North Ballarat news

Sharkey has not played since foot surgery pre-season.

The 2006 VFL Team of the Year member had a bone graft and pin inserted to repair a stress fracture in his left foot.

The defender initially dismissed the injury, but was shocked to learn he had a fracture on the outside of the foot.

The Selkirk Roosters originally hoped Sharkey would miss no more than six matches, but he has returned with them on four wins and five losses, outside the top eight in ninth position, and in desperate

need of a victory over the St Kilda-aligned Scorpions after losing to Williamstown by 40 points.

Sharkey has been named on a half-back flank after proving his match fitness in two appearances in the reserves.

The 21-year-old established himself as one of the best in the VFL last year, playing in all North Ballarat's 20 matches, including two finals.

Sharkey and the Kangaroos-listed Callum Urch are pivotal inclusions for the Roosters.

Urch has not played in the seniors since straining a hamstring in round two.

He lasted only a couple of minutes in that match against Coburg Tigers and has missed seven games. He got through 70 per cent of a VFL reserves match on Sunday.

Roach has missed the Selkirk Roosters' past two matches after dislocating a collarbone against Port Melbourne on May 12.

The Victoria-Western Australia clash between those home and away fixtures provided Roach with an extra week to recover.

Roach was in season-best form when injured.

Ruckman Orren Stephenson is also among eight inclusions in an expanded line-up named last night.

Stephenson missed North Ballarat's gripping win over Sandringham on Saturday after failing to recover from a groin strain.

Roosters coach Gerard FitzGerald has also included Kangaroos trio Blake Grima, Shannon Watt and Matt Campbell, AFL rookie Ben Hughes, Steve Clifton and Matt Sharkey.

Grima, Watt and Campbell have been named by the Kangaroos on an expanded interchange for their clash with St Kilda on Sunday along with Ed Lower and Eddie Sansbury, who are also in the Roosters team.

Lower has been in season-best touch for North Ballarat and promotion would be a fitting reward for the youngster.

FitzGerald rushed to his players - addressing and embracing them.

And then with misty eyes, stood back and applauded his young outfit as it left the ground.

FitzGerald said the 35-point win over the previously unbeaten Sandringham meant the competition held no fears for the Selkirk Roosters.

"This has opened up the year (for us)."

Up until the 18.15 (123) to Sandringham 13.10 (88) triumph, seventh-placed North Ballarat had struggled against teams at the business end of the ladder with losses to Geelong (top), Coburg (fourth) and Northern Bullants (sixth).

The Zebras are unbeaten in their quest for four consecutive premierships, a feat only ever achieved once in VFA/VFL history by Essendon in 1891-92-93-94.

And in this age of AFL alignments North Ballarat coach Gerard FitzGerald has no doubt what the key to Sandringham's success has been and continues to be - a strong VFL list.

The Zebras have enjoyed a great relationship with Melbourne, but their ability to maintain an experienced list is the biggest factor.

Sandringham has seven players with more than 50 VFL games, led by champion full forward Nick Sautner, who celebrates his 200th milestone against North Ballarat at AUSTAR Arena today.

In comparison, the Selkirk Roosters have only five in this category out on the ground today: Shaune Moloney, Tristan Cartledge, Aaron Clark, Jacob Spolding and Leigh Ryall, who plays his first senior game for the year.

If North Ballarat is to cause the upset of the season and stop Sandringham in its tracks, it has three major assignments which must be completed successfully.

1-The Roosters must shutdown the Zebra midfield.

2-Shaune Moloney has to keep Nick Sautner to a maximum of five goals.

3-Melbourne Demons hard man Byron Pickett must be nullified.

Schwab said with some AFL clubs wanting to return of an AFL reserves competition, the survival of the Victorian Football League was far from secure.

Schwab said AFL Victoria wanted the VFL to retain its status, but admitted it would not be without change - a view shared by the Roosters.

"The biggest issue Victorian football has got at the moment is the second tier review," Schwab explained.

"The VFL is under extreme pressure because the AFL clubs are looking at whether they should revamp the reserves competition," he said.

"That decision will have huge ramifications, not only for the VFL, but for how they restructure the TAC Cup (under-18) system as well.

"AFL clubs want total control of their players and the only way they believe they can get that control is if they run their own team.

But Roosters chief executive officer Mark Patterson has no idea to what extent or what shape they might take.

"I wouldn't be surprised," he replied when asked whether he believed the VFL would undergo some form of restructure.

"Everything is in the mix.

"There are various models likely to be considered."

An AFL delegation will meet North Ballarat on Tuesday, May 29, as part of a review into the VFL.

Mr Patterson said the Roosters were still to finalise their presentation for the talks in Ballarat with AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou's assistant Tony Peek, AFL national development general manager David Matthews and AFL strategic planning manager Sam Graham.

The AFL announced in March it would review the second tier of the sport, with a suggestion some AFL clubs wanted to return to stand alone "reserves" rather than being part of alignments with VFL teams.

North Ballarat had more of the football than Werribee and yet was still crushed by 100 points.

That is the way it happened for the Selkirk Roosters in their forgettable Victorian Football League round five assignment on Sunday.

For coach Gerard FitzGerald, this statistic added to an already frustrating outcome as North Ballarat slipped to two wins and three losses.

But it should make the problems which led to the hiding easier to fix.

Well, in theory anyway.

Efficiency is always a focus for FitzGerald and this is where the Roosters must pick-up against Port Melbourne at Port Melbourne today.

Hardy will miss tomorrow's clash with Port Melbourne in the Victorian Football League at Port Melbourne.

Selkirk Roosters football manager Marg Richards said Hardy had broken team rules.

However, she was not prepared to elaborate any further on what Hardy had down to feel the wrath of the match committee and player leadership group.

Hardy is in his first season with the Roosters after graduating from the North Ballarat Rebels in the TAC Cup under-18 competition.

He has played in all four senior matches, making a significant impression with performances in the ruck, and at centre half forward and centre half back.

He told The Courier in the leadup to Sunday's heavy loss to Werribee that he was determined to get a second chance in an AFL draft after missing out last year.

Coach Gerard FitzGerald said Hardy had let down himself and the team.