Five young CDHBU players line up for undermanned Billabong Crows

Seth Dawson, Deklan Fenton, Lachie Hogan, Deagan Purcell and Bailey Thurston-Jackson ran out with the Crows under-17s against Howlong.

With the Power up against Murray Magpies, who don't have juniors, the quintet would otherwise have been left kicking their heels so Crows co-coach Tylar Hemphill was thrilled to welcome them on board.

"We were down on a few numbers and those boys had the bye so we offered them a game and they took it upon themselves to help us out," Hemphill said.

"We're always on the struggle to find players because we're very low on numbers, so we're welcoming to everyone who comes to help out.

"Getting these kids on the field is very important to me.

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"They spend all week working or tucked away in school, so to give them an opportunity to get out on the field and burn a lot of energy, have fun and be out there with their mates is huge."

Howlong won the game by 93 points but for Hemphill and his co-coach Logan Kerr, this was a win.

"We struggle to field a full side but we've had the opportunity of sharing numbers, which has been unreal for us," he said.

"We take players from the other team to fill a side, even if it's just 13 young blokes against 13.

"It's been unreal to see clubs working together like that.

"Yes, everyone wants to get out there and have a win but our main aim is just to get the boys on the field to have that run around."

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