THE Murray Bushrangers will finalise their list of 50 players after Saturday’s practice match against Bendigo Pioneers at Punt Road Oval.
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Officials have already pruned the numbers from 105 to 65 with talent manager Mick Wilson saying it had been an arduous process.
There will be more bottom than top age players in the final squad.
“It’s tough,” Wilson said.
“I’m really impressed with the way the coaching staff has gone about it and the process Lee Fraser has put in place though.
“We will have more bottom age kids this season which is a bit different to what has happened in previous years.
“There is a really good group of 17-year-olds coming through.
“We had quite a few strong top age kids last year and, all of a sudden when you lose them, some changes tend to happen.”
The Bushrangers, who played off in last year’s grand final, had 10 players drafted onto AFL lists including first-round selections Will Brodie and Jy Simpkin.
They have already played for Gold Coast and North Melbourne in JLT Community Series pre-season matches.
Ryan Garthwaite, Esava Ratugolea, Harry Morrison, Todd Marshall, Max Lynch, Zach Sproule, James Cousins and Lachie Tiziani were either drafted or placed on a rookie list.
Coach Leon Higgins will have Benalla’s Daniel Preston, Seymour’s Ben Davey and Numurkah’s Mark Brown as his backline, midfield and forward-line assistant-coaches this season.
Former Wangaratta big-man Dale Carmody will assist the tall forwards and ruck division.
Higgins said he has been pleased with the Bushrangers’ pre-season.
“We have concentrated a lot on line specific stuff for the boys,” Higgins said.
“Without wanting to pigeon-hole them as players, we wanted to give them extra coaching in particular positions and that allowed our assistant-coaches a little more to do in the pre-season.”
The Bushrangers’ season starts in Melbourne on March 25.
Meanwhile, Porepunkah young gun Chloe Brain will captain the Murray Bushrangers in the AFL Victoria under 18 girls competition this season.
The Bushrangers will kick off their season against Bendigo Pioneers at Punt Road Oval from 4pm on Saturday.
A squad of 25 will be announced on Thursday.
Twelve teams will compete in the inaugural season with five rounds being played in March and April.
