ECHUCA VIBES

Northern Country picks representatives

The Northern Country Women’s League representative squad has a distinctly Echuca feel to it, with seven Murray Bombers picked in the final 24-player squad.

The initial 30-player squad was whittled down and the final side picked to face the Central Victoria Football League at Bendigo’s Queen Elizabeth Oval announced on Saturday, with the two competitions going head-tohead on Sunday for the first time since 2019.

Echuca continued its strong representation at interleague level in 2022 following the recent announcement of the GVL interleague squad, with the Murray Bombers now boasting 14 players donning representative guernseys across its men’s and women’s programs.

Echuca players named for the NCWL were Thany Williams, Paige Baksh, Holly Hughes, Jayda Richardson, Jeje Mirasol, Sophie Douglas and Remy Day, who were all rewarded for a strong season for the unbeaten Murray Bombers.

Baksh and Douglas have now been named multiple times for the NCWL in either its initial or finalised squads.

Benalla was also well represented with six Saints picked for the squad, while players from Tatura were added to the squad.

Nathalia’s Alyx Glanville takes the reins as coach of the interleague side, while Purples player Caitlyn Price and Benalla’s Emma Layfield have been tapped to lead the side as co-captains.

Echuca is in an ominous vein of form in its pursuit of an NCWL flag, and the undefeated Murray Bombers’ next club assignment will be at Victoria Park on Sunday, May 29, against Benalla.

At the time of writing yesterday, the contest between the NCWL and CVFL was in full flight out at QEO, with the CVFL holding the ascendancy in a lopsided contest.

See Wednesday’s Riv for a full report.