The Saints are set for their first game of the season when they host Blighty this weekend.
In the lead up, the club did fear it would not be able to field a side.
Berrigan reached out to surrounding clubs and all hopes looked to be dashed before the Rams stepped up to help.
Some of the Rams’ players will join the Saints for the 2020 season.
With the Murray League season called off this year, Rams fourths coach Anthony Bradley said it was a win:win for both clubs.
‘‘At the end of the day we want juniors to be able to go out and play sport,’’ he said.
‘‘We saw an opportunity to not only give our players some games, but to also help Berrigan’s juniors to have something to look forward to.
‘‘I believe they only had about 10 thirds players and 13 fourths kids, so if we didn’t do it they would have had to withdraw from the comp.
‘‘All the Berrigan kids will be picked for the side every week and we’ll be rotating our players through week by week so everyone gets a run.
‘‘This is a best case scenario for not just our clubs, but also for the Picola League who otherwise would’ve only had three teams competing.’’
The Rams thirds and fourths players have been allowed to join the Saints through the AFL’s COVID permits, which allows a player to temporarily join a club that’s competing this year.
In preparation for each game, the Rams players will travel to Berrigan for training every Thursday evening.
This was agreed upon by both clubs with Bradley saying it was crucial that the Deni players went across there to train.
‘‘They’re going to go from having a handful of players at training to about 50,’’ he said.
‘‘Hopefully this will breathe some new life in the club and encourage more kids to get out there to play for them in future seasons.
‘‘That is our main goal with this arrangement; we want to help Berrigan as well as keep our young players interested in playing footy.’’
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