The South West District Football Netball League club - who were among 500 clubs nominated - will benefit from the draft which is designed to get local clubs back on their feet after the COVID-19 years, bringing together Victorian communities and encouraging them to come and support local footy.

Eight former AFL champions are set to be drafted to the local footy clubs on Wednesday April 27 for a one-off appearance on-field, with their match dates to be confirmed at a later date. The draft will be televised on Fox Footy.

The draft pool includes four-time premiership Hawk Jarryd Roughead, four-time goal of the year winner Eddie Betts, Collingwood premiership hero Dale Thomas, 300-game Demon Nathan Jones, two-time All-Australian Brendon Goddard, five-time All-Australian and 2017 premiership player Alex Rance, 400-gamer and four-time premiership player Shaun Burgoyne and three-time premiership player Cam Mooney.

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Club president Damian Hogan said the club was thrilled to be selected in the draft and was confident it would bring in a big crowd on the day.

"The club is honestly ecstatic - the response to it has been quite overwhelming," he said.

"The opportunity to spend a day with an AFL legend, we'll learn a lot from it and develop as a club from it.

"We've got a really young group, so it's a big moment for our club."

Hogan added it was not only a huge lifter on-field, but off-field as well.

"It's a morale booster that's for sure - when we announced it just seeing some of our life members, they lit up," he said.

"We're all pretty pumped about it - it's been a hell of a time, we've all been kicked in the guts through COVID the last two years.

"We'll be treating it like a final on the day and believe we'll get a pretty big crowd."

Head of AFL Victoria Ben Kavenagh said it was an important initiative.

"Community football is the lifeblood of our game and ensuring local clubs and leagues bounce back after two incredibly challenging years for grassroots sport in our state is a major focus in 2022," he said.

"I would like to thank Carlton Draught for backing community football in such a significant way, at a time when support for players, coaches, umpires, volunteers and the clubs they're part of has never been more important."

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