Of the Pioneers’ team of 23 that will take to the field at the Williamstown Football Ground at 2.15pm against the Jets, six will be playing their first TAC Cup games.

The six on debut are Braydon Vaz (Golden Square), Oscar Perez (Sandhurst), Aaron Gundry (South Bendigo), Jeremy Rodi (Mildura), Kobe Brown (Mildura) and Liam Tenace (Echuca).

Vaz, Gundry, Rodi and Brown are all bottom-age players, with their inclusion helping to prepare the Pioneers for the upcoming Futures Rounds.

“We think there’s a lot of talent in our bottom-age players and we’re really keen to bring them through,” coach Rick Coburn said.

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“No doubt it will be a step up in pace, the Western Jets (5-2) are a good side and will be a good challenge for the boys, but one they will take on together.”

Saturday’s Pioneers’ team to take on the Jets includes nine bottom-age players.

Come the Futures Rounds in rounds 10 and 11, teams need to play at least 11 bottom-age players.

The Pioneers (1-6) have lost six games in a row in which they have been held to scores of 52, 29, 45, 30, 53 and 42.

“Most of that has come down to supply and not being able to get enough forward 50 entries,” Coburn said.

“The past two games in particular have been quite wet, which has made scoring a challenge for both sides, but we’ve had a real focus of getting our hands on the footy and creating more supply to our forwards.”

WESTERN JETS v. BENDIGO PIONEERS​

Western Jets

B: 25. S. Johnson, 41. L. Rzanovski, 37. H. Murphy

HB: 10. S. Kyriazis, 38. B. Khamis, 6. L. Rocci

C: 17. D.  Andrews , 36. J.  Rice, 23. M.  Maguang

HF: 20. D. Cassar, 24. J. Honey, 2. T. Rudic

F: 11. Z. Butters, 31. E. Jeka, 45. A. Clarke

R: 47. D. Walters, 12. C. Thar, 39. S. Radovanovic

Int: 5. M. Chak, 21. J. Crawford, 29. D. Fruscalzo, 4. J. Jenkins, 28. J. Papachatzakis, 35. T. Warner, 7. J. Watkins

23P: 16. C. White

In: D. Walters, C. White, J. Crawford, M. Maguang, S. Radovanovic, T. Rudic

Out: X. O'Halloran,  N. Ellis,  W. Smyth

Bendigo Pioneers

B: 3. L. Marciano, 11. J. Grace, 41. B. Vaz

HB: 24. N. McHugh, 32. W. Wallace, 2. J. Williams

C: 25. F.  Perez, 43. H.  Lawrence, 49. O.  Perez

HF: 29. E. Roberts, 46. L. Tenace, 20. J. Schischka

F: 6. J. Rodi, 54. M. Christensen, 5. N. Wheeler

R: 23. D. Keating, 9. Z. Keighran, 15. Caccaviello

Int: 16. J. Atley, 33. J. McHale, 48. P. Moi Moi, 28. C. Vick, 51. B. Waasdorp

23P: 13. K. Brown

In: J. Atley, L. Tenace, C. Vick, K. Brown, J. Rodi, O. Perez, B. Vaz

Out: L. Caccaviello, Z. Denahy, T. Walters, C. McCarty, M. Lias, D. Loveridge, B. Henderson