BALLARAT’S interleague squad will need to find alternate routes to goal on Saturday after North Ballarat City spearhead Shaun Lyle was selected to play VFL.
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Lyle will play his third match for the North Ballarat Roosters on Sunday, leaving the Ballarat Football League without an obvious full forward for its AFL Victoria Country Championships clash against Bendigo.
Last year’s BFL leading goalkicker had been an active member of the BFL training squad throughout its interleague preparations before getting the Roosters’ call-up on Thursday night.
His last-minute exclusion from the Ballarat side results in one of a number of headaches for coach Shane Skontra, whose side is at the mercy of North Ballarat and, ultimately, North Melbourne in the AFL.
Should North Melbourne call up a Roosters player for its match against Fremantle on Saturday, it could force North Ballarat into promoting a potential BFL interleague representative.
Jono Lanyon (East Point), Lucas Anderson (Lake Wendouree), Liam Youl (Ballarat) and Jarod Bacon (Redan) have also been named Roosters emergencies, but are expected to play interleague footy.
Skontra said although it was frustrating not being able to finalise his side, he did not feel it would affect the players.
“These guys are used to this sort of situation week in, week out, so it shouldn’t affect them,” Skontra said.
“The Roosters have been more than open in letting us know what they can, but they can still be affected by North Melbourne.”
A 28-man squad has been named for the clash, with an extended 10-man interchange listed.
The five players cut from the squad will not necessarily be from the interchange that is currently named, with the final team unlikely to be declared before Saturday.
Skontra said in an ideal world he would love to name a finalised team, insisting he was not trying to hide anything from Bendigo, which named a final team on Thursday.
Of the most notable absentees for Ballarat, Lake Wendouree’s Steve Clifton (hip), Darley’s Jake Edwards (ankle), North City’s Marcus Darmody (hamstring) and East Point’s Paul Kodorenko (knee) are all members of the initial squad that will be out of action.
patrick.nolan@fairfaxmedia.com.au