By David Nagel
Coach Michael ‘Jock’ Holland and his army of South East Football Netball League invincibles will take their unbeaten representative run to the Holden Centre to take on the Hampden League on Saturday May 13.
SEFNL will head to Collingwood’s training and administration centre being just the second league in the state to have triumphed in all five contests since an interleague restructure in 2012, joining the number one ranked Geelong with a perfect record.
Holland agreed that the SEFNL’s recent unbeaten run may have played a role in the decision to play the game in the heart of Melbourne’s sporting precinct.
“You would like to think so,” he said.
“You don’t win five of these games in a row without a lot of commitment from a lot of people and hopefully this is reward for the effort that the league has put in. We’re taking on the bigger leagues now so we’ll need to bring our A grade game to the contest, there’s no doubt about that.”
Holland will stick to a tried and trusted plan as he prepares for the big clash.
“Some blokes obviously pick themselves, but I’ll sneak around and have a look over the first few weeks of the season and come up with a squad that we think can get the job done,” he said.
“We’d love to give a few young blokes a go as well, so it’s shaping up as a pretty strong squad.”
The interleague legend said it was exciting times for representative football and an added boost to the contest, with Hampden to be coached by former Brisbane champion Jonathon Brown.
“It’s really exciting and a great opportunity for country and suburban footballers to test their abilities against quality opposition on a big stage,” he said.
“Obviously there was already a degree of spotlight on the contest with Jonathan Brown coaching Hampden, and this just adds that little bit more to the contest.”
AFL Victoria has also announced the top-ranked WorkSafe AFL Victoria Community Championships match between Geelong and the Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League will be played on the hallowed turf of the MCG.
The match will be played as a curtain-raiser to the Round 8 dedicated AFL Country Game between Essendon and Geelong.
AFL Victoria Community Football Operations Manager Gerard Ryan said this was a fantastic opportunity for local players to experience playing football at elite AFL facilities.
“We are delighted to provide some of community football’s best senior players with the chance to run out and showcase their skills in front of big crowds in the heart of Melbourne’s sporting precinct,” Ryan said.
“The AFL Country Game is a great platform to highlight the importance of regional Victoria and for city and country football fans to come together and celebrate country football.
“The 2017 WorkSafe AFL Victoria Community Championships promises to be another exciting initiative within community football and the opportunity to participate in senior representative programs continues to be a highlight for footballers in grassroots community competitions across the state.”
In its second year, the WorkSafe AFL Victoria Community Championship will see 32 country and metropolitan leagues don their representative colours and battle it out in venues right across Victoria.
