Werribee star midfielder Dom Brew has been named captain of the Victorian Football League state team for an upcoming exhibition match in Adelaide.
Brew was selected to represent his state alongside a 50-player squad, which will be whittled down to 23 closer to the event.
Those players will face off against a selected team of players from the South Australian National Football League, in the first hit out between the two states since 2017.
Brew’s selection as captain comes off the back of an excellent 2023 season, where he was won Werribee’s best and fairest and was named as the starting rover for in the team of the year.
Brew said he was ecstatic to receive the recognition. He received the news while at training last week.
“I’ve been in the league a while now so I’m incredibly humbled,” he said.
“It’s pretty surreal considering my journey coming from the Development League and then working my way through.
“Coming down from Albury to Werribee to play in the Development League and then debut midway through that year and hold my spot at such a great club like Werribee. Then to stay in the VFL all the way through Covid and to be here now is huge.
“For me to represent not just the VFL, but also the Werribee Football Club is something that I am proud to do.”
The current 50-player squad is made up entirely of players that are not AFL or rookie listed players.
Werribee had the most players named in the extended squad with eight total.
While Brew’s place is secured, his teammates Nathan Cooper, Kye Declase, Hudson Garoni, Nick Hayes, Jack Henderson, Sam Paea and Louis Pinnuck will all be hoping to make the final cut. The team will be selected next week, following round two of the VFL competition.
A number of ex-AFL players have been named in the extended squad, including Tyler and Callum Brown (Box Hill Hawks), Trent Bianco (Footscray Bulldogs), Phoenix Spicer (Footscray Bulldogs) and Joel Garner (Richmond).
The match will feature as part of the AFL’s Gather Round, where all 18 AFL club will descend on Adelaide.
The game will be played at Stratarama Stadium in Glenelg at 1.40pm on April 6.
Box Hill Hawks coach Zane Littlejohn will coach the VFL team, with Steve Daniel (Southport Sharks), Ben Hudson (Brisbane Lions) and Adam Skrobalak (Port Melbourne) selected as assistants.
