Nine players from the Northern Football Netball League have been selected in the initial Vic Metro squad for the AFL Victoria WorkSafe Community Championships.
NFNL and Montmorency skipper Jesse Donaldson, Greensborough duo Nick Riddle and Jack Johntson, Macleod pair Lucas Hobbs and Brad Leggett, along with Josh Grabowski (Bundoora), Jhye Baddeley-Kelly (North Heidelberg), Anton Woods (Eltham) and Jordan Perry (Northcote Park) have all been named in the 34-man Vic Metro squad.
All nine were instrumental in leading the NFNL to a 40-point win over the Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League in their AFL Victoria Community Championships clash in May.
The triumph at Preston City Oval pushed the NFNL into second place on the Community Championships rankings, ahead of a showdown against the Eastern Football League in 2019 for the number one spot.
The third instalment of the AFL Victoria WorkSafe Community Championships will see Vic Metro take on Vic Country at Ballarat’s Mars Stadium on Sunday July 8, with the first bounce at 2:00pm.
199-game Footscray legend Brian Royal will once again coach Vic Metro’s top senior talent.
The WorkSafe AFL Victoria Country side will once again be coached by AFL legend Danny Frawley, who guided Vic Country to a win over Melbourne’s best by 39 points in their last encounter at Mernda’s Waterview Recreation Reserve in 2016.
The current highest ranked country competition and former number-one ranked community league Geelong Football Netball League boasts the most representatives in the initial Vic Country squad with ten players, followed by Goulburn Valley Football League and Ovens & Murray Football Netball League with six selections each.
The initial squads will conduct training sessions in mid-June, with the final squads to be released in the lead up to the 2018 AFL Victoria Community Championships, taking into account player injuries and availabilities.
The NFNL congratulates its representatives selected in the initial squad and wishes them the best of luck in making the final team.
Continue below to see the Vic Metro’s 34-man squad.
Frank Anderson (South Croydon), Jhye Baddeley-Kelly (North Heidelberg), Nicholas Buykx (Werribee Districts), Christopher Carey (East Malvern), Liam Cavanagh (Sunshine), Will Clarke (St Pauls), Jesse Donaldson (Montmorency), Tom Donoghue (St Albans), Luke Duffy (East Malvern), Joseph Fisher (Vermont), Josh Fox (Cheltenham), Kyle Galloway (Caroline Springs), Luke Goetz (Altona), Josh Grabowski (Bundoora), Lucas Hall (East Malvern), Rex Hickman (Caroline Springs), Lucas Hobbs (Macleod), Jack Johnston (Greensborough), Jayden Kroussoratis (Norwood), Brad Leggett (Macleod), Tom Maas (Vermont), Lachlan McDonald (Rowville), Jackson McDonald (Rowville), Johnathan O’Brien (Albion), Jordan Perry (Northcote Park), Cam Purdy (Vermont), Nick Riddle (Greensborough), Nick Ryan (Spotswood), Ben Said (St. Albans), Daniel Schibeci (Werribee Districts), Lewis Tudor (Caroline Springs), Liam Wale-Buxton (Vermont), Lucas Walmsley (Dingley), Anton Woods (Eltham)
