RIVERINA League representative coach Matt Hard has opted for versatility in the naming of his 24-man squad for Saturday’s interleague clash at Robertson Oval.
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The Riverina League squad were again put through their paces on Monday night and the squad has now been trimmed to 24 for Thursday night’s final session at Narrandera.
While there were a number of big-name withdrawals, Hard is happy with the versatility and running power within the 24-man squad.
Hard has also backed the competition’s youth with a lot of first-timers to representative football given the nod.
“Exactly right, we haven’t been afraid to pick young blokes,” Hard said.
“They have been playing good club footy, some of them have been playing in the NEAFL, which is a good challenge for them, and obviously they have been in good form.”
With Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong big man Jacob Olsson unavailable, the Riverina League selectors have opted to go without a traditional ruckman.
Mangoplah-Cookardinia United-Eastlakes’ Dusty Rogers is likely to be given the starting ruck role, while Narrandera’s Jarred Lane and Leeton-Whitton’s Josh Grant can also be used there.
MCUE’s Matt Collins is the only recognised key forward but again Hard and selectors have dared to be different.
“We could have gone traditional but we were looking at versatility,” Hard said.
“With a squad like that we wanted to try to get the maximum out of the 22 players.
“Something we didn’t want to happen was that if someone was getting beaten in a position, that we didn’t have options.
“So we tried to pick a squad with players that had the versatility to play a number of positions.”
Wagga Tigers were rewarded for their undefeated start to the season with seven players being named in the 24-man squad.
Leeton-Whitton was next best with four.
The likes of Olsson, James Lawton, Will Griggs, Ben King and Dan Kennedy all made themselves unavailable from the initial squad.
The final training session for the 24 will be held at Narrandera Sportsground on Thursday night.
Riverina 24-man representative squad
Shaun Campbell, Shaun Flanigan, John Anstee, John Buchanan, Dylan Morton, Jackson Kelly, Campbell Lovell (Wagga Tigers), Harry Collins, Matt Collins, Dusty Rogers (MCUE), Guy Orton, James Toscan (Griffith), Josh Grant, Luke Potter, Mitch Hardie, James Nancarrow (Leeton-Whitton), Luke Sicker (GGGM), Jamie Maddox, Chase Grintell, Luke Redfern (Coolamon), Jayden Klemke, Matt Beckmans (CGP), Jarred Lane (Narrandera), Josh Donaldson (Turvey Park)
Coach: Matt Hard
