VAFA rep training hots up

A thunderous shower couldn’t dampen the spirits or enthusiasm of the VAFA’s senior representative side as they held their second training session of the campaign for the AFL Victoria Metro Championships.

The team trained in brilliant sunshine after the storm had passed through Collingwood’s Westpac Centre and the skills were on display right from the get go.

Perhaps the team were aware that the ABC News crew were filming for a news story featuring the team, or perhaps they thought they would show a few tricks for the two Northern Football League scouts watching on, but either way it was an impressive session.

As VAFA Co-Coach Cam Roberts said of the scouts “I am not too sure what they would have learnt from what we did, the session was more about getting touches of the ball and some basic drills going.”

The final squad will be trimmed down to 30 for the final two sessions on Tuesday and Thursday next week, with selectors having the headache of choosing 24 players for the match against Northern Football League on 28 March.

There were some first appearances at training last night for a number of players including Big V regulars, John Shaw (Old Xaverians) and Thomas Paule (Old Melburnians). Whilst their inclusions were welcome, there were also question marks over the availability of a number of VAFA players on VFL lists that are still in line for selection.

“Selecting the initial squad of 51 was hard enough, so narrowing it down to a final 24 is a real challenge, there will be some unlucky players” Roberts said.

With VFL sides yet to be selected for their matches on the weekend of the Metro Championships, Big V selectors will give as much time as possible to those VFL players in contention to confirm availability.