Sport

Seymour talents named in initial GVL interleague squads for this week’s clash against O&M

By Aydin Payne

May 15, 2023

Locked in: Seymour’s Sarah Szczykulski is one of the many names from last year’s GVL senior netball interleague outfit in this year’s squad. Photo by Aydin Payne

The Goulburn Valley League interleague squads dropped last week and a handful of Seymour talents will fight for selection..

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Excitement is building for this weekend’s representative matches against traditional rival Ovens and Murray league (O&M) following the announcement of the senior, under-18 football and open netball squads.

A squad of 34 has been picked in the senior football and 21 of the competition’s top A-grade talents will vie for selection for the trip to Albury on May 20.

In the under-18s, coach Ramadan Yze has picked 39 of the brightest youngsters from the region in the initial squad.

Senior football coach Mark Lambourn, along with his assistant coaches Stephen Ash, Simon Eishold and Dion Sheehan, have picked a strong list of the competition’s gun talents.

GVL interleague squads

Senior football

Josh Marchbank (Benalla), AJ Mills, Riley Smith, Jack Evans, Will Monahan, Sam Willoughby, Sam Reid, Jack McHale (Echuca), Jett Trotter, Lachie Hill, Adam Giobbi, Andrew Smith (Euroa), Lachie Smith, Toby Wooler, Kaine Herbert, Zac Norris (Kyabram), Patty Marks, Ben Christopher, Frazer Dale, Lachie Murphy-Dale (Mansfield), Chris Nield, Dom Gugliotti, Ethan Hunt (Mooroopna), Ben Rigoni, Jack O’Sullivan, Riley Mason (Seymour), Adam De Cicco, Ted Lindon (Shepparton), Andrew Riordan, Zac Banch (Shepparton Swans), Jayden Magro, Kyle Clarke (Shepparton United), Harley McCarthy, Ethan Penrith (Tatura)

Open netball

Belinda Lees, Sheridan Townrow, Stephanie Vick (Echuca), Kellie Davidson, Mia Sudomirski (Euroa), Hollie Reid (Kyabram), Asha Gray, Caitlin McLachlan, Ella Ogier, Maddison Wong, Shelby Britten, Taylah Lloyd (Mooroopna), Teal Hocking (Rochester), Sarah Szczykulski (Seymour), Sophie Garner (Shepparton Swans), Laura Cole, Olivia Kirby (Shepparton United), Elsie Boyer, Jasmine Fraser, Molly Kennedy, Stephanie Smith-Gorrie (Tatura)

Under-18s

Tom Riley (Benalla), Cody Mann, Hugh Byrne, Makai Cronin, Sam Edgar, Solomon Fleming, Tom Evans, Will Rohde (Echuca), Cohen Paul, Darby Wilson, Ryan Hill, Will Creevey (Euroa), Bohden Learmonth, Nic Jephson (Kyabram), Ben Les, Ben Reardon, Max Mahoney, Patrick Dunstan (Mansfield), Ben Woods, Toby Williams, Xavier Chandler (Mooroopna), Charlie Palmer, Reed Hocking (Rochester), Lewis Lubeck (Seymour), Charlie Mellington, Jack Whitlock, Matt Whitlock, Ned Byrne, Zac Metcalf, Zayden Leocata (Shepparton), Joeve Cooper, Lucas Rachele, Mason Reeves, Mitch Grumley, Oliver Warburton (Shepparton Swans), Declan Newbound, Mitch Higgins, Oscar Ryan, Riley Onley (Shepparton United)

Echuca, highlighted by ex-AFL star Sam Reid, leads the way with seven names, while Euroa, Kyabram and Mansfield feature four each.

A handful of players selected in the initial squad donned the purple and gold in last year’s disappointing 10-goal defeat to O&M which saw the fierce rivals retain the As-Wilson Trophy.

Training will take place at Kings Park on Tuesday evening, with the final squads to be announced in the coming days.

Mooroopna A-grade mentor Di Hanslow has a plethora of stars — featuring Seymour’s Sarah Szczykulski — to choose from to help the GVL open netball outfit clinch back-to-back wins over O&M.

GVL board chair Jacqui Hudgson was thrilled to announce the three squads and encouraged supporters to attend the interleague clash on May 20.

“It’s great to see some players who were in our open squad last year return to represent the GVL as well as new players (and) our football coaching panels have also selected from the ample talent available across the GVL,” she said.

“It’s fantastic to see the league’s last two Morrison medallists in Seymour’s Jack O’Sullivan and Ben Rigoni in the squad. (The) 2022 runner-up Kaine Herbert, fifth-placegetters Zac Banch and Sam Willoughby have also been selected.

“We are looking forward to the opportunity to renew the rivalry with the Ovens and Murray league, both in netball and football. We encourage GVL supporters to head to Albury on May 20 to show their support.”