Nine Great Southern players set to feature in exciting WAFL colts fixture between Claremont and West Perth

Nine Great Southern players will feature in Claremont’s colts side for their clash with top side West Perth in the regional WAFL colts showcase at Retravision Stadium on Saturday. Five metro-based Great Southern products will feature in the line-up while the Tigers will bring four players into the team who are currently playing in the Great Southern Football League. Metro players Cooper Childs, Heath Ravenhill, Toby Hall, Carson Flower and Rhori Williams-Jolley will all play in the round 13 fixture alongside current GSFL players Ryley Valli, Kobi Keen, Sebastian Ballard and Lucas Ravenhill. Ravenhill is a highly touted key position player who has just returned from State 16s duties with WA. Valli, Keen and Ballard have been standouts for the Great Southern Storm at carnival level. Tigers colts coach Ashley Clancy said it was a terrific opportunity for Great Southern talent to return home and put on a show. “Some of the Albany-based boys will be coming into the fixture which we’re super excited about and we’ll inject them into the team to give us a bit of a spark,” Clancy said. “Ryley (Valli) and Kobi (Keen) were both part of my 16s program and I got a good look at them then, so it will be good to see these boys in action. “Some of these boys will have some local knowledge of the conditions and the grounds down there which will help.” Clancy said the Tigers will field a strong side, including two State program players in Ed Allen and Conrad Williams. The Tigers have six players unavailable because of State commitments. It will be the third WAFL colts fixture played in Albany in four years. “We really look forward to it, it’s a great initiative that’s been going on for a couple of years,” he said. “It’s something that we look forward to each year, it’s a great experience for the boys and a really good bonding experience. “It gives our metro kids an understanding of where our regional players come from and the conditions that they play footy in.” The Tigers will have to contend with an in-form West Perth side that sits at the top of the ladder after 12 rounds. “This year we’ve found all teams we’ve come up against have been strong and the ladder hasn’t been a real indicator of teams ability as such,” Clancy said. “But West Perth are a really honed outfit this year. “They’ve got quite a few 17-year-old kids that got a lot of games last year so they’re playing some great footy. Ryan Lasscock has got them really finely tuned and they’re well trained so we’re looking forward to the challenge.” Clancy said there will be a host of talent to look out for in the exciting fixture. “Some kids that we’ve been really impressed with are Jac Coltman from up north and young Louis Tangey who is a metro kid,” he said. “He’s (Tangey) playing some really good footy for us on the wing. “Rory Charles has been playing really well in our back line with an injection of speed and Josh (Sukoroksi) down back for us has been really impressive this year.” Bouncedown for the WAFL colts fixture is 5pm.