Akermanis yesterday said he had no intention of locking players into set positions and was even considering playing favourite son and champion forward Dan Leslie in the midfield.

The Hoppers will play their only practice match against Lavington at Bunton Park tomorrow, with Akermanis looking forward to seeing his line-up take on one of the Ovens and Murray’s power clubs.

“I have more depth in the midfield than I have had since I have been here so that’s a good position to be in,” he said.

“I have a full-back and a centre half-back who can play in the midfield so we have a lot of options which is going to make us fairly dangerous.

“Dan Leslie is probably going to play midfield-forward because he’s big and strong .

“It’s all pretty exciting to be honest.”

While Akermanis would have liked another pre-season hit-out before playing Wodonga in the opening round at John Flower Oval on April 4, he said the flip side was the Hoppers would field a near full-strength team, with only David Miles and Reece Tanner on the injured list with knee problems.

Murray Bushranger Shaun Mannagh is also recovering from a broken foot.

“We had an intraclub game last week and that went well, but you want to see yourself come up against the really good teams like Lavington,” he said.

“James Saker has a built a strong side.

“We’re looking forward to seeing how we go.”

North Albury will hold a membership drive at Bunton Park tomorrow with third, second and first grade matches being played at 9am, 11am and 1pm.

Albury plays Benalla at Albury Sportsground tomorrow at 3pm.