The final side has been announced to represent the Peter Jackson VFL this Saturday against the West Australian Football League in Northam, WA. The side will be captained by Geelong's Dom Gleeson.
Just four members of last year’s final 22 (Chris Cain, Ben Ross, Sam Pleming and Myles Sewell) will line up for the VFL again this year, with 2012 emergency Kane Lambert this year making the final side of 23, with an emergency still to be named.
“It has opened the door for a great opportunity for a number of new players to take to the State stage, and I think that can only be exciting and something that the coaching panel is looking forward to being part of,” Peter Jackson VFL coach Gary Ayres said.
“The changes have been brought about due to a number of selection criteria, and first and foremost we needed to select who is fit and available.
“It could be looked at as a new era … we know the state games are on a six year rotation but from our point of view, and who plays for Victoria, it is one of the few things that we can potentially have over the AFL, with state of origin still a passionate part of the VFL."
With six players drafted from each of the last two State games versus the WAFL (Brett Goodes, Kyle Hartigan, Sam Dwyer, Kyle Martin, Dean Towers, Leigh Osborne 2012 and Peter Faulks, Cam Pedersen, Orren Stephenson, Stephen Clifton, Ed Curnow, Jonathan Simpkin 2010) Ayres believes the sides’ structure has a balance of youth and experience.
“The criteria certainly has to be youth, but you need an experienced mix as well to reward those players in form.
“Potentially this could be the biggest stage that an individual can play on – we would hope that some guys get drafted as we have already seen – but if some players are not drafted this is as big a game as they are ever going to play.
“We know, and we saw it last year, that these guys are very passionate about representing their state.
“If we can get that good cross section of our criteria, then we are going across for two reasons, one to represent the competition and the state, and secondly to win.”
Three players were Thursday night cut from the squad of 26, with Matthew Bate (Essendon), Shane Hockey (Frankston) and Andrew Banjanin (Geelong) not named in the final 23.
The final squad of 23 features:
- Representation from 11 of the 14 Peter Jackson VFL clubs
- An average age of 24
- 14 players aged 24 or under
- 2 current VFL captain (Marcus Marigliani - Sandringham, Evan Panozza - Casey Scorpions)
- 3 J.J. Liston Trophy winners: Myles Sewell (2009), Stephen Clifton (2010), Ben Ross (2012)
- 6 current or former VFL Academy squad members (Scott Sherlock, David Mirra, Willie Wheeler, Michael Sikora, Willie Wheeler, Jake Wilson)
- 7 former AFL listed players (Clifton, Ben Warren, Ben Ross, Marigliani, Adam Cockie, Sam Pleming, Scott Simpson)
- 3 players aged 21 are the youngest, Jake Wilson, Kane Lambert and Chris Michaliades
- Dom Gleeson is the oldest squad member at 30, followed by 27-year-olds Pleming and Marigliani
The WAFL side will be captain by 2005 J.J. Liston Trophy winner Paul Johnson. The East Perth ruckman was the Simpson Medallist in the WAFL’s clash with the SANFL last year. VFL supporters will see some familiar faces in the WAFL side, with Bendigo 2012 best & fairest Brendan Lee one of the names in the final squad for WA.
The WAFL squad of 25 is: Tallan Ames, Paul Bevan, Aaron Black, Paul Bower, David Crawford, Steven Dodd, Tim Geappen, Kyle Hams, Paul Johnson (C), Jarrod Kayler-Thomson, Rohan Kerr, Brendan Lee, Brett Mahoney, Marlon Motlop, Jake Murphy, Ryan Neates, Rory O'Brien, Ian Richardson, Brennan Stack, Andrew Stephen, Andrew Strijk, Wayde Twomey, Jay van Berlo, Craig Wulff.
David |
MIRRA |
Box Hill Hawks |
Evan |
PANOZZA |
Casey Scorpions |
Michael |
SIKORA |
Essendon |
Riley |
HEDDLES |
Frankston |
Sam |
LLOYD |
Frankston |
Michael |
LOUREY |
Frankston |
Scott |
SIMPSON |
Frankston |
Dom |
GLEESON |
Geelong Cats |
Stephen |
CLIFTON |
North Ballarat |
Myles |
SEWELL |
North Ballarat |
Lachlan |
GEORGE |
North Ballarat |
Kane |
LAMBERT |
Northern Blues |
Josh |
SCIPIONE |
Port Melbourne |
Chris |
CAIN |
Port Melbourne |
Sam |
PLEMING |
Port Melbourne |
Chris |
MICHALIADES |
Sandringham |
Marcus |
MARIGLIANI |
Sandringham |
Adam |
COCKIE |
Sandringham |
Scott |
SHERLOCK |
Werribee Tigers |
Ben |
WARREN |
Werribee Tigers |
Ben |
ROSS |
Werribee Tigers |
Jake |
WILSON |
Werribee Tigers |
Willie |
WHEELER |
Williamstown |
WHO: WAFL vs Peter Jackson VFL
WHEN: Saturday May 11, 12pm (WST)
WHERE: Northam, WA
MEDIA COVERAGE:
TV - ABC TV live in Victoria from 2pm (AEST)
Twitter - @VFLnews or #WAFLvPJVFL
Radio - Online www.6amam.com.au or search Radio West Northam 864am on Tune In Radio app
Last Modified on 09/05/2013 23:08