From Hobart Mercury
Reported by James Bresnehan
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VICTORIAN coach Gary Ayres says tomorrow's interstate clash with Tasmania at Blundstone Arena could be a golden opportunity for players hoping to get drafted into the AFL.
Ayres, who has 223 AFL games under his belt as coach of Geelong and Adelaide, said yesterday representative matches were the ideal showcase for players hunting an AFL career.
With AFL recruiters sure to be watching, he urged all Tasmanian and Victorian players to seize the day.
"There's a definite opportunity there for players in this game and as we know in life, you've got to grab that opportunity and grab it real firm," Ayres said.
"It could be a pathway for players if they can put in the right kind of performance.
"With the recruiters down there it's a real opportunity for these guys to put themselves upper-most in the minds of the recruiting people."
The five-times Hawthorn premiership player and twice Norm Smith medallist cited Robin Nahas (Richmond), Jarryd Blair (Collingwood), Luke Breust (Hawthorn), Orren Stephenson (Geelong) and Cameron Pedersen (North Melbourne) as players drafted from the VFL after its past two representative matches.
Although prohibited from playing AFL-listed players in Hobart, the Victorians are bringing a team littered with potential AFL recruits.
"We've got a few there that should come under radar of the AFL recruiters," Ayres said.
The Victorian team contains eight players from last year's VFL premiership team Port Melbourne, coached by Ayres, including captain John Baird and onballer Shane Valenti, who has won the past two JJ Liston Medals.
It also includes the brothers of three AFL stars - Sydney's Adam Goodes (Brett Goodes), Collingwood's Scott Pendlebury (Kris Pendlebury), and Hawthorn's Brad Sewell (Myles Sewell).
"We've really tried to incorporate recognition and reward for players who have been consistently playing at a very high level," Ayres said.
"We have also looked at developing youth with some of our young guys in our AFL Victoria academy.
"Then there's a bit of experience with players who have come out of the AFL system, such as (former Bulldogs and Hawthorn bigman) Wayde Skipper, and Ben Ross, who was delisted by the Kanga roos last year."
The young Tasmanian side remained something of a mystery to the Victorians, apart from captain Andy Lee and his Burnie teammate Jason Laycock, named at full-forward.
"Andrew was a young defender at Essendon back in 2006-2007 and I had time with Andrew in a mentoring situation," Ayres said.
"Jason Laycock was very highly thought of, but like Andrew, couldn't put it together because of injuries.
"The other guys we haven't got a lot of intel on, it's only what you hear and what you read.
"It looks like a side similar to us, with some youth and also too a blend of experienced players."
The Victorians train at Blundstone Arena today at 2pm, followed by Tasmania at 4.45.
