Brothers Sam and Ben Wakely make senior debut together for Old Collegians in WDFNL

Sam Wakely, 18, ran out alongside younger brother Ben, 16, for Old Collegians against Kolora-Noorat in what was a memorable day for the club and family who made their way to Noorat.

While the youthful Warriors went down by 126 points to their highly-fancied opponent which is in the hunt for silverware this season, the youngsters didn't look out of place and are part of an exciting crop of next generation footballers developing at Davidson Oval.

Old Collegians senior mentor Ben van de Camp said the club was buoyed by the performance of the duo, who weren't overawed by the occasion and proved they had a strong future at the level after impressing in the under 18 and reserves.

"They're both young and have been at Collegians all the way and played their juniors at the club so it's exciting for us to give them a go," he said.

"We've been watching them quite closely for a little while and unfortunately both boys had suffered some injuries which had curtailed their opportunities to play senior footy this year. They've done a great job.

"Both boys did a really, really good job and didn't look out of place at all I thought, they did some nice things.

"They're both hard at it, in-and-under type footballers and seemed to really adapt to senior football quite well which is pleasing.

"I thought they acquitted themselves quite sufficiently so it was great to see them make their debuts for the club and together too."

He added it was a bit of a whirlwind 24 hours for the brothers who barely had time to think about it.

"We called up Sam to the senior team on Friday which was exciting for him," he said. "With Ben, we had one of our other juniors due to play (seniors) but he got injured in the under 18s and we called Ben up at really short notice to debut."

Van de Camp added it was important the club exposed talented players such as the Wakely boys to senior footy for the remainder of the season and was pleased with the development of his young list despite being winless at this stage.

The Warriors cap off their senior football season with an away clash against Timboon Demons which looms as winnable before tough assignments against premiership fancies Panmure and Nirranda in round 17 and 18 respectively.

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