IN A historical first, some of the best of next year’s Victorian draft crop will go head-to-head in and Under 17 Girls Futures showcase at La Trobe University, Bundoora tomorrow from 10am. Players from across each of the 12 regions will fill out the two sides, split into Vic Country and Vic Metro outfits.

The six country regions – made up of Bendigo Pioneers, Dandenong Stingrays, Geelong Falcons, Gippsland Power, GWV Rebels and Murray Bushrangers – will face off against the six metro regions – Calder Cannons, Eastern Ranges, Northern Knights, Oakleigh Chargers, Sandringham Dragons and Western Jets – which will go a long way to determining the Summer hubs for both Victorian sides.

There will be a host of players missing due to the Under 17 Futures showcase at GMHBA Stadium today, with 23 Vic Country and 22 Vic Metro players named. For Vic Country, top two sides in the division this year in Dandenong Stingrays (six) and Gippsland Power (five) lead the way, while it is the same case in for the metropolitan sides with top two teams Oakleigh Chargers and Eastern Ranges both having five representatives.

A few players to remembers for each side include som impressive forward options in Gippsland’s Abby Hobson, Dandenong duo Evelyn Connolly and Molly Reimers, Brisbane father-daughter prospect Meg Lappin and versatile GWV utilitIES Jovie Skewes-Clinton and Maggie Johnstone. Watch for Geelong Falcons midfielder Georgia Tyrrell to be amongst it in the middle with Stingrays’ on-ball pair Lillian Snow and Nikita Harris. Undersized Bushrangers ruck Isabella Klein finished the year out strong, while Rebecca Fitzpatrick and Nikhita Spiteri are others who can play multiple roles.

The Metro team has its own top-end talent headlined by Vic Metro bottom-age ruck Josephine Bamford who will tap down to Oakleigh Chargers young gun Chloe Thorn, both of whom could be considered unlucky to miss out from the national Futures game. Also in the side are Northern Knights goalkickers Olivia Jesser and Scarlett Johnson, while athletic defender Asher Fearn-Wannan, consistent Knights back Kiara Keenan and in-form Jets half-forward Polly Conway are also there.

The match will be available via the AFL Play YouTube channel with the match link here.

VICTORIA COUNTRY

VICTORIA METRO