2022 SA Country Squad

By ZAC MILBANK

Selectors have finalised a 31-player South Australian Country squad in its first match against Western Australia Country since 2019 on Saturday July 30.

Set to be played at Adelaide Oval as a curtain-raiser for the Adelaide v Carlton AFL clash, the highly-anticipated rivalry between the regional Croweaters and Sandgropers will be renewed with plenty of vigor.

SA Country, coached by Central District great and former Sturt mentor Rick Macgowan, is largely made up of the players selected in the Team of the Championships at the 2022 Think! Road Safety SA Country Championships in Whyalla.

Featuring Player of the Championships and victorious South East captain Matt Willson, SA also boasts plenty of players with SANFL experience.

Former North Adelaide veteran Leigh Ryswyk, who played 183 League games for the Roosters, heads the list after playing with distinction for the Central Zone.

Ex-Woodville-West Torrens and South Adelaide forward Tom Whittlesea is also in the squad, together with former Port Magpie Sid Masters, who was the leading goal kicker at the SA Country Championships playing for Eyre Peninsula.

Central ball magnet Steve Burton, South East ruck Mark Marriott and talented Central utility Murphy Short are other players to watch in the squad.

SA will be desperate to return to the winners list against their foe from across the Nullarbor, having succumbed to WA by nine points in Perth in their last meeting in 2019.