FALCONS FIVE NAMED IN INITIAL STATE SQUAD

AARON Black, Shane Nelson, Luke Meadows, Andrew Strijk and Kody Manning have all seen their strong form at West Perth so far in 2017 rewarded by being named in the WAFL's initial state squad for this month's clash with the VFL.

The WAFL State Team will take on the VFL at North Port Oval on Saturday May 27 attempting to become the first ever WA side to beat Victoria in Melbourne.

West Perth is well represented in the initial squad named for the WAFL team that will be coached by Michael Broadbridge. He will be assisted by Garry Moss, Paul Johnson, Steve Malaxos and Clay McLernon.

Five players from the Falcons have been included in the initial 37-man squad that includes nine players from South Fremantle, seven from Subiaco and six from Swan Districts. 

Each of those teams enter Round 8 of the 2017 season with 5-1 records while West Perth is just behind at 4-2 and has five players in the squad.

Of the five West Perth players in the squad, Black, Nelson, Meadows and Strijk all played in last year's 134-point hammering of Tasmania at Steel Blue Oval. 

Manning wasn’t there last year, but has previously played for WA.

The VFL have also announced their initial squad with some familiar names including Cam O'Shea, Jordan Lisle, Robin Nahas, Jacob Ballard, Sam Darley and Ayce Cordy.

The first training session will be held on Monday night at Fremantle Community Bank Oval ahead of another session the following Monday at Domain Stadium.

The squad will undertake a team activity on Sunday May 21 following the last games on the Saturday leading into the game in Melbourne the following Saturday.

Then after training sessions on Monday and Wednesday, the WAFL team will fly to Melbourne on Thursday, train at North Port Oval on Friday and then get ready for the game on Saturday afternoon looking to create history.

WAFL STATE SQUAD
Claremont – Mitch Andrews, Jye Bolton, Jack Bradshaw
East Fremantle – George Hampson, Jonathan Marsh
East Perth – Kyle Anderson, Will Maginness, Patrick McGinnity
Peel Thunder – Leroy Jetta
Perth – Clint Jones
South Fremantle – Ryan Cook, Brock Higgins, Blaine Johnson, Tim Kelly, Marlion Pickett, Ben Saunders, Haiden Schloithe, Mason Shaw, Blayne Wilson
Subiaco – Kyal Horsley, Leigh Kitchin, Angus Litherland, Jordan Lockyer, Chris Phelan, Liam Ryan, Clancy Wheeler
Swan Districts – Tallan Ames, Ricky Cary, Corey Gault, Tony Notte, Matt Riggio, Kirk Ugle
West Perth – Aaron Black, Kody Manning, Luke Meadows, Shane Nelson, Andrew Strijk

VFL STATE SQUAD
Box Hill Hawks – David Mirra, Sam Switkowski
Casey Demons – Angus Scott
Coburg Lions – Tom Goodwin, Liam Hunt, Nick Mellington
Collingwood – Michael Chippendale, Jordan Kelly
Essendon – Alex Boyse, James Ferry, Nick Hind, Nick O'Brien
Footscray – Lauchlan Dalgleish, Nick Jamieson
Geelong – Tom Atkins, Sam McLachlan
North Ballarat – Andrew Hooper, Nick Rippon
Northern Blues – Cam O'Shea, Tom Wilson
Port Melbourne – Jordan Lisle, Brody Mihocek, Brodie Murdoch, Robin Nahas, Tom O'Sullivan, Toby Pinwill, Eli Templeton
Richmond – Jacob Ballard, Sam Darley
Sandringham – Tom Curren, Elliot Le Grice
Werribee Tigers – Matt Hanson, Michael Sodomaco
Williamstown – Brett Bewley, Ben Cavarra, Ayce Cordy, Sam Dunell, Michael Gibbons, Adam Marcon, Leigh Masters, Nick Meese, Josh Newman