Footy landscape changed for better

Garfield and Phillip Island went head-to-head in the 2001 West Gippsland Football League preliminary final. They’re set to lock horns again in 2017. 149697

By RUSSELL BENNETT

FOOTBALL and netball clubs in West Gippsland have spoken – the status quo couldn’t continue. There was too much of an imbalance – both on field and off – with some clubs far more sustainable than others.
They spoke, and AFL Gippsland listened. So, from 2017 onwards the local footy landscape will look distinctly different. The West Gippsland Football and Netball League is back … though not quite as many remember it.
AFL Gippsland late last week officially released the Gippsland Senior Football Leagues review draft recommendations after an independent review committee presented its findings to the regions football and netball leagues and clubs.
The biggest change is the return of a West Gippsland league, with structural changes to the Alberton and Ellinbank competitions – Ellinbank and District Football League (EDFL) and Ellinbank and District Netball Association (EDNA) – also taking place.
West Gippsland will be re-formed as a nine-team competition including Bunyip, Cora Lynn, Garfield, Kooweerup, Nar Nar Goon, Dalyston, Kilcunda-Bass, Korumburra-Bena and Phillip Island.
Interestingly, a clash guernsey would have to be created to separate Bunyip and Phillip Island – both the ‘Bulldogs’.
The EDFL will also become a nine-team competition – made up of Buln Buln, Catani, Ellinbank, Lang Lang, Longwarry, Neerim Neerim South, Nilma Darnum, Poowong, and the Warragul Industrials. Current EDFL side Nyora is set to play in the Alberton league.
Netball Victoria has worked closely with the AFL throughout the process and the feedback from clubs in Ellinbank is that they want the EDFL and EDNA united as one body.
AFL Gippsland commission chairman Brian Quigley said the initial feedback to the draft recommendations was that there might be some changes prior to 2017.
“What’s gone out mightn’t be the final version, and I think there’s every chance (it won’t be),” he said.
“(But) the whole feedback process has been fantastic. The clubs will have until Friday 11 March when all written submissions have to come back in.
“Our whole intention is to have the whole lot out public (for 2017) by Easter or very close to it this year. We won’t be mucking around and holding on to it. The sooner everyone knows, the better.”
AFL Gippsland region general manager Travis Switzer said there’d been a lot of feedback from clubs in West and South Gippsland that they were struggling to compete in the competition structure they were in.
“The number one thing that clubs kept coming back to us about was competitive balance,” he said.
“They wanted to be able to compete in the competition they’re in at senior football and netball level. They felt that if they couldn’t compete that had an impact on their volunteers who felt that burden, and they also had a lack of motivation from volunteers when they were getting belted every week.
“This review is very much club-driven – it’s about the sustainability of clubs.
“We make no apologies that clubs are our focus.
“No doubt there’s going to be an impact on leagues and umpire associations, but we want to make sure we’ve got the best structures in place for our clubs.
“We’ve looked at population growth and statistics, travel distances, registrations of clubs at Auskick and junior level for the past three years, postcode analysis – where clubs are recruiting their players from and where they live, and a heap of work on winning and losing margins over the past seven years for every club in every league as well as winning percentages and finals appearances.”
The review into Ellinbank footy and netball heard: that some clubs have found it very hard to remain competitive in a 15-team competition; that they were unable to retain players due to an uneven competition; that there were three different perceived levels in the EDFL – the top five clubs, the next five to seven attempting to compete, and the bottom three to four who cannot lift themselves at senior level; and that there were “league issues” with the EDFL and EDNA.
The West Gippsland Football Netball Competition for 2017 will operate under AFL Gippsland with AFL Gippsland responsible for the governance and administration of the league.
The new competition will have seniors, reserves, under-18s and under-16s in football and A Grade, B Grade, C Grade, under-17s, under-15s and under-13s in netball.
Nar Nar Goon Football Club committee member Patrick Noonan came out in support of the new West Gippsland competition, saying: “The AFL Commission, with limited choice, has taken a fair option for all clubs involved.
“There will be some pain for a couple of clubs but a majority of clubs would be happy to go forward with this structure.
“From a Nar Nar Goon perspective, we are happy that we will be playing good competitive football every week. It does involve a little bit more travelling, but that’s okay.”
Meanwhile, Peter Duff – the president of the Catani Football Club, which is set to remain in Ellinbank – also endorsed the new set-up.
“We’re pretty positive about it – we think it’s a good thing,” he said.
“We wanted to go back to the old EDFL and that’s pretty much what’s happened.
“They’ve taken a lot of data into account and, in a general sense, it’s pretty good.
“It puts us back to more of a level playing field.
“Success is important to our community.”