SEVEN Ballarat-based players from Greater Western Victoria Rebels have been selected to compete in interstate matches as part of the Vic Country Squad\u2019s under 16s side.<\/p>\n
The group is made up of 23 regional players who, following a match against Vic Metro on Sunday, will play a series of doubles against other state squads as part of the Under 16 Development Championships.<\/p>\n
GWVR head coach David Loader will guide the Vic Country Squad and said it\u2019s a massive opportunity for every player.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s their first opportunity in the national pathway for obviously recruiters and AFL scouts,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven though they\u2019re 15 and 16 now, soon they\u2019ll be 17, 18 and then they\u2019re drafted. A lot of these boys will find themselves on an AFL list.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of learning and a lot of stuff for us to get through from this and they\u2019ll go on this journey together even though they\u2019re on other ends of the state.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Vic Country Squad is set to travel to Queensland in early July, where they\u2019ll go up against South Australia\u2019s squad on Tuesday 4 July followed by Western Australia on Friday 7 July.<\/p>\n
Local players to make the rep team include Sinclair Burmeister, Archie Taylor, Charlie McKinnon, Harley Hicks, Taj Bowman, Sam Nicklaus and Jack Murray, who were selected out of an initial pool of 50 players.<\/p>\n
Bowman has been with GWVR since the start of the year after starting out in Ballarat North Football Club\u2019s under 10s side.<\/p>\n
He said it\u2019s \u201csurreal\u201d to have been picked.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is one of my best achievements,\u201d he said. \u201cI think I\u2019ve definitely worked up to it and I\u2019m very lucky to have been picked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really looking forward to coming together more as a group with the others in trying to win a couple games.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SEVEN Ballarat-based players from Greater Western Victoria Rebels have been selected to compete in interstate matches as part of the Vic Country Squad\u2019s under 16s side. The group is made up of 23 regional players who, following a match against Vic Metro on Sunday, will play a series of doubles against other state squads as […]<\/p>\n