Seven newcomers to the Ballarat Football League this season will represent the Navy Blues against Bendigo in the AFL Victoria Community Championship.
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Coach Shaun O'Loughlin in his second year in the role, has locked in a 23-strong line-up for the one-off assignment at Bendigo on May 13.
Scott Sherlock, Dean Heta (Bacchus Marsh), Dan Roy, Brian Graham, Chris Graham (Darley), Nick Kommer (Melton South) and Will Young (North Ballarat City) are the newcomers to the competition to have received the nod from O'Loughlin.
Brian Graham played for Western Region in a three-point win over the BFL last year.
VIEW THE TEAM HERE
Jarrah Maksymow, Shane Page, Nick Peters, Braedan Kight, Jack Walker, Ryan Luke, Liam Hoy, Callum Currie and Adam Short are other new faces to the team.
Just seven players who represented the BFL last season will be backing up - Nathan Pring, Daniel Tung, Jackson Bolton, Ben Sortino, Ryan Hobbs, Chris Giampaolo and Nathan Horbury
The BFL has followed a new selection process this year, with O'Loughlin and his coaching panel departing from the traditional process of naming an expanded training squad and then trimming it after a series of training sessions.
The selectors instead targeted players to allow the final team to be named straight up.
O’Loughlin said selection had been based on team balance, form and fitness.
“The coaching panel has been very thorough in determining the final side to take on Bendigo, with a fantastic buy-in from players across the competition” he said.
The squad will have three training sessions – at St Patrick’s College on Sunday, Darley on Tuesday and Wendouree next Thursday.
Kommer is the highest profile of the first-season recruits, coming off Essendon’s AFL list to join the Panthers, while Sherlock has joined Bacchus Marsh after a decorated VFL career with Werribee Tigers.
Young is another with AFL experience, having been picked up by North Ballarat City via Adelaide Crows and Newlyn in the CHFL.