AFL North Coast’s best senior players are ready to represent their region this weekend.
North Coast Force men’s and women’s teams head to Gunnedah for a big day of representative games.
The Force men’s team play their first representative game since 2018, when they take on the North West Blue Heelers.
The Force will look to win back the Challenge Shield that the two leagues play for, after the North West won the past two meetings in 2017 and 2018.
The North Coast vs North West representative game has been played 13 times in the past between 1998 and 2018.
North Coast Force coach Ben Watson was looking forward to regaining the Challenge Shield.
“The squad boasts a good mixture of experience and youth,” he said.
“We want to bring that Challenge Shield back to the North Coast for the first time since 2016,” he said.
The North Coast Force women will also be playing in Gunnedah this weekend, as they play against AFL North West and AFL Central West sides in a tri-series, with the winner of the most matches to receive the Regional Australia Bank Cup.
North Coast Force women last played a representative game against AFL North West in Newcastle last year.
The AFL North West Blue Heelers had a 4.2 (26) to 1.1 (7) win against the Force.
By Aiden BURGESS