By JARROD POTTER
THERE’S only one way to end a completely hectic off-season – blare the siren and get ready for the first bounce.
The region’s football teams have been juggled about by the various powers that be as West Gippsland and the south east suburbs try to find equilibrium under revised structures.
Casey Cardinia Football League is no more as the South East Football League (SEFL) becomes the new driving force of the Casey-Cardinia region and its nine-team league, while Keysborough has taken to Southern Football League with aplomb.
Just up the Princes Highway, Ellinbank and District Football League (EDFL) is back to one division in 2015 as the East and West structure has fallen by the wayside.
The new structure seems a stop-gap solution though in the greater scheme of AFL Gippsland’s review into football, with another juggling act set to take place for season 2017 across greater Gippsland’s five football competitions.
When we push up into the elite ranks there are signs of improvement as Dandenong Stingrays and Gippsland Power have undergone renewal of their rosters and the Casey Scorpions look set to rise up the VFL ladder under new coach Justin Plapp.
This doesn’t even scratch the surface of a number of other leagues around the area though as Gippsland, Yarra Valley, Nepean, Southern, Eastern and the Victorian Women’s Football League (VWFL) all deserve focus for their own reasons.
But what does all this mean for local footy siren to siren?
We’ll find out this week as the first round kicks off in earnest. Whether it has any far-reaching implications or was just a thin veneer across the footy… will soon become apparent.
Hampton Park and Doveton have already skirmished in SEFNL’s first outing on Good Friday while this week all eyes will be on two blockbusters between Beaconsfield versus Berwick and a preliminary final rematch at Casey Fields – Cranbourne versus Narre Warren.
Cora Lynn and Nar Nar Goon set up the first foray of the new structure as Buln Buln and Longwarry resume hostilities after an action-packed EDFL East grand final and Garfield will host Lang Lang and Catani versus Kooweerup round out the first weekend.
No matter how the structures falls into place, the Pakenham Gazette will be there to cover the local footy that matters most to you.
Whether it’s juniors, seniors, women’s, reserves, interleague, AFL, looking back, gazing forward or anything in between – if it’s footy, then the Gazette will be on the boundaries and in the rooms to help you keep pace with the wider football landscape of Melbourne’s south east.
