Ballarat’s Mars Stadium has been confirmed as the venue for next month’s Victoria Country versus Victoria Metropolitan showdown.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The clash will be held on Sunday, July 8, where the teams will battle it out for the 2018 AFL Victoria Community Cup.
On Monday, initial 42-man Victoria Country and 34-man Victoria Metropolitan squads were announced. These follow the third instalment of the AFL Victoria Community Championships in May.
Sunbury’s Lachlan Bramble is the only player from local leagues to be named in the Country squad.
The Country side will once again be coached by AFL legend Danny Frawley, who will be keen to continue the team’s winning form over Metro after defeating Melbourne's best by 39 points last year.
Frawley, originally from Bungaree, will be pitted against 199-game Footscray legend Brian Royal, who once again has the job of leading Metro’s top senior talent.
In addition, a 54-player under-19 Country representative squad has been released ahead of its clash with the Victorian Amateur Football Association.
The two sides will compete for the 2018 Under-19 Challenge Cup.
This game will be played as a curtain-raiser to the senior battle at Mars Stadium.
Five players from the Ballarat league are part of the list of 54, including Nick Stuhldrier (Bacchus Marsh), Matt Young (Darley), Jordy Johnson (East Point), Jacob Brown (East Point) and Dylan Landt (Sunbury).
Damian Sexton has been named as the Victoria Country coach and will be out to make it five-straight triumphs for the team over the VAFA.
In 2017, Victoria Country won the clash by four points at Frankston Oval.
The games on July 8 will come a few weeks before the AFL clash between the Western Bulldogs and Port Adelaide, which is scheduled for Sunday, July 29.
This will be the second AFL game at Mars Stadium this season after the Bulldogs took on Gold Coast Suns earlier in the year.
The Bulldogs are also scheduled to host a VFLW round eight fixture against Geelong on Sunday, July 1 at the ground.
On July 8, the under-19 clash is set to start at 11.30am, with the senior encounter to kick off from 2pm.