Emerging Blackwood young gun Zac Venning will make his A Grade debut in Saturday afternoon’s match against Nairne Bremer at Nairne in Round 12 of the Police Credit Union Hills Football League
Son of club life member and 1991 premiership player Damien Venning, Zac has stepped up into the Senior ranks in 2021 having returned to the club from playing at West Adelaide under age football. Across the opening rounds he has played 6 games in the B Grade including being named in the best players on four occasions, including being second best in the last two matches.
Along with the debut of Venning, the Woods have swung the changes with Bailey Badcoe, Haydn Kenny and River Moore coming into the selected squad to face the Rams. For Kenny it’ll be his first A Grade match in 670 days since the 2019 Elimination final against Uraidla Districts at Nairne Oval.
Speaking post-selection coach Scott Prebble and the coaching staff said the team was looking forward to the match this Saturday afternoon. “We have had a real focus on continuing to be positive, playing the game using our method and on our terms for longer. We look forward to putting that into action this weekend.”
In the B Grade, Daniel Lowe has been forced to make eight changes to the side from the previous weekend. Coming into the selected side are Nik Gacic, Luke Hocking, Liam Markham, Callan Marks, Sam Matters, Matt McNaught, Taylor Moore and Alex Strauss. For Matters it will be his senior debut for the Woods whilst and for Marks and Strauss it will be their first B Grade games having plied their trade in the C Grade in the opening rounds of the season.
Speaking post selection, Lowe stated the side was looking to continue the form streak they are on. “We’ve won seven of the last eight matches against some very good opposition. We however aren’t looking to rest on our laurels and are focussed on continuing to improve and play four quarters of committed football.”
The C Grade has named a squad of 16 players for its clash against Golden Grove on Saturday morning at Harpers. In the previous match up between the sides back in Round 3, the Woods went down by 54 points with Tyson Aiston kicking two goals and Connor McCarl being named best player.
Check out the full squads for Round 12 courtesy of match day sponsor Blackwood Tree Service
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