The Goulburn Valley League is once again set to battle Ovens and Murray in a series of interleague clashes.
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This year, the Ash-Wilson trophy will be on the line at WJ Findlay Oval in Wangaratta on Saturday.
Senior and under-18 football, as well as Open, 17-and-under and 15-and-under netball will all be contested between the two competitions.
Echuca will feature in the junior clashes but won’t have a presence in either senior team this year.
In contrast to last year, when a league-leading seven Echuca players were selected for the senior football side, this year the Murray Bombers won’t have any representatives in the squad.
That’s not for lack of trying, as four players, Hugh Byrne, Jack Evans, Jack McHale and Riley Smith, were named in the initial extended squad, but all four will miss the game with injuries ranging from season-ending to minor knocks.
“Because of injury, our guys that were named in the interleague squad have all pulled out, so we have no Open players, but we have a few in the under-18s,” Echuca coach Simon Maddox said.
“We’ve traditionally had five to seven players in interleague so to have no one is a bit disappointing, but that’s alright, it’s out of our control.”
Maddox has been assisting the GVL head coach, Mooroopna’s Dale Osborne, with squad selection and getting the league’s best ready to take on O&M.
“It has been a good experience, Dale Osborne is very passionate about the whole thing, he focused a lot on picking good young talent and players that are in form, which I think he has achieved,” he said.
“He’s picked a squad that are young, fit and some of the best young talent in the Goulburn Valley, and they’re all really keen to represent our league.
“In terms of players, we’ve had few not able to (play) across the league due to injury and some decided not to which is understandable.”
Rochester had two players named in the initial squad, both Mitch Cricelli and Wil Hamilton in contention to take the field.
Last year, the GVL pulled out a late 8.15 (63) to 7.6 (48) victory.
In the Open netball, coach Bree Hanslow’s (Mooroopna) attacking line-up is based around Euroa’s front three; Olivia Morris, Mia Sudomirksi and Hollie Reid, with Shepparton, Mooroopna and Seymour players featuring in the mid and backcourt.
It is a very similar line-up to the one that took out the Open clash 45-40 a year ago.
“As a team, they’ve played plenty of netball together — there’s not too many changes from the side they had last year between interleague and association champs, so they will be quite familiar with each other’s game,” Hanslow said.
“It’ll just be hit the court and go our hardest for 60 minutes.”
Echuca is set to make a bigger impact in the junior grades, including three Murray Bombers in line for selection in the under-18 football side.
Luke Oellermann, Hudson Kellett and Ky Henson were all named in three-time interleague boss Ramadan Yze’s squad ahead of the clash.
Rochester’s Jordy Rasmussen is also in the mix for selection.
“I think (interleague) is pretty important to be honest,” Yze said.
“A lot of these kids have been through the (Bendigo) Pioneers program, the Bushrangers program and might have been cut or overlooked.
“What better way to showcase what they’ve got to everyone else and maybe put their hand up for a late call-up to those squads or even further to VFL level?
“I reckon it’s a really good concept, interleague footy, just for that reason — that people show what they’ve got.
“It gives them a bit of a buzz playing high-standard footy, playing with other players that you don’t normally see on a Saturday.”
The under-18 GVL side pulled out a thumping 11.8 (74) to 7.4 (46) win in last year’s contest.
In the junior netball, plenty of Echuca names are also in the mix.
Several of the Murray Bombers’ title winning under-15 squad from 2024 are now aged up into the under-17s and included among four local representatives in Matt Healey’s (Mooroopna) side.
Rose Byrne, Emma and Kate Head and Addison Orr are all part of the 12-player initial squad.
The 15-and-under side, coached by Euroa’s Kellie Hill, has named an extended 15-player line-up, including Echuca representatives Sarah Head and Lexie Howard.
Both junior netball sides were defeated by O&M a year ago.
Interleague battles commence on Saturday with the 15-and-under game at 11am.
The under-18 football will get started from noon, followed by the Open netball at 12.30pm, the 17-and-under netball at 2pm and the senior football at 2.10pm.
RIV Herald