By Nick Creely
With lingering doubts over when, or if, community football and netball leagues in Metropolitan Melbourne will resume this season, the AFL Outer East released its roadmap for all senior football and netball on Friday.
This roadmap concerns the competition for the remainder of the 2021 season, taking into account various scenarios over when restrictions will ease.
At this stage, Metropolitan Melbourne’s lockdown is scheduled to end at 11:59pm on Thursday night, however with ongoing community transmission of Covid-19, it’s expected that a lockdown extension is imminent, potentially up to two weeks according to reports, which would be the start of September.
The AFL Outer East has reiterated that senior competitions will return once “permission is granted by the Victorian Government”, and has also stated that a one-week training block – entailing at least two sessions – will need to be completed in order to resume the season.
The competition stated that their intention is for the completion of the season to take place after heavy consultation with clubs late last week.
“Our priority on returning remains that it will be safe to do so and guided by the approval of the government, AFL and Netball Victoria,” the release read.
“The AFL Outer East commission met with all clubs last night to discuss the way forward to complete the home and away season and conduct a finals series.
“In the meantime, we ask for all members of the community to continue looking out for each other, stay safe and healthy and abide by the restrictions in place.”
The top-six finals structure for the 2021 season have also been released, with the following structure:
Week One – first v second in a qualifying final, with the winner receiving top ranking for week two. Third v sixth and fourth v fifth will be the elimination finals.
Week Two – Winner of first v second will play the lower ranked winner of elimination finals. Loser of first v second will play the higher ranked winner of the elimination finals.
Week Three – grand finals.
The AFL Outer East has released the following scenarios for the remainder of the season:
PREMIER DIVISION
If lockdown ends by 23 August
28 August: Round 15
4 September: Qualifying and Elimination Finals
11 September: Semi Finals
18 September: Grand Finals
If lockdown ends by 30 August
4 September: Qualifying and Elimination Finals
11 September: Semi Finals
18 September: Grand Finals
If lockdown ends by 6 September
11 September: Semi Finals
18 September: Grand Finals
If lockdown hasn’t ended by 13 September
TBC: A Grand Final (first v second) will only be played, with the latest completion date for these to be 9 October.
**The Premier Division U19’s and Junior Netball Blue Division fixtures will be aligned to these dates.
DIVISION ONE
If lockdown ends by August 23
August 28: Round 16
September 5: Qualifying and Elimination Finals
September 12: Semi Finals
September 19: Grand Finals
If lockdown ends by August 30
September 5: Qualifying and Elimination Finals
September 12: Semi Finals
September 19: Grand Finals
If lockdown ends by September 6
September 12: Semi Finals
September 19: Grand Finals
If lockdown hasn’t ended by September 13
TBC: A Grand Final (first v second) will only be played, with the latest completion date for these to be 10 October.
**The Division 1 U19’s and Junior Netball White Division fixtures will be aligned to these dates.
DIVISION TWO
If lockdown ends by August 23
August 28: Round 16
September 4: Qualifying and Elimination Finals
September 11: Semi Finals
September 18: Grand Finals
If lockdown ends by August 30
September 4: Qualifying and Elimination Finals
September 11: Semi Finals
September 18: Grand Finals
If lockdown ends by September 6
September 11: Semi Finals
September 18: Grand Finals
If lockdown hasn’t ended by September 13
TBC: A Grand Final (first v second) will only be played, with the latest completion date for these to be 9 October.
**The U17 Saturday boys fixtures will be aligned to these dates.
WOMEN’S AND VETERANS
If lockdown ends by August 23
August 29: Women’s Division 1 & 2 Preliminary Finals.
September 5: Women’s Division 1 & 2 and Veterans Grand Finals.
If lockdown ends by August 30
September 5: Women’s Division 1 & 2 Preliminary Finals.
September 12: Women’s Division 1 & 2 and Veterans Grand Finals.
If lockdown ends by September 6
September 12: Women’s Division 1 and 2 and Veterans Grand Finals.
JUNIOR NETBALL
If lockdown ends by August 20, the Junior Netball grades (all ages, Blue & Whites) will play on Saturday 21 August with the fixture to be announced.
Junior Netball matches to be played on August 28 will be the Round 15 matches for all grades.
All finals will start on September 4th or 5th and are aligned to their Senior Open competition dates.
