The Victorian Football League has today announced a 43-player Smithy’s VFL State Team squad ahead of next week’s clash with the SANFL in Gather Round.

The Smithy’s VFL State Team will wear the ‘Big V’ when it takes on the SANFL State Team at Glenelg’s Stratarama Stadium on Saturday, April 11.

The match will feature as part of a representative double-header, with the men’s game to be played from 2:30pm following the women’s clash between the VFLW and SANFLW from 12:00pm. The Smithy's VFLW State Team squad was announced last week.

The Smithy’s VFL State Team will be looking for back-to-back wins on enemy territory after last year recording its first victory over the SANFL since 2002 in an 11-point triumph at Tanunda Recreation Park.

The 43-player squad announced today features representatives from 16 VFL clubs.

Current AFL-listed players are not eligible to be selected, while players who are injured or unavailable were not included in the squad.

Thirteen players who featured in last year’s victorious Smithy’s VFL State Team are in contention to pull on the Big V again in 2026. They include Harry Arnold, Riley Bonner, Dom Brew, Jack Bytel, Brayden Crossley, Kye Declase, Mutaz El Nour, Corey Ellison, Harvey Hooper, Campbell Lake, Brodie McLaughlin, Louis Pinnuck and Ethan Stanley.

Of that group, two-time captain Brew, Crossley and Declase are striving for their third-consecutive Big V jumper, having also featured in the 2024 defeat at Stratarama Stadium.

Meanwhile, Trent Bianco and Hugh Dixon are a chance to return to the Smithy’s VFL State Team having played in the 2024 match.

Players can still be added from outside the squad of 43 when the final team to represent the Smithy’s VFLW State Team is announced next week.

Five players who have represented the Smithy’s VFL State Team over the past two years have since been added to AFL lists.

Liam McMahon was selected by Essendon in the 2025 AFL Mid-Season Draft after featuring in last year’s State Game, while Ned Long (Collingwood), Ben Jepson (Gold Coast Suns), Jack Henderson (Melbourne) and Jack Watkins (Port Adelaide) all played in 2024.

2026 SMITHY’S VFL STATE TEAM SQUAD

COACHING STAFF

Frankston coach Jackson Kornberg has been appointed head coach of the Smithy’s VFL State Team, taking the reins from Zane Littlejohn, who spent two years in the role before joining North Melbourne as assistant coach of strategy last September.

Kornberg was part of the Smithy’s VFL State Team coaching group in 2025 and steps up to the head coach role after steering Frankston to a preliminary final last year.

He will be assisted by Werribee coach Dan Lowther, Essendon’s Cameron Joyce and GWS GIANTS development coach Trent Dennis-Lane, while Nigel Carmody will serve as Chairman of Selectors.

2026 STATE GAME DETAILS

SANFL vs VFL
Saturday, April 11
2:30pm local / 3:00pm AEST
Stratarama Stadium, Glenelg

SANFLW vs VFLW
Saturday, April 11
12:00pm local / 12:30pm AEST
Stratarama Stadium, Glenelg