Darcy Harrison
Hf: Ricky Allan, Jackson Hogan, George Turner
F: Billy McInnes, Danny Benaim, Lachlan Gilbert
Foll: Lochlan Sirett, Brody Haddow, Matt Elliott
Inter: Jordan Hargreaves, Luke Martin, Charles Murrie, Luke Mulquiny
TEN players will pull on the North Central Football League guernsey for the first time on Saturday.
North Central will reignite its neighboring rivalry with Central Murray when they clash in the 21 v 22 match-up in the AFL Victoria Community Championships at Swan Hill.
Lachlan Cohen, Sam Dunstan, Daniel Pearce, George Turner, Charles Murrie, Lochlan Sirett, Billy McInnes, Lachlan Gilbert, Matt Elliott and Luke Martin will all make their North Central inter-league debuts.
McInnes, Gilbert, Elliott and Martin play with North Central new-comers Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers, with there some irony in their selection given one option put to the Tigers by AFL Victoria after the Mallee league disbanded after last season to join Central Murray.
While there are 10 players on debut, Wedderburn coach Danny Benaim, who has been named at full-forward, is lining up for his eighth appearance.
North Central will be coached for the first time by Daniel Gash – a three-time premiership coach with Wedderburn.
North Central has won three of its past four inter-league games, including by 32 points against Geelong District last year.