COLLINGWOOD last night named injury-prone defender Ben Reid to start in the Victorian Football League in Ballarat on Sunday.
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Reid will play in the VFL opening round against North Ballarat Roosters at Eureka Stadium, as declared earlier in the week by AFL head coach Nathan Buckley who wants the key position prospect to build form in the VFL a little longer.
The Magpies promoted Sam Dwyer and Corey Gault to the AFL on stellar performances against the Selkirk Roosters in a practice match last week.
But the Magpies VFL arm will get livewire Alex Fasolo in return.
A Sunday fixture is expected to have the Magpie army flocking to Ballarat alongside Kangaroos’ fans, with the Collingwood AFL and Roosters partner North Melbourne matches complete.
The Roosters will face Collingwood first-up for the third consecutive year, but this time the Roosters will host the match.
Premiership players Myles Sewell and Orren Stephenson have been named right where they left off – Stephenson in the ruck, Sewell in the midfield.
Each has featured in pre-season hit-outs for the Selkirk Roosters but a round one bout against Collingwood on Sunday will mark their first official outings for the club in competition.
Sewell, a 2009 JJ Liston medallist, returns to Eureka Stadium after a year away. He returned to football midway through last season with Ballarat Swans in the Ballarat Football League and played in the Swans’ senior grand final.
Stephenson has spent the past three years in the AFL, drafted to Geelong after the 2011 season where he won a VFL premiership, then moving to Richmond for 2013-14.
They are joined by five new Roosters in an extended line-up, including Rebels graduate Rowan Marshall, former Western Bulldog Andrew Hooper via SANFL club Glenelg, Jarod Bacon from the now-defunct Bendigo Gold VFL, North Ballarat City’s Shaun Lyle and Ballarat Swan Lachlan Cassidy, who will play under the 23rd man rule.
The Roosters could also feature up to nine North Melbourne-listed players. Recruit Sam Durdin and rookie Braydon Preuss played in the Roosters’ practice matches.
This is the last season of the Roosters’ partial alignment with the Kangaroos before the Roosters become a standalone VFL club.
melanie.whelan@fairfaxmedia.com.au
