Former opponents Matthew Sully and Sam Dobson.
TEENAGE footballers Matt Sully and Sam Dobson will thrust their names in front of AFL club scouts when they represent Victoria Country this weekend.
Sully and Dobson are part of a 22-player Victorian Country Football League under 19 squad which will take on the Victorian Amateur Football Association.
VCFL selectors announced the squad yesterday ahead of the annual clash at Melbourne's Elsternwick Park on Sunday.
Sully, a South Warrnambool premiership player now at Newtown and Chilwell, has won selection for the second time and will be captain.
He will have a role in the back six, while debutant Dobson will play up forward where he has been prolific for Koroit this season.
VCFL coach Damian Sexton said the clash provided the pair with a chance to impress in front of AFL and VFL talent scouts.
"History says most AFL clubs watch it and also VFL clubs, especially those stand-alone clubs," he said.
"They look at it and think there are blokes here who we can entice to play with us.
"Ariel Steinberg, who got drafted to Essendon, played with us and Daniel Nicholson was playing for the Amateurs and he's played a few games for Melbourne.
"There'd be nearly one every year, and that's what the game is set for to give the country boys an opportunity, and the city boys," he said.
The Hampden league graduates' selection comes after a six-week planning process.
VCFL selectors cast their eyes over interleague matches on May 26 and 27 and announced a training squad a fortnight later.
Squad members, including North Warrnambool Eagles Darcy Keast and Camperdown's Charlie Bradshaw who missed the cut, have trained in Melbourne the past three Sundays.
Sully tore ankle ligaments against Colac on June 2 and the representative match will be his first taste of football in a month.
He said captaining the side would be "a great honour", and he wanted to soak up the experience.
"In every different team under a new coach you learn things all the time," he said.
"I'm still 19 so you're learning from all the different players and the coaches with the stuff they say."
Sully, who is also a VFL-listed player, said shifting to Geelong had been good for his football.
"Being down with the Geelong VFL side, it's pretty good down there, using all the facilities and the coaches, having Matthew Knights and Max Rooke coaching. It's been pretty good," he said.
"The move was always going to be tough coming here by myself but it's been good."
Dobson said winning selection was "a big deal", although he said he had no short-term aspirations to leave the south-west for football.
"I just want the coach to say I played well, get a few touches and get my confidence up," he said.
"I know what a good game it is."
The Saints spearhead said the representative match could spark a strong second half of the Hampden league season.
"I thought I was good early, but I'm starting to drop off a little bit," he said.
afawkes@standard.fairfax.com.au