Of the 23 players picked in the team, 13 are from the Bulldogs and Hawks.

Those from reigning premier Golden Square who have earned selection are Adam Baird, Josh Baird, Nathan Bell, James Bristow, Matthew Klein-Breteler, Jack Geary and Grant Weeks.

Eaglehawk’s representatives will be captain Brady Herdman, Troy Coates, Tim Hill, Tim Nicholson, Kain Robins and Ryan Threlfall.

The team of 23 has been picked from a preliminary squad of 53 that was released last month.

Eight of the 10 BFL clubs are represented, the only clubs without a player being Castlemaine and Strathfieldsaye.

From the inter-league team that upset arch-rivals Ballarat by 21 points last year, just six players will be lining up again this weekend - Herdman, Nicholson, Threlfall, Adam Baird, Gisborne’s Casey Summerfield and Sandhurst’s Lee Coghlan.

“There’s a lot of blokes who played last year who unfortunately, are injured at the moment, or no longer playing in the league” Bendigo coach Jeff Brennan said yesterday.

“So while there may be only six from last year, we’ve got kids like Darcy Richards, Jayden Hind, Josh Baird and Jack Geary playing their first inter-league matches.”

Without doubt, one of the key strengths of the Bendigo side will be its potent forward line, with Herdman, Weeks, Kangaroo Flat’s Justin Maddern and Kyneton’s James Condos all having been selected.

Weeks (55), Maddern (45) and Condos (40) are the BFL’s top three goalkickers after seven rounds with 140 between them, while Herdman, who had missed two games with a calf injury, has kicked 19.

“We’ve got the opportunity to kick a big score,” Brennan said.

“But having said that, I don’t think we’ve got any more of an opportunity to kick a big score than last

year with the way we played. “It might say that the blokes we have up forward have kicked a lot of goals, but the important thing is going to be the run we get from half-back and through the midfield.