THE Western Border football interleague team is almost decided, with a mix of youth and experience set to do battle in the 2019 Limestone Coast Regional Carnival tomorrow.
The side will face the Mid South East and Kowree Naracoorte Tatiara leagues and look to improve on last year’s disappointing performance.
The WBFL failed to win a game last year.
It allowed the MSEFL and KNTFL out to early starts and could not overcome the deficit before the final siren in the short-format games.
Steve Duldig has returned as coach and has the slow starts front and centre for his team.
“The key will be getting off to a good start so we do not have to make up ground in that limited time,” he said.
“In each game last year we were within a goal with a minute or so to go, but in both games we were probably two or three goals down early in the piece.
“Although we did not win one, we were not far off.
“The year we won it we only just won each of our games, so with shortened games there is not a lot of margin for error.”
With that in mind, Duldig said the squad had come together well, with the final 23 players yet to be named.
“It all looks pretty good,” he said.
“It will be a similar team to recent years, but there are a couple of big names unavailable for various reasons.
“I think it will be the youngest team we have fielded in the three years I have been on board.
“I encourage the younger ones to have a go and am excited to see what they are capable of at that level.”
A couple of notable outs will be Tom Hutchesson due to his suspension while playing for the Crows at SANFL level, plus Brett O’Neil and Mark Rumbelow with injury concerns.
Both Hutchesson and O’Neil will leave a big hole in the mid-field and across half back, but Duldig said he was confident he could manage that space.
“Midfield wise we have Tom Sullivan who was our best player for the carnival last year,” he said.
“Jack Dawe comes in and has been in great form, along with Matt Willson, Nick McInerney and a couple of young players like Reid Kuller, who has been playing mainly in Adelaide this year.
“Dylan Ayton comes in, while Jayden Eldridge will be midfield/half back and will be handy.
“We still have a bit of depth through the middle, so with that sort of spread we should be able to cover not having a Brett O’Neil running around for us.”
Duldig believes that fast start should come through first use of the ball from the likes of Jonah Grimes, Todd Lewis or Kurt Rodis in the ruck.
All three are still in the mix and provide a better option than last year, where Grimes shouldered the majority of the ruck work on his own.
That will lead to some good targets up forward, including South Gambier star goal kicker Brayden Kain.
“Brayden will probably play out of the goal square,” Duldig said.
“Tom McLennan will probably be our big target pushing more up the ground – he has been playing some good footy for North.
“We also have some good small forwards like Giancarlo Cooper, Sam Willis, Daniel Richardson and young Todd Reid has been impressive this year for South Gambier.
“It is a pretty good spread.”
Duldig said the list of Under 21 players was impressive, with most able to make the team regardless of the fact they are young.
“There is some pretty impressive junior talent running around the league at the moment,” Duldig said.
“Most of those would have made the side anyway.”
One of the most important things for the WBFL this year is to improve on last year’s performance.
“Myself and the league were disappointed to finish like that last year,” Duldig said.
“It was one of the only times we have not played off in the final – there may have been one other time.
“The league prides itself on being one of the premier leagues in the area, so I think it is important we put up a good showing, at least play in the final game of the day and give ourselves a chance to win the cup again.”
The Limestone Coast Regional Carnival kicks off in Naracoorte at 9.50am Saturday with the first Under 17 game.
The WBFL lines up for its first clash of the day against reigning champions KNTFL at 10.40am.
The final game of the day will kick off at 4.10pm, with the presentations to follow.
Games will run for two 18-minute halves, with time on when signalled by the field umpire or when a score is recorded.
