Nine south-west Victorian footballers face off in one NTFL game

This year is no different with a large contingent of Warrnambool and District and Hampden league stars plying their trade in the competition which runs opposite to the traditional Victorian football season.

Panmure assistant coach Louis Kew is one player testing himself in the warmer conditions for the first time.

The speedy defender, on debut for Darwin-based club Waratah in its round three premier reserves clash against Pint a week ago, was one of 10 WDFNL and HFNL exports taking part in the fixture.

Alex Pulling (Koroit), Jayden Brooks (Merrivale), Samuel Kenna (Kolora-Noorat), Jack Coghlan-West (Koroit) and Blair McCutcheon (Koroit) all played alongside Kew at Waratah while Luke McConnell (Terang Mortlake), Brad Gedye and Jacob Moloney (both Panmure) took the field for Pint.

Former Koroit junior Joseph Brady also featured for Pint which lost 68-52.

"It was a bit of a weird feeling especially coming up against my Panmure teammates," Kew told The Standard.

"It was a bit strange but also a pretty cool experience. The start of the game I lined up on Brad (Gedye)."

There are a number of south-west players making their mark in the premier grade.

In round three, Scott Carlin (Terang Mortlake) and Jack Gleeson (Merrivale) featured for Waratah, Ryan Warfe (Warrnambool) played for Palmerston and Tanna Blackney-Noter (South Warrnambool) turned out for Tiwi Bombers.

The depth of talent at Waratah, the reigning premier, makes it harder for players like Kew to crack the senior side.

The Warriors are afforded just 16 total player points per game with Kew worth three while local club players are worth zero. Southern Districts (14) are allocated the least player points with Pint and Tiwi Bombers (22) the most.

"It makes it hard to crack in but I mean you're going to put your best foot forward and have a crack regardless of how many points you are," Kew said.

"Even in saying that, the reserves competition it's a pretty strong comp. There's a lot of good players running around in there."

Kew lauded the professionalism at Waratah and said he felt the speed of the game was quicker than in the Warrnambool and District league.

He also said the hotter climate took some adjusting to.

"You do one or two efforts and then you're buggered and you've got to catch your breath straight away," he said.

"It's very quick football, especially in the reserves, there's so many people trying to push for that prem spot."

Kew, who finished joint third in this year's WDFNL best and fairest, will spend the season up north living with Gedye, Moloney and McConnell and is in the process of lining up work as a disability support worker.

He said he was drawn to Darwin to "try something different" and admitted it was nice knowing he didn't have to do a gruelling pre-season with the Bulldogs during the summer.

"In a way you sort of get sick of doing the same thing back home and then I got talking to Scott Carlin, who I'm pretty good mates with and he's sort of helped me out getting in contact with the coach from the Tahs," Kew said.

"I've been here for a week and I haven't looked back. I've loved every second of it so far."

The final home-and-away round of the NTFL season is played on February 17.

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