Footballers Cooper Miller, Xavier Mitchem to debut for South Warrnambool

Cooper Miller and Xavier Mitchem will get their chances in the senior side against Hampden league rival Warrnambool at Friendly Societies' Park on Saturday.

Battistello estimated the second-placed Roosters had blooded 10 first-game players.

"We are excited. It bodes well for bringing on our juniors," he said.

"I think historically there's been a perceived image from outside of our footy club that we have great juniors but they don't translate into senior players.

"We feel like we've changed that perception I would've thought - the majority of our senior players have been through our junior program."

Battistello said Miller, who is still eligible for the under 18 competition, would play a midfield-forward role against the Blues.

"His dad (Brad) is a premiership player at South and coaches our under 18s, coaches our senior group as well and puts in a power of work," he said.

"It's really exciting when you work with someone like Brad and then their son comes through, it's a pretty special day for the footy club.

"At this point in time (they're different players). Cooper is only young. He's certainly got attributes of his father in the way he plays. He's a little bit lighter than his dad but he still has all the courage of his father and determination and decision-making.

"Cooper is also his own player in his own right as well."

Defender Mitchem has been elevated from the reserves and is "a story of perseverance".

"We love the way he trains. He trains at a really high standard and looks after himself during the week," Battistello said. "He is a great club-person and shows some good leadership attributes on the ground."

The Roosters have also brought in midfielder James Hussey (unavailable) and Tom Freitag with Nick Thompson (back) and Luamon Lual (NAB League) sidelined.

Myles McCluggage, who has been training with Carlton's VFL team, and Jonah Maher have both been rested after heavy workloads.

Battistello said teenage prospect George Stevens was making strong progress from ACL surgery and was likely to start running in four weeks' time.

"He's mature beyond his years and runs our training program," he said.

"He had a bit of surgery about six weeks ago but he's actual ACL has healed as strong as they've seen.

"George is already a professional athlete in the way he goes about it and a great leader for our footy club."