BALLARAT Football League has opted for fresh faces in its bid to get its interleague campaign back on track.
In the 47-man initial training squad announced yesterday, 27 new faces have come into the squad.
The squad will be culled in the coming weeks, before its clash against Bendigo on May 25.
The Red Onion Creative BFL has lost its last two matches beaten by 38 points against Goulburn Valley in 2011 and going down to Geelong by 23 points last year.
Coach Ben Jordan said it was decided a “fresh element” was needed to see Ballarat heading back towards the top ranks of the VCFL Country Championships.
Ballarat and Bendigo will contest in the third tier of the competition, ranked fifth and sixth respectively.
“We did need to freshen things up a bit. Fourteen of the players are aged 23 and under, but in the end it is about getting the best 22 players out there,” he said.
Included in the squad are 11 North Ballarat City players, nine from Sunbury and six from both Redan and Darley.
Thirty-two players from the current squad come from those four clubs.
Three clubs also have just one player in the squad Lake Wendouree (Tim Malone), Melton (Matthew Notman) and Sebastopol (Michael Powell).
Jordan said it was not a deliberate ploy to have every club represented in the squad, but it was pleasing it had worked out that way.
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“We weren’t 100 per cent fixed on having someone from every club, but it is a good result,” he said.
Although the final team is not guaranteed to come from the 47-man squad, Jordan said it was probably unlikely that other players not currently named would play against Bendigo. The squad will train together for the first time at Eureka Stadium next Tuesday.
SENIOR SQUAD:
BACCHUS MARSH: Tyson Shea, Declan Phyland
BALLARAT: Braeden Deary, Mitch Rodd, Chris Procktor
DARLEY: Darren Leonard, Shane Page, Rhys Ellis, Brad Inglis, Dane Grenfell, Jake Edwards
EAST POINT: Dan Jordan, Hayden Walters, Jason Delaney, Paul Koderenko
LAKE WENDOUREE: Tim Malone
MELTON: Matthew Notman
MELTON SOUTH: Leigh Burke, Rex Hickman, Doug Thomas
NORTH BALLARAT CITY: Derick Micallef, Shaun Lyle, Michael Williams, Ryan Luke, Ryan Hobbs, Brendan Howard, Ayden George, Jason McNamara, Jake Hicks, Tristan Cartledge, Daniel Jones
REDAN: Dean Chester, Grant Bell, Jarrod Edwards, Ryan Waight, Brendan Peace, Tom Lamb
SEBASTOPOL: Michael Powell
SUNBURY: Jamie Lobb, Matthew Medcraft, Simon Clarke, Brett Chambers, Xavier Linton, Michael Coleman, Pat Carris, Jay Cheep, Andrew Duhau
UNDER-18.5 SQUAD:
BACCHUS MARSH: Tom Wardell, Riley Stuhldreier, Matt Sutherland, Ricky Hawkins, Jack Powell, Blayde Griffiths
BALLARAT: Hayden Hughes, Josh Benfield, Elliott Gepp, Tyler Constable
DARLEY: Jake Ancrum, Mitch Gillespie, Darcy Gallop, Nick Thacker, Cooper Wells
EAST POINT: Mitchell McCrow, Aden Nestor, Will Petrowski, Sam Romeril, Ryan Taylor, Angus Wright, Cody Venville
LAKE WENDOUREE: Sam Le Lievre
MELTON: Malcolm Beck, Brad Newman, Brock Kennedy, Sam Hurst, Daniel Walker
MELTON SOUTH: Joey Callus, Josh Ryan, Daniel Hillier, Ryan Holzier, Daniel Leggett, Daniel Vasjuta
NORTH BALLARAT CITY: Matthew Johns, Mitch Gilbert, Aaron Sedgewick, Caleb McGrath, Joe Mason, Sam Willian, Matthew Coon, Geoff Lovett, Matthew Davidson, Jessie Palmer, Oscar Mcdonald, Sam Glover, Joe Symonds
REDAN: Jack Wilson, Cameron McKenzie, Ned Mabon, Jarod McArdle, Tom Baker, Billy Douglas, Jackson Kinna, Wayne Bruty
SEBASTOPOL: Cain Edwards, Tim Stubbs, Josh Morgan, Brandon Dummett, Anthony Cooper, Damon Williamson, Jacob Eyers
SUNBURY: Nathan Bridgeland, Josh Laynon, Tyler Boyle, Jesse Flannery, Nathan Wood, Jack Landt, Jackson Young
