Football moving forward

SEFNL and AFL Yarra Ranges presidents and officials gather at Upwey Tecoma Football Club on Thursday night.

By Nick Creely

AFL Yarra Ranges formally granted the applications for six South East Football Netball League clubs to join the commission for 2019 during a presentation at the Upwey Tecoma Football Club on Thursday night.

Beaconsfield, Berwick, Doveton, Narre Warren, Officer and Pakenham had their applications ratified under AFL Victoria By-law 3.8 (ii) to transfer into another Regional Commission, paving the way for the new divisional structure in 2019.

Berwick Springs have also joined the commission as a new club in 2019, and will commence with an Under 19s and netball team next year with the view to later becoming a senior club.

After much deliberation over the name over the competition, the AFL Yarra Ranges commission also confirmed it will be known as ‘AFL Outer East’, reflecting the broader area it now represents. The competition will then be known as ‘Outer East Football Netball League’.

AFL Yarra Ranges region general manager Aaron Bailey explained the thinking behind the name on the night, and said it was an important decision in setting up the future.

“We want to encompass what we are, and what we have been and what we’ll become – the Yarra Ranges is a key part of who we are, and we want to certainly keep making sure our region is acknowledged along the way,” he said.

“But, we do now cover the south-east of Melbourne – particularly the councils of Casey and Cardinia, so we believe we need to have a name that reflects our competition.”

The commission will be offering both Under 18 and Under 19 football in 2019, and clubs can nominate a team in either age group.

As previously stated by the Gazette, there will be three divisions making up the Outer East Football Netball League, with Premier, Division 1 and Division 2 grades.

Premier has been confirmed as an eight-team competition, which will feature the top five AFL Yarra Ranges Division 1 sides, and the top three SEFNL sides.

Division 1 will be a nine-team competition with the bottom five AFL Yarra Ranges Division 1 sides, and also featuring the bottom three SEFNL clubs, and one team from Division 2 of the Yarra Ranges (by application).

Division 2 will also be an eight-team competition, made up of current AFL Yarra Ranges Division 2 clubs.

The Yarra Ranges commission has made the decision on where each team sits in the divisional structure by looking at factors such as on-field club performance from the past five years, financial sustainability, ability for the club to compete, quality of boys’ and girls’ juniors and junior pathway, and the facilities – including the capacity for crowds, netball, all-ability access and females (including future development plans).

The preferred promotion and relegation system will be one up, one down, and in 2019, promotion from Division 2 will be application or invitation only. By 2021, the aim is to have promotion and relegation across all divisions.

The commission has also recommended an increase in player point levels to match neighbouring competitions, and a set salary cap that can be sustainable for the future of all clubs.

Points will be increased to 44 for Premier, 44 for Division 1 and 47 for Division 2, while the salary cap limits for 2019 will be $125,000 for Premier, $110,000 for Division 1 and $80,000 for Division 2.

However, tiered points will be applied to clubs in any division in order to achieve competition balance, with the SEFNL clubs likely to be given 39 points in Premier and 41 points in Division 1.

The salary cap amounts will be reviewed on an annual basis, and the Premier cap should closely align to the MPNFL and EFL Division 1 competitions.

Women’s football is also high on the agenda, with Bailey confirming they are making in-roads on how to grow the game.

“We can confirm that we are working with the EFL (Eastern Football League) to go to an Eastern Region Women’s competition,” he said.

“Hopefully with a structured divisional set-up with Premier and working down, our aim is to grow to the point that our strong women’s teams can compete with the EFL and we will have a standalone Yarra Ranges development competition, so there’s working happening there in terms of that.”

In terms of the netball structure in 2019, the commission will introduce Under 13, 15 and 17 age groups, and provide divisional netball in junior ranks for clubs with strong numbers.

Moving forward, AFL Yarra Ranges has announced Matt Fotia as the media manager starting in September, while it will also look to appoint a head of umpiring and netball development manager in the coming months. Totally Workwear Berwick and Knoxfield has also been locked in as the major sponsor of the Premier competition.

The full draft of the findings of the AFL Yarra Ranges Review will be released on 17 August, with clubs having 28 days to respond to the reviews and make any further recommendations.

For more details on what this means for the local football landscape, pick up a copy of next week’s Gazette.