By RUSSELL BENNETT
BULN BULN will host its clash with Nar Nar Goon tomorrow at it its normal Station Street home ground, while Catani will be forced to ‘host’ its home game against the Demons in Kooweerup.
That’s the state of play since the muddy conditions wrought havoc last Saturday in the Ellinbank and District Football League (EDFL).
Mild weather throughout the week seems to have made little impact on the decision of the EDFL to move Catani’s home game at Taplins Road to Kooweerup, while Buln Buln’s ground – on which just two goals in total were scored during last Saturday’s senior game – will host tomorrow’s clash between the Lyrebirds and the Goon.
Plenty raised their eyebrows at an article in Wednesday’s Gazette that made reference to the conditions of last week’s games at Station Street and Taplins Road. The widely-held view – particularly through social media – was that the condition of the Catani ground was in a far better state.
Both games tomorrow have finals ramifications, with the Demons currently fourth on the ladder and the Goon sixth.
Both clubs made it clear during the week that they wanted their respective games moved. Ellinbank and District Football League president Roger Gwynne weighed in after last Saturday, saying: “I personally don’t think the (Buln Buln) game should have gone ahead”.
He said he hadn’t seen conditions that bad in 30 years, and yet it’s Catani which has lost the right to play its game on its home ground this weekend.
Catani Football Club president Peter Duff said there had been a lot of back and forth between the Blues and the EDFL throughout the week.
“The EDFL has deemed it unfit for play,” he said.
“Although it’s not pristine, we were very confident it’d be right for play this week because it recovers quickly.
“But we have to move on now.”
The Gazette understands that the Blues and Demons have sat down to discuss the logistics of this week’s game, but to this point no agreement has been reached.
“We’re not happy we’ve lost a home game,” Duff said of the Round 16 football and netball clashes.
“This has caused a fair bit of angst between the two clubs – whether fair or not. Kooweerup has done what’s best for them, and my job is to do what’s best for Catani.”
Catani’s home fixture with Kooweerup is typically one of its biggest every season, and tomorrow will be the last time they play against each other for the foreseeable future with the Demons entering the West Gippsland Football Netball Competition from 2017.
