Great Southern Colts Carnival brings region's best young talent togetherTuesday, June 10, 2025 - 5:30 PM - by Jordan McArdle

Western Australia’s longest-standing footy carnival is back on in Kulin this weekend as the best young talent from eight country competitions battle it out.

The annual Great Southern Colts Carnival, which was first held back in 1922, sees teams from the Great Southern, Upper Great Southern, Peel, Lower South West, Ongerup, Eastern Districts, Esperance and Goldfields leagues converge on Kulin.

The eight teams will be split into two pools, playing every other side in their pool on Saturday, June 14, before crossover finals the following day.

Peel Football League, in Pool A, will be aiming for a hat-trick of titles after winning three of the last four years, with Pool B powerhouse Great Southern prevailing in 2022.

Select players from the carnival will form the Regional Districts team which will compete in Division Two of the CBH Group Colts Carnival at the Nutrien Ag Solutions Country Football Championships held in Perth and Perth next month.

Among the previous winners of the Harry Reeves Medal for Player of the Carnival are current WAFL league footballers Judd Kelman (Subiaco) and Mitch Zadow (East Fremantle) who represented the Goldfields and Peel competitions respectively.

Current South Fremantle coach and former Bulldogs champion Craig White is another former winner, representing the Upper Great Southern in the early 2000s.

Richmond swingman Jacob Blight has played for Great Southern at the carnival, with Lake Grace-Pingrup product and dual Tigers premiership hero turned West Coast recruit Liam Baker (Ongerup) another big name to feature before making it into the AFL.

“The Great Southern Colts Carnival Great is a great opportunity to see the best players from our southern leagues come together in what is one of the highlights of WA’s country football calendar,” WA Football’s Country Competitions Manager Brent Sheridan said.

“The carnival has such a rich history and is an amazing breeding ground and stepping stone for higher honours which we’ve seen so many examples of over the years, with many players progressing to play in the WAFL and AFL.

“It brings together more than 200 talented young footballers from leagues across the region for two days of fierce competition.”

The top teams from both pools will then meet in the grand final at 12.30pm on day two, with the other teams playing off for classification.

All games will be played at Freebairn Recreation Centre and streamed live on Classic Clashes.