Carnival action: Far West’s Michael Newchurch avoids a tackle from Eastern Eyre’s Nathan Woolford during last year’s carnival in Wudinna.
THEVENARD will play host to this year’s Interleague Round Robin competition as players from Far West Football League, Mid West Football League and Eastern Eyre Football League play against each other.
After MWFL hosted the event last year at Wudinna, FWFL hosts it this year and promises a fun day of football for players and spectators alike.
The day will be split between three competitions, Under 15s, Under 17s and A Grade with each team playing two twenty minute halves with a five-minute half time period.
Under 15s begin at 9:30am with Mid West facing Far West and conclude with the final game at 11:10am with Far West versus Eastern Eyre.
Under 17s begin at 12:10pm with Mid West versus Far West and conclude with Eastern Eyre facing Mid West at 1:50pm.
Junior Medals will be awarded during the Official welcome at 2:35pm, which precedes the A Grade competition.
A Grade begins at 2:40pm with Far West versus Eastern Eyre and the final game beginning at 4:40pm, as Far West faces Mid West.
The day will conclude at 5:30pm with presentations and awards for the best and fairest for each team and for each grade.
Eastern Eyre had a great carnival last year, winning all grades except for Under 15s.
Matthew Lienert will coach Eastern Eyre’s A Grade team for a third straight year and said many senior players are unlikely to play this year, leaving space for the younger players to stand up.
“Some of our top players will be unavailable because of injury or other commitments, so this will give the young players some good experience against players from the other leagues and give our selectors a chance to look at them before the Mortlock Shield in June,” he said.
“We will try to have fun and we expect it to be a very good carnival.”
Mid West won the Under 15s competition last year and finished runners-up everywhere else.
Coach Wade O’Brien will also coach the A Grade for a third straight year and said the players are looking forward to the competition.
“We’ve got a pretty good uptake on players who want to take the challenge up and we’ll be using it to give the players a go ahead of selection for the Mortlock Shield,” he said.
“The carnival is always a good challenge and we are looking forward to it.”
Far West was game last year but ultimately finished third in all grades.
Jason Wild coaches the A Grade side for the first time this year and said the competition will provide the right indication as to where the players stand as a whole.
“Both EEFL and MWFL are good leagues and this gives us a chance to see where we’re at as a league and how much work we have to do before the Mortlock Shield,” he said.
“It’s my first time and I will be familiar with coaching the Western United players, it will be interesting working with the other players and creating the structure of the team on the field.”
Another exciting carnival is anticipated this weekend.