First Test for West Coast Eagles State Amateur Teams
14 May, 2012
THE West Coast Eagles State Amateur under 23-team will face their first test of the year this Friday night when they host the WA Country Football League at Gilbert Fraser Reserve, Fremantle.
The match will be the West Coast Eagles State Amateur under 23’s first of the program, which also includes matches against the Peel Football League on the 23
of May and the Victorian Amateur Football League on June 3
.
Coach of the West Coast Eagles State Amateur under 23’s side Chris Gerreyn said even though the team has its sights set on the Victorians in June, they will still be giving it their all against the Country and Peel Football Leagues.
“Any time we get together as a state team we want to win the game of football” He said
“We will be trying to give as many guys an opportunity to play against the big, tough bodies of the country and we will go through the game style and change what they might be doing week to week for their club”
“It will be more about processes, but we’d like to win.”
Gerreyn said that he was pleased with the turnout of players for the state program and will be using the upcoming matches to help finalise the squad.
“We’re hoping to give everyone half a game or more in the matches and we’ll finalise the squad after that”
The WA Country Football League hold bragging rights having won five matches to one against the West Coast Eagles State Amateurs, but the WAAFL team will be confident it can reduce that gap with three of the wins coming by under 8 points.
The West Coast Eagles State Amateur Colts side will also take to the field on Friday night, looking to get their program off to a good start before tackling the WA State 16’s on June 15.
After playing the WACFL on Friday the West Coast Eagles State Amateur under 23’s and State Colts will also host the Peel Football League at Gilbert Fraser Reserve the following Wednesday night.
Both of the under 23’s matches are part of preparation for the state game against the Victorian Amateur Football Association at Elsternwick Park in Victoria on June 3, which marks the start of another tri-annual series.
The tri-annual series is a three year series between WA, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania where each side plays each other once in a round robin format with the team at the top of the ladder at the end of the series being crowned champion.The West Coast Eagles State Amateur under 23’s finished the last tri-annual series in second place on percentage, defeating the eventual champions Victoria as well as Tasmania, but narrowly losing to South Australia in the final game.
This years’ West Coast Eagles State Amateur under 23’s squad will be looking to go one better and will be eager to build momentum with a win over the Country and Peel Football Leagues.
Bounce down for the West Coast Eagles State amateur under 23’s match against the WA Country Football League is at 7:15pm, Friday the 18th May, following the Colts match at 5:25pm.
The West Coast Eagles State Amateur under 23’s match against the Peel Football League takes place at 7:20pm, Wednesday the 23rd of May at Gilbert Fraser Reserve, with the Colts match starting at 5:30pm.
