THE Mallee side looks to be a less experienced group of footballers than in previous years but nevertheless coach Col Durie hopes to replicate the great achievements of previous Mallee Football League (MFL) interleague sides that he has coached.
“We may be fielding a less experienced side than in the past few years, but what a great opportunity for some of the younger Mallee footballers to play against quality opposition,” Durie said.
The ranking system has breathed new life into representative football in the country.
Five years ago interleague appeared to be in serious trouble. Now every game has meaning as leagues will have the incentive of climbing the ladder.
“We are very keen to continue Mallee’s success,” MFL president Alan Malcolm said.
“The MFL has come of age in the past three years and we are looking to further our progress this year against Central Murray. A win and we go up a notch in the ladder, a loss and we go down.”
The Mallee forward line looks strong. Damian Cupido likes to go one out in the goal square and it could be an opportunity for the likes of Beulah’s Tyler Lehmann and Tiger Cliff Ryan to feed off any shorter options if Cupido is covered.
Both are capable of kicking multiple goals.
Hopetoun’s Deek Roberts and Woomelang Lascelles’ Trent Donnan are both in very good touch at the moment and they give Mallee a few other scoring options.
United’s Mitchell Taylor loves playing interleague and will appreciate a wide open game running out of defence.
This interleague match up should be well worth the trip over to Swan Hill.
Central Murray has a lot to lose. Defeat would linger and make a sorry day for them as they would consider that they go into this game as rightful favourites.
The CMFNL will be expected to win but so were North Central and Wimmera when they came up against Mallee in recent years.
