Wangaratta finished second at the end of the home-and-away season in 2021 and this year will again be coached by former Collingwood player Ben Reid.
It will be a second hit out for Wangaratta, who played last weekend against another Goulburn Valley league club, Seymour.
With Echuca finishing on top of the Goulburn Valley league ladder in 2021 before the finals were abandoned, there are high hopes for the team in 2022.
There will be a plethora of Reids on show as both Echuca’s Ben Reid and his former GWS Giant brother, Sam, will also be playing in the match
Club president Ash Byrne said he was expecting the football squad to be at full strength for the match.
This weekend’s Over 60s Cricket Carnival forced the club to look outside of town for a venue, which meant locking in the Lockington oval about a month ago
“We can’t get on our ground because of the over 60s cricket weekend,” Byrne said.
There will be three full games of football at Lockington on Saturday, starting with under-18s football at 10am, reserves at noon and the senior match at 2pm..
There is no netball as the Echuca netballers are playing at the Rochester Invitational tournament.
The Wangaratta match is the first of two practice matches for the Murray Bombers. A week later they will match up against Bendigo league club Eaglehawk at Victoria Park.
“There will be four games that day, because both the under-16 and 18 teams will be playing as well,” Byrne said.
The March 26 fixture will also be an opportunity for new members to join and supporters to get a look at the new apparel designs.
There will be no netball that weekend.
On the Friday before the Eaglehawk match, the club is staging its season launch and sponsors’ event.
Eaglehawk finished sixth at the end of last season’s Bendigo league season.
Byrne said the Victoria Park practice match would have a fully operational canteen and bar, along with opportunities to buy memberships and apparel.
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