Charlie Byrne, Daniel Turner, Cameron McLeod and Paddy Parnell, who all represent Albury when not involved in under 19 representative football, will play for Country against Metro in the under 23 Young Guns game at Werribee Oval.

AFL scouts have hand-picked all the players as they look to bolster their lists in the mid-season rookie draft.

It will be the first representative game of its kind since 2019 after COVID, unfortunately, wiped out all football underneath the AFL last year.

"I suppose it's a reward for all the work over the last 18 months," Parnell offered.

"It was difficult to maintain motivation last year, particularly between April and July when there wasn't much happening at all, although that was the case for everybody, not just those of us who play footy."

The lightly built 19-year-old plays defence at rep level, predominantly in a back pocket.

At 66kgs, he's been working hard to put on some size.

"When I was bottom-age (two years ago in the Murray Bushrangers) I was tiny then, I'm still pretty small now, but I've put some weight on and I'm just working on my strengths, my speed and my ball use, that sort of thing," he revealed.

Turner impressed in defence last week in the Ovens and Murray Football League's top of the table clash against Wangaratta, while Byrne also produced some clever moments.

The fact they were able to hold their own against the Pies will provide confidence in the rep game, particularly when the visitors had a few former AFL players, including an in-form Callum Moore and Michael Newton.

Country's Will Papley is the brother of Sydney's Tom, while Metro's Corey Preston trained with the Western Bulldogs over summer.

All players will have AFL aspirations, but Parnell is adopting a philosophical approach.

"That (AFL) would be ideal, but I think the reality is it's so hard to get there, there's so many players flying," he admitted.

"The goal is to play as much good footy as I can and see what happens from there."

Parnell and his Albury-based Young Guns team-mates are likely to split their time between junior representative action and open-age football with the Tigers.

"The Murray Bushrangers have a shortened season, so hopefully I get to play a fair bit with Albury as well," he said.

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The game starts at 2.30pm and will be streamed live on the AFL Live Official App and on AFL.com.au.

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