NSW Country announces training squad

NSW Country has announced a 58-player training squad ahead of the 2010 Landmark Australian Country Football Championships in Canberra next month.

The squad is comprised of players from AFL Sydney, Black Diamond AFL, Farrer FL, Riverina FL, NAIAFA, Hume FL and Ovens and Murray FL.

Click here to view the 58-player training squad.

There will be three training sessions over the course of a month before a final 25-player squad will be announced on July 15, one week out from the start of the Country Championships.

Newly appointed NSW Country coach Robbie Jackson said each player has earned their selection in the training squad and will now be vying for a position in the final team.

“I’m very happy with the squad we’ve selected. When you start off doing something like this you are a bit apprehensive as to what you’ll end up with but between myself and the other selectors we are very happy with what we’ve got,” Jackson said.

“The guys that were involved in the last campaign they feel as though the vibe is very good and we’re in a better position than we were in that trip.”

With an equal balance of players from across the state, the team will be training hard in preparations for the Championships which begin on July 22.

Jackson said players will need to continue their good form in the coming weeks to be selected in the final 25-player squad.

“We’ll keep an eye on their playing performance. We’ve got people all around the state who will be ringing every fortnight just to see how the guys are going,” he said.

“The training process for representative football is mainly your attitude and getting to know your teammates and their strengths and weaknesses.

“We’ll just keep an eye on how they’re playing and if they’re in really good form there is a fair chance they’ll get picked.”

Teams will be representing NSW, ACT, VIC, WA, QLD and SA and the 200 plus players will be keen to showcase their talents in front of AFL club scouts at the Championships.

Jackson said NSW Country has a good chance of winning the event, after falling short in Shepparton two years ago.

“Our preparation, at this stage, is expected to go fairly smoothly. We’ve got some experienced coaches and experienced people in and around the playing group so we’d like to think we’ll give ourselves every opportunity to do well at the tournament.”

“We give ourselves as good a chance as anybody else. Footy’s a funny game and anything can happy on the day and we’ll be looking to win it at every possible contest we can and if we win the majority of the contests we should do well in the games.

“Vic Country and ACT are going to be the teams to beat but we’re going to give our best shot and if our best shot is good enough we’ll win the whole thing, if it’s not good enough we’ll finish where we finish.”

The Championships provide players with the opportunity to play at the next level and test their skills against the country’s best country footballers. Matches will be played at Manuka Oval, Ainslie Oval and Queanbeyan.

Click here to view the 58-player training squad.