NORTH Ballarat Rebels will draw on players from a larger part of Western Victoria under a realignment of TAC Cup under-18 football zone boundaries.
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The Rebels' zone will now take in the Corangamite shire, which was previously under the realm of the Geelong Falcons.
Camperdown, Cobden and Terang are key centres in the municipality, which stretches from Skipton in the north to Timboon, Port Campbell and Princetown in the south.
Essendon brothers Zack and Jackson Merrett, North Melbourne's Ben Cunnington and Gary Rohan from Sydney Swans have been key draftees from the region in latter years - all being from Cobden in the Hampden Football League.
This is the first major change to the Rebels' zone since it was extended to Warrnambool at the end of 2008.
The zone now stretches from Ballarat to the Australian border in the Wimmera and south-west of the state.
AFL Victoria announced on Wednesday the change would mean Hampden and Warrnambool District league players would no longer be split between the Rebels and Falcons.
Rebels talent manager Phil Partington said this would avoid the confusion about which clubs were under the Rebels and Falcons.
"We already have a great relationship with the clubs in our zone, so we look forward to working with the new clubs and providing more opportunities for local players," Partington said.
"Whether players make the Rebels program or not, we would hope they gain valuable experience from the training to help them when they return to their clubs."
The Rebels have had 20 players drafted by AFL clubs over the past five years.
"We aim to continue to provide a pathway and opportunities for these footballers to develop their game both on and off the field, and either reach the elite level or be a better footballer when they return to local competitions," Partington said.
The Rebels will now run five satellite training bases, with the new Hampden base joining sites in Ballarat, Wimmera (Horsham), South West (Hamilton) and Warrnambool.
Bernie Harris will be the Hampden squad coordinator, with Geelong Falcons coaches Matthew Harkin and Brett Taylor joining the Rebels program as under-18 and under-16 squad coaches.
All players from the new area listed with Geelong Falcons this year have been invited to trial with the Rebels.