The 2026 Vic Country and Metro summer training squads were recently announced and Gippsland Power was the best represented Talent League club with eight players selected.
Power dominates the initial Vic Country squad, with eight of the 25 players coming from the flourishing program, while Dandenong Stingrays had four.
The 51 players selected in the summer squads underwent a training camp last week at Deakin University in Geelong, putting their best feet forward.
Keenan Boi (Hawthorn NGA), Cohen Dent (bottom-ager), Hamish Gill, Xavier Ladbrook, Wil Malady, Marlon Neocleous, Clancy Snell and Cody Templeton are the Gippsland boys in the squad.
Ladbrook and Malady are part of the 2026 AFL Academy Squad, while many consider Neocleous and Templeton as very unlucky omissions.
Malady and Neocleous both represented Vic Country last year as bottom-age players at the Under-18 National Championships, and their ceiling for this year is sky high.
Warragul Industrials big man, Dent is the only bottom-ager from the Power program to be selected in this year’s Vic Country summer squad, and the 208cm ruck is looking to have an impact.
Dent not only represented Vic Country in the Under-16 National Championships last year, but he played six Talent League matches with Gippsland Power, despite being eligible to play in the age group below.
It has been a pretty amazing 12 months for Gippsland Power, producing the No.1 draft pick Willem Duursma and making a preliminary final.
This didn’t happen overnight and is a testament to the many years of hard work by Rhett McLennan and the entire Gippsland Power program.
Incoming Gippsland Power Boys coach Kris Pendlebury, who actually played for the Power himself back in 2003/04, praised the hard work done by everyone involved in the program.
“Rhett has done an amazing job the last few years and Scotty McDougal as the talent manager, as well as all of the assistants – they have laid a really strong foundation,” Pendlebury said.
“We are in a really strong spot with our list.”
He added that having such a great Vic Country representation reflected the talent.
“We’ve got eight kids in the initial squad … there is a great crop of kids coming through,” Pendlebury said.
“Last week we were down in Waurn Ponds for a camp to really put the boys through their paces and get ready for a big year, so we can hit the ground running in the Talent League.”
Pendlebury is the older brother of Collingwood legend Scott, and is a former best and fairest winner with the Pies’ VFL side.
He most recently played in the Mornington Peninsula Football Netball League (MPFNL) as a playing coach at Edithvale Aspendale, and was even recognised as the coach of the year in 2025.
Pendlebury will not only serve as the head coach of the Power, but was also given another coaching opportunity in the elite pathway.
“I was lucky enough to come on board as an assistant coach, I will be coaching the backline which is awesome,” he said.
“I’ll give a holistic view being new to the competition, but also be picking the coaches’ brains about the players and the competition.”
Dandenong Stingrays’ four Vic Country representatives in the initial squad were Gus Kennedy, Marcus Prasad, Louis Salopek (bottom-ager) and Darcy Szerszyn.
