THE South West District Football Netball League’s junior football carnival made its big comeback on Sunday with some of the best the south west region has to offer travelling to the Portland area to take part in the competition.

The games were played across two age brackets with under-17s and under-14s teams from the Hampden FNL, SWDFNL, Warrnambool and District FNL and Wimmera FNL all competing against one another at either Alexandra Park of Heathmere Recreation Reserve.

In the under-17s it proved to be the two Hampden sides which were the strongest, with Hampden West (featuring local talent Angus Impey, Flynn Leonard, Jarod Smith, Ben McDowell and Klay Nicholls) defeated by Hampden East 4.4 (28) to 3.2 (20).

Wimmera produced a very strong showing in the under-14s, defeating Hampden West 10.5 (65) to 3.1 (19), while Hampden East also put on a decent showing in that competition and featuring Portlanders Will Oliver, Elijah Reeves, Oscar Elford and Kobe Campbell.

Numerous local footballers from Portland, Heywood and surrounds competed for the SWDFNL’s respective sides which struggled across the day and were unable to secure a win.

Hampden West under-17 coach Justin Impey said it was a great event which he felt the region had needed to bring back.

“I think it was something the juniors here needed, it sort of bridges the gap between local junior footy and V-Line Cup and other (Greater Western Victoria) Rebels programs,” he said.

“I was impressed with the style and pace that the boys were able to play, and not to take anything away from the eventual victors but we were able to get on top of them earlier in the day, so I think they really did show a lot.”

Impey explained that for a lot of the players, including a number of them from Portland, this was their first taste of interleague football and that the locals had stepped up to the challenge.

“I thought Ben McDowell really held his own, as did Klay Nicholls as a bottom-age player, and I thought Flynn and Jarod really played their role well,” he said.

“Angus was good as well, played a role in the ruck and was able to go up forward and kick a couple of goals and take a big mark which was one of the highlights.”

Impey also said the competition had reinforced his view that the Hampden league is the place to be for junior footballers who are looking to develop and take their game to the next level, while also expressing excitement for the possibility of the competition expanding in future years.

“I understand there are already discussions about introducing a couple more leagues like the Limestone Coast or Mininera into the mix which I think would be a great development for the competition.”

For his part, SWDFNL president Darren Jacobson said all in all it was a successful venture which looks set to only get better in future years.

“It was a great success, great participation across all leagues and great crowds at both venues,” Jacobson said.

“It went pretty seamlessly, we got plenty of words of congratulation for how it all went, and the few little hiccups we had can be learned from and improved on.

“With more teams hopefully next season, whether we need to add more venues or introduce a pool system or something we’ll have to wait and see… at this stage it looks like it will be in or around Portland again.”