For the first time the trials allowed players to nominate themselves, which saw record numbers attend the open trials – in excess of 100 juniors.

An eight-man selection panel was given the job of whittling down the impressive numbers. Head coach of the junior program Adrian Harris said the widened selection process should see Ballarat put forward one of its best junior outfits.

“We’ve really scoured high and low, I think in the past kids have missed out. We probably haven’t been as in depth as we could’ve been in the past, so it’s been pretty good,” Harris said.

Harris also expected to see better development within the squads given each age-group will now have two coaches, allowing for more specific coaching of individual players.

“Obviously we’ll have a keen eye on winning it, but also a keen eye on developing players for the future as well.

“With that new coaching panel it’s going to allow the coaches to coach now and help the kids more. I think in the past the coaches were the organisers of the day and it didn’t allow them to be a genuine coach for the day. So hopefully that new model will rectify that and hold the kids in good stead moving forward.”