By Jonty Ralphsmith
Six Vic Country Summer Hub members headline the Gippsland Power boys squad for the 2025 season.
The Power finalised their squad last week with plenty of optimism on the horizon.
Number-one pick contender Willem Duursma leads the charge following a stellar bottom-aged season where he averaged 16 disposals across 15 games and got exposure in the national championships.
The athletically gifted, versatile Duursma will be looking to follow siblings Xavier, Zane and Yasmin onto AFL lists.
“He has such a wide athletic bunch of traits which allows him to play in a wide range of spots,” Power coach Rhett McLennan said.
“We’ll look at how he can be more combative – we know he has so many tools to win loose balls and stretch away from opposition.”
Smooth-moving, precise-kicking Jobe Scapin, midfielder-forward Zach O’Keefe, Adelaide father-son prospect Mitch Stevens and bottom-aged pair Wil Malady and Xavier Ladbrook were also in the Vic Country squad.
Stevens plied his trade in defence last season and after a strong preseason, looks ready to show different elements of his game.
“He’s shown he’s got some real aptitude to play inside and outside mid,” McLennan said.
“His speed has stood out – he can win the footy and pull away from the contest.
“We know he can play a good negative role and have one on one wins as a defender but what he can do further up the ground is exciting.”
Ladbrook is a product of the Nar Nar Goon Football Club and is part of a strong contingent of bottom-agers which also includes Malady, small forward Marlon Neocleous and Warragul Industrials midfielder Cody Templeton.
The West Gippsland region is excited about Templeton’s prospects, following tenacious senior footy last year for the Dusties.
There is also optimism that Drouin midfielder Brodie Atkins and lively small forward Tom Matthews can both push into the Vic Country squad following promising 2024 campaigns and strong preseasons.
“Tom will have some centre bounce attendances this year,” McLennan said of Matthews.
“We’re really excited about what he can do both ways.
“He has got himself super fit and hopefully his energy defensively will be just as dangerous as what it is offensively.”
The powerful Goy Jiath, the brother of Hawthorn’s Changkuoth and Collingwood’s Tew, is another familiar name on the Power’s list.
As well as leading Gippsland, McLennan will also coach Vic Country’s under-18s side in 2025.
Other locals on the list include Beaconsfield’s Jack Hilton, Drouin’s Blake Bibby, Officer’s Jackson Honey, Warragul pair Sam Grummisch and Oliver Wilson, and the Dusties’ Damien Leslie.
