Two country-town clubs are in enviable positions, with more players at their disposal than the maximum of 16 they can bring to Pascoe Cup games in round four.
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Cootamundra Strikers lead the competition, and have 18 players busting to make the cut.
Their line-up still isn’t set in stone, according to co-coach Adam McPhail.
Players yet to cement a position on the starting 11 will be eager to impress at Burns Park as they play Junee on Sunday.
“We’re keeping the same structure down the guts, in defence, midfield and attack, but experimenting on the wings,” he said.
“We haven’t played the same 11 each week.”
McPhail was surprised to hear spectators and players have reported Cootamundra will be dominant this season.
“I thought no one rated us,” he said.
“We’re taking it one game at a time, until we get up against the bigger clubs we won’t really know where we stand.
“Junee’s going to be a battle, they’re always up for a fight. It’s never been a big scoreline against Junee.”
With three wins from three, McPhail said the inclusion of Aaron Kemp has been priceless in 2017.
“Aaron Kemp’s been massive for us,” he said.
Meanwhile, Young’s new coach John Speering has more than 20 players regularly attending training sessions.
“It’s a turn around from last year,” Young captain Duncan Cameron said.
“The new boys are bringing-in their mates, and they’re enjoying it.
“It’s getting down to the point where if you don’t come to training, you’ll miss out.”
Cameron wants to start a run of wins this week when Young confronts Tolland at Kessler Park on Saturday at 7.30pm.
He’s seething about a one-goal loss to Tumut, a loss that could have been avoided.
“We had way more opportunities than them,” he said
”We’ll definitely need to take our chances, we didn’t do that against Tumut.”
Alex Mitchell and Isaac Hines were integral in Young’s win over Wagga United and Duncan expects big things from them this week.
“They’ve shown they can match it with the older fellas,” he said.
“They have soccer minds; a really good game sense.”