The Southern Football Netball League’s youngest talent will make the three-hour trip up to Boort tonight, all in preparation for their highly anticipated interleague clash with North Central Football League.
44 men have been cut to 22 in the side of choice hand-picked by Coach Jimmy Cullen (Coach at Dingley) with the assistance of Wayne Herbstreit.
Six out of Southern’s 10 competing Under 19s sides are represented, with many players boasting experience in senior ranks. Two players from Mordialloc’s senior Reserves are also in the mix.
2017 Interleague representatives Robert Lega-Frost (Parkmore / Springvale Districts), Paul Pekaj (St Kilda) and Michael D’Rozario (Bentleigh) will be returning this year for their second crack at the title.
Six players from the top-placed Dingoes will don the Southern guernsey, and another six made the cut from Parkmore / Springvale.
Leading the pack as captain is Parkmore / Springvale’s Jacob Bakes (2017 Sandringham Dragons midfielder) alongside vice captain and 2017 Sparrow Medallist Anthony Malamas (Cheltenham).
Cullen said despite seeing only snapshots of what his side can bring to the table over the last few weeks, he is fully confident in their talent to deliver.
“I’ve seen small glimpses of the team at training and they have shown a lot of promise,” he said.
“Our midfield is where it all starts with our captains Jacob Bakes and Anthony Malamas leading the way, followed by some real talent in Rory Goldsmith (Dingley), Gianluca Cappiello (Oakleigh) and Robert Lega-Frost.
“Jack Farrington and Devlin Danckert are our two big targets up forward to look out for, and the versatile Brett Crane will hold down the backline.
“The team is really consistent throughout the whole line up... I’m really excited to see what these boys can produce tomorrow.”
The Under 19s will play at the Boort Football Club at 12pm, followed by the senior match at 2.15pm.
Good luck to all sides!
SFNL UNDER 19 INTERLEAGUE TEAM
FB: Alan Suna (Parkmore/Springvale), Taj Lewis (Dingley), Lachlan Zealley (Mordialloc)
