Seasoned colts set to star
Goldfields coach Craig Nicholls says his side's exposure to senior football will play to their advantage when the region's most promising colts tackle this weekend's Great Southern Carnival.
The final 25-man squad for the Lake Grace carnival was formally announced on Monday and features representatives from all five GFL clubs.
Mines Rovers stand-out Anthony Champion will lead the side, assisted by Kalgoorlie's Sebastian Wellstead, across the six games.
Nicholls said the talent in the group was evident by the sheer number who have lined up for their respective club's league sides this year.
"If kids are playing league at 16 and 17 years of age, they've got some talent and I think 21 of the squad have played league, and a few are playing on a regular basis," he said.
"Considering a few years ago, I think we only had the one league player in the team, it shows the direction the league is heading with blooding the juniors.
"You've got to give the juniors that game time, get them to adapt the speed of the game, so it will be an added bonus, which hopefully will play in our favour."
The team's 2015 campaign kicks off on Saturday morning against Ongerup, before facing the formidable Upper Great Southern.
Saturday afternoon will see the team face Eastern Districts and Great Southern, before the carnival concludes on Sunday against Esperance and Peel.
Nicholls said the squad's enthusiasm throughout the selection process gave him great hopes of improving on last year's fourth-place finish.
"This year's group is really first class, all the boys were really keen, trained well, so I'm hoping to go down there and have a very good carnival," he said.
"We're taking away the best we think have, but we've got to take it game by game because it is a very high-quality carnival, coming up against the best players in the State.
"Areas like Peel have a bigger area pool and Albany have their football academy.
"I think this year we'll be very competitive because we're playing on a bigger oval; we've got a good mixture of solid boys and pace, so we will take advantage of areas where we are strong."
Squad:
Mines: Sheldon Cooper, Daniel Ashwin, Anthony Champion (captain), Braylen Indich, Lloyd Donaldson-Winmar, Zeke Stewart, Darcy Stevens, Callum Bramley, Brandon Dowrick.
Kalgoorlie: Dylan McCrea, Anthony Spooner, Herbert Cameron, Simon Cullen, Sebastian Wellstead (vice-captain), Reece Smith.
Boulder: Trent Wojtowicz, Jorden Hooks, Riley Wojtowicz, Kaine AhChee. Railways: Nicholas Doutch, Jack Kemp, Jacob Miller.
Kambalda: Cameron Graham, Isaiah Graham, Ted Ryder.
