FIFTEEN former and current Hampden league talents are striving for NAB League selection after being hand-picked in the Greater Western Victoria Rebels' 45-man under 19 squad.
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The list will include seven 19-year-old prospects, including Portland's Jamieson Ballantyne and Warrnambool's Angus Bade, who are currently 18 but will have birthdays early in the season.
Ballantyne and Bade are completing pre-season with Victorian Football League outfit Footscray.
Hard-running midfielder Hamish Sinnott, from Camperdown, will also play again as he pursues an AFL dream.
Several first-time prospects made the cut, including South Warrnambool trio Will White, Henry Rhodes and Luamon Lual.
Ballarat-based Rooster Myles McCluggage, the brother of Brisbane Lions wingman Hugh, will also return to the program for a second-straight year.
Powerhouse Koroit is celebrating a trio of players - Connor Byrne, Tom Baulch and Jamie Lloyd - in the program.
Warrnambool talent Ethan Boyd has also been rewarded for a stellar pre-season with inclusion in the squad.
Other Hampden league prospects picked were Port Fairy's Oscar Pollock, Cobden's Henry Robertson, Hamilton Kangaroos' Deacon White and North Warrnambool Eagles' Harry Keast.
Pollock was included after a promising season in purple and gold through 2021. Robertson, meanwhile, has excelled in junior grades at Bomberland while White and Keast are among their club's brightest youngsters.
Rebels coach David Loader said the new inclusions were all held in high regard.
"It's really, really exciting as we've found these guys really easy to work with," he said.
"They're dedicated, they don't complain, they turn up and do their job. That's why they get rewarded."
Loader said the squad would get together on Thursday and would then begin preparations for round one.
He said the next fortnight would be jam-packed with training and action.
"Next Saturday is the AFL testing day so the boys that haven't been to that will get an opportunity to go there," he said.
"Not everyone will go but most of the boys will. From there, we basically play a practice match as a squad together, have a week off and then it's round one."
Loader praised the Warrnambool and Hampden region for its strong representation in the squad and said the Rebels were rapt to include players from around their catchment area.
"It's really pleasing to be able to get some new faces in that are the high-end talent out of our regional areas is fantastic," he told The Standard.
"Where this group can go, it's going to be up to them now but we're certainly got some good players and some exciting guys coming out of the Warrnambool region.
"We're really looking forward to getting started with the group."
The Rebels will play Bendigo Pioneers as part of a triple-header on April 2 away from home.
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