One of Yarrawonga's 'big four' recruits and another player set to debut in the regular season starred against Wodonga on Saturday, ahead of the Ovens and Murray Football League season.
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In an extremely tight contest, both clubs will take positives from the final practice match.
COVID and a serious foot injury has sidelined Williamstown premiership player Willie Wheeler from playing in the competition over the past two years, while Nick Fothergill also spent time with the VFL club.
"Willie Wheeler was good, that was his first full game after he played a half last week," coach Mark Whiley revealed.
"He was clean, his inside work stood out.
"Nick also played well, his work rate's exceptional."
The pair played largely in the midfield, but also rotated through the forwards.
The O and M season starts with three games on Saturday, but both Yarrawonga and Wodonga will be forced to wait an extra week.
The latter faces a brutal test of its finals hopes with an away game to last year's minor premiers Albury, while the Pigeons are also on the road, but against a team not expected to play finals in Wodonga Raiders.
Yarrawonga signed former Geelong Football League defender Jye Cross, ex-Eastern Football League superstar Leigh Williams and former Carlton player Michael Gibbons over summer, although the league's highest profile signing didn't tackle the Bulldogs.
The Pigeons were missing only two other automatic senior players in developing utility Bailey Frauenfelder and classy forward Jess Koopman.
"We had no major injuries out of the game, just a few niggles, but with the week off, we should be sweet," Whiley offered.
"Unfortunately, Jess Koopman is still a way off, he's had an injury interrupted pre-season."
Koopman had an incredibly unlucky run with injury last year, dislocating his right shoulder in a practice match and also damaging his ankle in the same incident.
The pacy goalsneak required shoulder surgery.
"We will need Jess to get back to full training, he just needs to get a good block of training under his belt and hopefully he can return as soon as possible," Whiley added.
Yarrawonga is looking to re-establish itself as a powerhouse after falling out of finals the past two seasons.
The club was expected to be a fringe finals contender, but posted only three wins from the 13 games.
IN OTHER NEWS:
It seems like it's been only a few seasons since the Pigeons and Albury met in six successive grand finals, but it's been nine years since the last flag in the Brendan Fevola era.
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