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READ MORE: Weekend footy preview - HDFNL and LVFNL
The BFNL has named an inexperienced squad for Saturday's inter-league clash with the Victorian Amateur Football Association in Melbourne.
Just five players in the final 22 - Gisborne duo Jack Reaper and Pat McKenna, Maryborough's Coby Perry, Golden Square's Jayden Burke and South Bendigo's Isaiah Miller - have represented the BFNL previously.
In a body blow for the BFNL, star trio Lachlan Tardrew (hip), Ferg Greene (back) and Michael Blake (ankle) were all ruled out because of injury.
Their absence, plus the unavailability of number one ruckman Braidon Blake (concussion) and classy midfielders Brad Bernacki (soreness) and Bailey Henderson (wedding), takes some quality out of the BFL line-up.
First-year BFNL inter-league coach Ashley Connick was not perturbed by the loss of several key players.
He said the final team of 22 was packed with young talent keen to represent the BFNL with pride.
"The players in the final term are keen and committed,'' Connick said.
"Matt Harvey drove up from Geelong on Tuesday just to train, Patty McKenna has been sore at times this year, but he's pulled up well after last Saturday and he's keen to play.
"Charlie Langford and Daniel Clohesy were desperate to play and they came back from injury last week just to prove their fitness for inter-league.
"This group has been playing really good footy at club level and they deserve their chance."
Every club, except for Castlemaine, is represented in the BFNL squad.
Strathfieldsaye leads the way with six representatives in the final 22, while Golden Square has five.
The two teams expected to battle for the BFNL flag this year - Sandhurst and Gisborne - have two and three representatives respectively.
"We'd love to have had representation from every club, but Castlemaine was stiff because Hartley, Henderson and Kal Huntly are unavailable,'' Connick said.
"We were keen to get (Castlemaine VFL-listed player) Ryan Eyre in, but under the rules you had to have played five BFNL games this year and he's only played four.
"All things being equal we could have had three or four Castlemaine players, but it hasn't worked out that way."
Connick said had Sandhurst been playing this weekend, Tardrew and Greene would not have played because of injuries.
"Ferg copped a knock to his back (against Gisborne last week) and as a result he coughed up blood,'' Connick said.
"He was assessed by the doctor and he went back out and got through the game okay.
"He's had something similar before and I think it's something to do with blood vessels.
"He trained by himself on Tuesday night, but he woke up in the middle of the night with blood, so we had to rule him out."
"Lachy (Tardrew) is pretty beat-up. He's had a hip issue... he was really keen and he trained on Tuesday to give himself a chance to play, but he pulled up sore.
"It's a contact injury rather than a muscle injury. If we were playing this week Lachy wouldn't have played and the same with Ferg.
"It's disappointing when you have stars of the competition that are keen to play, but they can't.
"Michael Hartley rolled his ankle on the weekend and he was keen to get up himself, but his ankle looked terrible. I would think he'll struggle to get up next week.
Gisborne's Flynn Lakey and Eaglehawk's Billy Evans would have come under consideration for selection, but they made themselves unavailable.
The VAFA squad is made up of players from the league's Premier B division and lower.
Coach Luke Mahoney had players to pick from 50 clubs across five divisions.
"It's a nice well-rounded side that gives us a lot of flexibility,'' Mahoney told the VAFA's For the Love of the Game podcast this week.
"I'm really confident we'll do really well with a nice blend of experience and youth, which is a good reflection of the talent that is in the VAFA.
"Amateur footy is a bit faster, so we wanted to pick a side that could play that way... we want to be a fast moving side.
"We think Bendigo will be a pretty fast side as well. Between the coaching group we've watched some videos of their games and we had a couple of guys up there at the weekend and took in the Gisborne-Sandhurst game.
"The standard of the footy there is pretty high quality. They have a lot of class around the midfield and they have some pretty good sharp-shooters up forward."
While the BFNL goes into the game without a recognised ruckman, the VAFA will be led by Old Geelong's Jack Sheridan, who tied for the Premier B league medal last year and was first ruck in the Team of the Year.
Tom Filipovic, Callum Linehan, Oskar Manton and Callum Heath were also in last season's Premier B Team of the Year and they'll line up against Bendigo on Saturday.
"Our squad has flexibility, which is something we might need,'' Connick said.
"We know the VAFA has some guys with VFL experience, so we've tried to pick a squad that can cover if they go tall in the forward line or if they go small.
"We understand they'll be a very good opposition and we'll adapt to what happens on the day."
BENDIGO FNL
B: Coby Perry (Mb), Charlie Langford (Eh), Zac Vescovi (Gis)
Hb: Isaiah Miller (SB), Jack Reaper (Gis), Cooper Smith (Sh)
C: Tom Strauch (GS), Lachlan Gill (SS), Brody Haddow (SB)
Hf: Cobi Maxted (Sh), Jayden Burke (GS), Matt Harvey (SS)
F: Jack Stewart (GS), James Schischka (SS), Pat McKenna (Gis)
Foll: Caleb Ernst (SS), Ricky Monti (GS), Daniel Clohesy (SS)
Inter: Lachlan Ratcliffe (SS), Brock Harvey (SB), Luke Ellings (KF), Jordan Rosengren (GS)
Emerg: Malik Gordon (SS), Jed Denahy (Gis)
VAFA
B: William Horsfall, Richie Simon, Callum Heath
Hb: Fletcher Banfield, Jack Sheridan, Sam Kieseker
C: Harrison Kennedy, Charles Beasley, Archie Loughnan
Hf: Riley Virtue, Josh Cowan, Callum Linehan
F: Tom Filipovic, Alex Emery, Edward Weatherson
Foll: Oscar Roberts, Christian Algeri, Liam Conway
Inter: Nathan Scollo, Alex Bennett, Christos Manoussakis, Oskar Manton, Matt Fewings, Michael Nicholls
