Promising young Great Southern Storm team set to compete at annual Great Southern Colts Carnival

Great Southern Storm coach Darrell Panizza is looking forward to a young and exciting group taking on the best teams in the region at the long-running Great Southern Colts Carnival in Lake Grace this weekend. The Storm will be representing the Great Southern Football League in the eight-team tournament and will be out to defend their title, having won the grand final in last year’s edition. A final squad of 28 players will make the trip to the carnival, with 25 set to play across the three matches, including finals. Three of the players from the 28-man list will be made available to the Ongerup Football Association who are in need of numbers. However, if a player from the Storm list is injured or unable to play, they will be made available to the Storm as emergencies. The carnival will feature teams from Lower South West, Peel, Ongerup, Esperance, Eastern Districts, Goldfields and Upper Great Southern. Panizza, a highly successful and experienced coach and Claremont games record holder, said they have put an emphasis on speed and technical ability ahead of this year’s competition. “We’re taking a development squad away again, the boys that went last year that are still in the competition (GSFL) will all go this year,” he said. “We’ve added some players that we think are capable of playing at that level. “You’ve got to be able to take some of the bigger bodies to compete with Eastern Districts, Upper Great Southern and Peel. “But what we’ve looked at a bit more this year is speed and skill in that the players selected can deliver the ball and move the ball around the field well. “We’ve had three training sessions, the boys look like they are up and about. “Like all carnival teams, there are going to be some boys that miss out but it’s not the end of the world. “We go away in three weeks time to another carnival so there’s a couple of games in-between where they can make their case.” The Storm will face Esperance in their first match on Saturday at 10.15am before they tackle Eastern Districts at 1.15pm. They will play Peel in the final Saturday fixture at 4.15pm with the two unbeaten teams in their respective pools set to meet in the grand final at 1pm on Sunday. “The mission has never been we have to go and win at all costs, it’s about taking the kids away and giving them the experience and seeing them at a higher level,” Panizza said. “It’s a step for any of the kids that want to play footy at that higher level. “It’s part of the pathway and we have to give everyone equal opportunity to be able to grab that opportunity. “The one thing that we want to do is make sure the kids we take away are focused on being the best they possibly can be and it’s about footy, not going on a holiday.” North Albany star Kobi Keen and Railways defender Tom Gawned will fill the role of joint-captains. “Our captains Tom and Kobi are at their third carnival now and they enjoy the fact they can still go away to these carnivals,” Panizza said. “Between them and the youngest kids in the group, it will be a great experience for everybody. “There’s nothing better than representing your district, it’s one of the best things you can do in the Great Southern, to be selected is an honour and a privilege.” Royals have the biggest representation in the squad with eight players while Albany have seven, including emergencies. Great Southern Storm Team Cooper Sandy (emergency/OFA), Harvey Taylor, Gus Bockman , George Bockman, Aiden Clark, Kaleb Germain (emergency/OFA), Tobyn Lowry (emergency/OFA) (Albany), Kaizen Beeck, William Cousins , Joley Graham, Seth Hambley, James Watters, Mitchell Paine, Blake Panizza, Jordan Hulm (Royals), Clay Michael, Lachlan Cale, Josh Duffield, Tom Gawned (captain) (Railways), Tait Hartfield, Jhett Morrison-Carter, Marlon Mastalerz (Denmark-Walpole), Kobi Keen (captain) Fynn Kelleher-Bird, Lucas Ravenhill, Kiya Jellay (North Albany), Adam Large, Cameron Walsh (Mt Barker)