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FIVE FALCONS ALL MAKE FINAL WAFL STATE SQUAD

Thursday, May 25, 2017 - 2:43 PM by Chris Pike

WEST Perth had five players named in the initial WAFL state squad of 37 and each of them have made it to the last 24 selected to travel to Melbourne for Saturday's clash with the VFL at North Port Oval.

Aaron Black, Shane Nelson, Luke Meadows, Andrew Strijk and Kody Manning have all seen their strong form at West Perth so far in 2017 rewarded by being selected to play for the Black Swans.

The WAFL State Team will take on the VFL at the Port Melbourne venue on Saturday attempting to become the first ever WA side to beat Victoria in Melbourne.

Of the five West Perth players in the squad, Black, Nelson, Meadows and Strijk all played in last year's 134-point hammering of Tasmania at Steel Blue Oval. 

Manning wasn’t there last year, but has previously played for WA and will be looked upon to be an intimidating presence against the Big V on Saturday.

The game will be televised live on Channel 7 from 12pm WA time on Saturday.

The final squad of 24 players was selected following Wednesday night’s training session, with Subiaco's Kyal Horsley named captain. Subiaco teammate Clancy Wheeler and East Perth’s Kyle Anderson were named vice captains.

 

The WAFL state team, coached by former AFL assistant and Claremont coach Michael Broadbridge, will be aiming to break a long drought against Victoria in Melbourne, having played 23 times since 1904 without a win.

The last game between the two states was played in WA in 2013 at Northam, with WA claiming its first win over Victoria in 22 years after kicking 10 goals to three in the second half to run out 17.16 (118) to 15.11 (101) winners.

Since then, a state football resurgence has seen WA win interstate matches against the NEAFL, South Australia and Tasmania to make it four consecutive state game victories.

WAFL STATE SQUAD
Claremont – Mitch Andrews, Jye Bolton, Jack Bradshaw
East Fremantle – Jonathon Marsh
East Perth – Kyle Anderson, Will Maginness
Peel Thunder – Leroy Jetta
South Fremantle – Ryan Cook, Tim Kelly, Ben Saunders, Haiden Schloithe
Subiaco – Corey Adamson, Lachlan Delahunty, Kyal Horsley, Leigh Kitchin, Jordan Lockyer, Clancy Wheeler
Swan Districts – Tony Notte, Kirk Ugle
West Perth – Aaron Black, Kody Manning, Luke Meadows, Shane Nelson, Andrew Strijk

VFL STATE SQUAD
Box Hill Hawks – Chris Jones, Andrew Moore, Sam Switkowski
Casey Demons – Bayley Fritsch, Jack Hutchins
Coburg Lions – Tom Goodwin
Collingwood – Jordan Kelly
Essendon – Alex Boyse, James Ferry, Nick Hind
Footscray – Nick Jamieson
Geelong – Tom Atkins
North Ballarat – Andrew Hooper, Nick Rippon
Northern Blues – Cam O'Shea, Tom Wilson
Port Melbourne – Jordan Lisle, Brody Mihocek, Brodie Murdoch, Tom O'Sullivan, Eli Templeton
Richmond – Sam Darley
Werribee Tigers – Matt Hanson, Michael Sodomaco
Williamstown – Brett Bewley, Michael Gibbons, Leigh Masters, Josh Newman