The Wodonga Raiders’ defender will play a ‘Young Guns’ game at North Port Oval in front of AFL scouts.

It’s one of three fixtures which have basically replaced the scrapped VFL Development League.

Murray Bushrangers Jordon Butts, Tom Boyd and Laitham Vandermeer, along with Richmond VFL midfielder Shaun Mannagh (North Albury) and Albury grand final player Jake Page, played in the first match earlier this month.

Raiders’ coach Daryn Cresswell has been pushing Neagle publicly in the hope he’ll be drafted, a la another ex-Raider in Collingwood’s Sam Murray.

“My main area (to improve this year) was to just stay in the game, sometimes I drift out and start ball-watching,” Neagle said.

“After the first six (games), I think I have been, there’s been three or four games I was really happy with how I stayed in, there were a couple where I might have drifted out a bit.”

Neagle also targeted his fitness over summer.

“I just wanted to get real fit and charge around the ground really and play a lot of midfield as well,” he said.

“I’m happy where I am (fitness-wise), hopefully I can get a bit more match fitness and really start buckling down in the middle of the year and towards the end.”

Traditionally a one-off game, the Young Guns program has provided the platform for AFL clubs to monitor VFL, TAC Cup and local-level players.

Sydney Swan Tom Papley and Adam Saad of Essendon have progressed through the system.

The match will be played as the curtain raiser to the Port Melbourne-Casey Demons VFL clash.

Neagle, who uses his pace to blast away from opponents, has featured in the best in half of the club’s six matches.

Raiders travel to Myrtleford on Saturday.