Wangaratta coach Ben Reid thrilled to be part of Ovens and Murray Indigenous Round

The Wangaratta coach witnessed first-hand the footballing wizardry of some of the sport's top Aboriginal stars during his time in the AFL with Collingwood.

Reid praised the Magpies' premiership rivals Albury for leading the way by hosting an Indigenous game last year and hopes the expansion across the competition this weekend will be the trigger for increased numbers of local Indigenous players to come through the ranks at Ovens and Murray clubs.

"This is fantastic," Reid said.

"I was talking to 'Snipper' Miles this week and I said to him, well done to Albury and North Albury last year for what they did.

"I thought it was fantastic and one of the questions I asked our club and the league was 'how come every club's not involved in it?'

"Having a round every year, I think it's really special and really important to acknowledge the Indigenous heritage around this area.

"It's got a rich history so we're honoured to be part of it."

Wangaratta will wear bespoke Indigenous jumpers for Saturday's game away to Corowa-Rutherglen.

"Coming from the AFL system, where they do a really good job of putting light on it and spreading the word and having played with Indigenous players like Andrew Krakouer and Leon Davis, guys who have been champions of the Collingwood footy club, and then seeing it come to fruition here is really important," Reid said.

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"Dean Heta's done a fantastic job and the league jumping on board too is really good.

"The Indigenous players light it up.

"Jeff Garlett's another one, at Albury, and the stuff they do is pretty special.

"I had front-row seats to the Leon Davis Show and the Andrew Krakouer Show a few times, they're pretty special players and we're very lucky to have them.

"Hopefully there's kids coming up through the ranks who can show that talent because they can do things not many people can do."

Callum Moore, Mark Anderson, Jamie Anderson, Chris Knowles and Daniel Sharrock all come into the Magpies side to face the Roos at John Foord Oval.

"Once you're on top, halfway through the year, you know you're the hunted but we've got to embrace that and know it's going to come every week," Reid said.

"The challenge is not to let up.

"We had a couple of down weeks, leading into the bye, and a few guys were down in form, but last week against Wodonga we showed some real positive signs with 10 of our best 22 out.

"To come away with a win in the way we did was a step in the right direction."

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