Five members of the under 17 squad have made their debuts in the under 19 side and have each had an impact.

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Felix Fogarty (East Point) and Aaron Cadman (Darley) were first, featuring in the Rebels' 38-point round five win over the Eastern Ranges.

James Van Es (North Ballarat) joined them against the Geelong Falcons in round seven, featuring as a key backman.

Vincent Huf (Hamilton Kangaroos) and George Stevens (South Warrnambool) were the most recent.

They both played roles in the Rebels' 79-point win over the Gippsland Power at the weekend.

Huf was the surprise packet of the game, kicking five goals on debut.

The impressive performances playing up an age group have come after a strong display by the under 17 squad in the early weeks of the 2021 NAB League season.

They played two games together in the Vic Country under 17 challenge series.

The first resulted in a dominant win over the Geelong Falcons, 16.11 (107) to 7.4 (46).

They doubled down the following week, beating Bendigo in a close encounter.

Under 19 assistant coach and under 17 coach Rick Andrews told The Courier it's a strong crop of players that are working hard to match the under 19 group.

"It's about educating them on what is high performance, what is hard training," he said.

"They do everything you ask of them, they're very coachable.

"You do get leapfrogged a lot in footy if you don't put the work in now.

"That's their challenge, between that 16 and 18 age groups, they've got to keep improving and working on their game.

"Otherwise, someone else will just leapfrog you and they'll jump ahead of you."

A continual rise by the group bodes well for the next few years at the Rebels.

The side already possesses the best record in the league and two NAB AFL Academy players in Ben Hobbs (Horsham) and Joshua Gibcus (East Point).

The next crop is hoping to follow in their footsteps and play consistent footy next year.

"We're hoping that we bridge that gap and giving them games enables them to play next year," Andrews said.

"We'll have more that'll probably play towards the end of the year as well."

If restrictions ease in Melbourne and Van Es, Cadman, Huf and Stevens hold their spots in the line-up, the Rebels will welcome the Northern Knights to Mars Stadium on Saturday.

The action kicks off at 11:30am.

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