FOR many years, the Hampden region was the domain of the Geelong Falcons with the likes of Jonathan Brown, Jordan Lewis and Scott Lucas just some of the champions recruited into the AFL from the Hampden region.
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These days, Warrnambool is very much part of the Greater Western Victoria Rebels domain and it's the new-look Reid Oval where the Rebels take on the Falcons this Saturday night.
"Last year we had a boy's game at Reid Oval, and there was so much appetite by the locals to come back in 2024 so it was the first penciled in when sorting out the fixture this year," GWV Rebels talent lead Brook Brown said.
"This year we have made sure it's also a double header with the girls playing prior to our boys and to top off the round the games will be under lights at Reid Oval, Warrnambool.
We didn't want to interfere with the Hampden League games, so we have worked closely with the league and council to get games under lights, which is exciting for our group."
The GWV Rebels once again had a mixed bag of results last weekend, the girls had their best win of the season, with a come from behind win against the more fancied metro team Northern Knights, while the boys struggled to handle the wet conditions in a loss to Western Jets.
Girls head coach Sally Riley said the team was excited to return to Warrnambool this weekend.
"We are excited to play our first game ever in Warrnambool at Reid Oval which will also be a great chance to acknowledge all of the players and staff from the Western Region who are so important to our Rebels program," she said.
"Our region is so big and it's pivotal to be able to connect with the community by having a game close to home for half of our squad members (boys and girls) who travel hours each week for training.
"The local girls have been talking about this game all year and are excited to play in front of family and friends."
For the boys, it's an opportunity to bounce back.
"It was a disappointing first quarter by the boys on the weekend, it was really uncharacteristic and some of our boys really looked tired," Brown said.
"We really need to find consistency in our game if we are to really match it with other teams. To their credit the boys battled really hard for the remainder of the game, they just couldn't adapt to how quickly Western were moving the ball."
The GWV Rebels boys will have three debutantes in Hugh Morgan (Warrnambool), Sam Marris (South Warrnambool) and Sam Kallio (Redan)
GIRLS SQUAD
Chelsea Jew, Elsie Conroy, Adele Weidemann, Emma Stewart, Tansy Seymour, Millie Lang, Kate Aikman, Kate Knight, Bindi Crabtree, Elise Cook, Tahni Turner, Chloe Walker, Jovie Skewes-Clinton, Maddison Cotten, Elsie Day, Olivia Wolter, Claire Lightfoot, Maggie Johnstone, Annabelle Glossop, Greta Arnel, Charley Gartlan, Bella Davies, Ruby Thomas
BOYS TEAM
B: Sam Niklaus, Mitch Lloyd, Riley Holloway
HB: Harry Charleson, Ben McGlade, Ollie Hannaford
C: Connor Weidemann, Reggie Mast, Jack Ough
HF: Harley Hicks, Brodie Phillips, Sam McDonald
F: Floyd Burmeister, Charlie McKinnon, Nic Robinson
R: Chad Finck, Jett Grayland, Archie Caldow
Int: Hugh Toner, Hugh Morgan, Archie Taylor, Sam Kallio, Sam Marris
Emg: Xavier Pumpa, Tristan Leyshan, Talor Byrne
