Vic picks: two Victorian teams to tackle SANFL at Gather Round

In a first, a VFLW team will join the VFL representative side in heading to Adelaide for this year’s Gather Round. The men will tackle the SANFL in the Barossa Valley.

The VFL’s Hugh Dixon tried to break clear from the SANFL’s Josh Ryan in last year’s state game at Glenelg Oval. Photo by Maya Thompson/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

Take two.

A pair of Victorian teams will be heading to Adelaide for representative clashes at this year’s Gather Round.

A VFLW side will join the men in making the trip to tackle the SANFL.

It will be the first time VFLW players will wear the Big V jumper.

CODE Sports understands the men’s game will be played on Saturday, April 12 at Tanunda in the Barossa Valley, after the AFL clash between North Melbourne and Gold Coast at Barossa Park.

The women’s match is expected to be scheduled for the Friday night.

The VFL and SANFL resumed their state-league rivalry at last year’s Gather Round, playing at Glenelg.

The host state won 10.5 (65) to 7.9 (51) before a crowd of 4207.

It was the VFL’s first state match since it was split apart by the WAFL at North Port Oval in 2017.

VFL coach Zane Littlejohn works the huddle. Photo: Maya Thompson/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

Box Hill Hawks’ Zane Littlejohn is expected to again coach the VFL team, but his panel of assistants will change following the departures of senior coaches Adam Skrobalak (Port Melbourne) and Steve Daniel (Southport).

There will also be major changes to the team. Callum Brown, who won the Frank Johnston Medal as the VFL’s best player, has left the competition, as have Ben Jepson, Nick Hayes, Lachlan Young, Campbell Hustwaite, Mitch White and Nathan Cooper.

Jepson was picked up by the Gold Coast this month, and a few weeks after the state game Ned Long was taken by Collingwood in the mid-season draft.

A number of the 2024 Big V selections is now fighting for SSP listings with AFL clubs, including captain Dom Brew and cult-figure ruckman Brayden Crossley. Both are training with the Western Bulldogs.

Jack Watkins is on trial at Port Adelaide and Jack Henderson is on the track with West Coast Eagles.

Brayden Crossley in a ruck battle with Harry Boyd in last year’s state clash. Photo: Maya Thompson/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

A string of former AFL players has come into the VFL ahead of the 2025 season, including former Essendon captain Dyson Heppell (Port Melbourne), GWS foundation player Adam Tomlinson (North Melbourne), delisted St Kilda defender Riley Bonner (Casey Demons), ex-Adelaide halfback Will Hamill (Frankston), former Saint and Mapie Jack Bytel (Coburg), ex-Blue David Cuningham (Footscray Bulldogs), jettisoned Port Adelaide forward Francis Evans (Carlton) and 97-game Gold Coast Sun Darcy Macpherson (North Melbourne).

Originally published as Vic picks: two Victorian teams to tackle SANFL at Gather Round