The hope for a three-region representative football round-robin in coming years has received another voice of support.
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NTFA under-18 representative coach Addison Cosslett echoed the sentiment of association life member Geoff Skeggs who hopes to see the concept come to life.
Skeggs, who is also the NTFA director of representative football, told The Examiner earlier this week he would love to see the North, North-West and South sides gather at one venue.
"The opportunities we look to be getting are fantastic and like Geoff said it would be great to see a three-way round-robin type of competition or weekend," Cosslett said.
"I know when I played rep footy at an under-16 level we had something similar, it was the North-West versus North and South and we did it over a weekend.
"It works, it gives everyone across the state the opportunity to play and see each other and broaden their horizons. It's definitely something that should be investigated and provides a good pathway for our 17 and 18 year olds to take that next step."
The NTFA take on the NWFL at Devonport Oval on Saturday at 12pm before the senior match which starts at 2pm.
Cosslett elaborated on the opportunity representative football gave youngsters.
"There's a lot of pride in playing for the rep side," he said.
"A lot of these kids have been playing senior footy at their clubs or at a high level in under-18s.
"It just provides them a good opportunity to showcase their talents and we're hoping to build on things and in a few years' time see them playing senior rep as well. That's always the goal."
The hype has been building through the week, particularly with the senior side trying to knock of the NWFL for the first time.
Cosslett said the sense of the occasion hadn't been lost on his group.
Deloraine's Will Richards, who has played representative footy in the past, will captain the side.
Cosslett said the group was otherwise mostly made up of fresh faces.
"We're looking to have speed and plenty of skill, kids these days are pretty athletic so it's going to be exciting to watch," he said.
The NTFA fell 12.7 (79) to 9.5 (59) to the SFL at UTAS Stadium last year and lost by 53 points when they last played the NWFL in 2019.
"We're hoping to turn the tables this year and get a win over the NWFL who have had a strong history in rep footy," he said.
Cosslett said the team had been focused on their structures at training.
"With a short window of three weeks, we wanted to get everyone on the same page in terms of basic structures and get them gelling together as a group," he said.
"Pulling 22 kids together all from different clubs and getting them to gel and know each other and how each other go about it is important rolling into the game on Saturday."
Under-18 teams
NTFA
FB: Corey McCromick, Darcy Huett, Tallis Trudgeon
HB: Tom Graham, Lachlan Holton, Ethan Crisp
C: Deacon Bloomfield, Eli Bellinger, Jakeb Harris
HF: Kale Fraser, Josh Lyne, Lekkas Mountney
FF: Ryan Quarrell, Elliott Cross, Patrick Gatenby
FOLLOWERS: Jayden Eldershaw, Logan Jones, Will Richards
INTERCHANGE: Lachlan Cheek, Oscar Winspear, Jobi Ellis, Digby Bellchambers
EMERGENCIES: Kaidyn Apted, Archie Edwards
NWFL
FB: Kynan Lee, Ben Chaplin, Sam Long
HB: Jayce Little, Cohan Jeffrey, Bailey Woodcock
C: Jaylan Bryan, Jakeb Townsend, Jake Nash
HF: Harry Watling, Josh Prehn, Finn Mcinnes
FF: Jonty Blake, Lucas Ivory, Jy Marshall
FOLLOWERS: Mason Elphinstone, Ky Robotham, Keaton Edwards
INTERCHANGE: Zac Spinks, Bowen Clemons, Ethan Bonde, Jack Reynier
EMERGENCIES: Lachlan Claridge, Luscas Lardner, Oliver Burbury
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