Storm aim to go one better at colts carnival

A new-look Great Southern Storm colts side will be aiming to reach an eighth successive grand final when they compete at the annual Great Southern Colts Carnival in Kulin this weekend.

Yet again, a strong 27-man squad will make the trip inland to compete against seven other football regions, with Storm head coach Glynn Verbruggen taking charge for the first time.

In the knockout format the Storm face Peel in their first match on Saturday morning and must win that game to progress to a virtual semifinal later that afternoon before the finals are decided on Sunday.

A strong core of youngsters who have shone at league level in the Great Southern Football League will head the colts team, with the likes of Fraser Eaton, Zainel Bin Busu, Taj Williams, Liam Park, Tom Wolfe, Nelson Kent, Lachy O’Shea and Aidin Williss set to be key parts of the Storm’s title hopes.

The Storm traditionally perform very well at the annual carnival which attracts teams from Ongerup, Upper Great Southern, Peel, Eastern Districts, Goldfields, Lower South West and Esperance.

Gun Sharks midfielder Bryce Blaszkow is a glaring omission, unavailable this weekend through work commitments, while Heath Spinks also misses out, representing the WA State 16s in a trial game on Friday night instead.

Verbruggen was bullish about his side’s chances at the carnival and emphasised their first game as possibly the biggest of the weekend.

“This is definitely the best available talent in the region,” he said.

“We are confident with the side we have and obviously Peel in round 1 with be a real challenge but something we are excited for.

“We only have a few top-age kids going and we feel we have plenty of strength through the midfield.

“Our skills, speed and fitness will be our strengths.”

The players will vote tomorrow to appoint their captain and vice-captain for the weekend as they look to go one better than the past two years where they have fallen short in the decider against the Lower South West.

Great Southern Storm colts squad

Ted Batchelor (North Albany), Zainel Bin Busu (Albany), Fraser Eaton (Albany), Nic Finlay (Royals), Kieran Gowdie (Albany), Nelson Kent (Railways), Marcus Mellon (Albany), Lachy O’Shea (North Albany), Liam Park (Denmark-Walpole), Hayden Parker (Denmark-Walpole), Callum Redshaw (Albany), Jayden Scott (Railways), Connor Spinks (North Albany), Jack Steel (Railways), Taj Williams (North Albany), Aidin Williss (Mt Barker), Tom Wolfe (Railways), Codey Baxter (Denmark-Walpole), Jacob Blight (Railways), Rivah Bocian (Royals), Hayden Davies (Railways), Kalin Lane (Denmark-Walpole), Alex Pearce (North Albany), Ned McSweeney (North Albany), Kohen Lemin (North Albany), Jake Abbott (Albany), Gryphon Roy (Denmark-Walpole)