Victoria Country has selected its squad for its first match at the 2025 Marsh AFL National Championships – U18 Boys.

Country will commence its National Championships campaign with a trip to Perth to take on Western Australia at Mineral Resources Park on Saturday, June 7.

The squad for the opening clash features players who represent Coates Talent League country programs the Bendigo Pioneers, Dandenong Stingrays, Geelong Falcons, Gippsland Power, GWV Rebels and Murray Bushrangers.

Additional players will be added to the squad throughout the Championships.

The Victoria Country squad to take on Western Australia features five members of the 2025 Marsh AFL National Academy. They include Willem Duursma, Noah Hibbins-Hargreaves, Josh Lindsay, Riley Onley and Ben Rongdit.

Lindsay was best afield for the National Academy in its win over VFL side Coburg last month and also won the medal as the best player for Team Heppell in last year’s Marsh AFL National Futures match, which was played at the MCG ahead of the Toyota AFL Grand Final.

Duursma, Hibbins-Hargreaves and Onley all represented Victoria Country as bottom-agers at last year’s National Championships.

Victoria Country’s squad includes three father-son prospects in Harry Dean (son of Peter) Mitchell Stevens (son of Mark) and bottom-ager Cody Walker (son of Andrew).

Gippsland Power coach Rhett McLennan has been appointed Victoria Country head coach.

McLennan will be assisted by fellow Coates Talent League coaches Danny O’Bree (Bendigo Pioneers), Nick Cox (Dandenong Stingrays), Paul Corrigan (Geelong Falcons), David Loader (GWV Rebels) and Mark Brown (Murray Bushrangers).

The 2025 Marsh AFL National Championships will be played during June and July and will feature the most talented under 18 boys footballers from across Australia.

Victoria Country’s opening game against Western Australia will be followed by three matches in Melbourne.

They will take on South Australia on Sunday, June 29 and the Allies on Saturday, July 5, before a clash with Victoria Metro in the final game of the carnival on Sunday, July 20.

SQUAD

* denotes bottom-age player

SCHEDULE

Click here to view the fixture for the 2025 Marsh AFL National Championships – U18 Boys.

WATCH

All matches in the 2025 Marsh AFL National Championships – U18 Boys will be live streamed via the match centre on the AFL website and AFL Live Official App.