KS41 wrote:Sherrin wrote:BDT to head to RMFL giving them 8th team - eliminating the bye.
Ramco to head to Independents giving them 8th team - eliminating the bye.
Robertstown to merge with Eudunda to form stronger 8th team in NEFL.
BSR, Morgan/Cadell, Sedan/Cambrai to form a "Mid Murray Mallee" league of 8 teams. 16 rounds a season where the extra two games would be played against nearest neighbours to cut down on travel.
Final four across the board.
Is this fact or rumour??
It's a suggested working model.
Below are some stories on the issue that appeared in this week's Riverland Weekly:
Mid Murray on the brink
By ROB McLEAN
THE Mid Murray Football League is on the brink of folding, following an often emotional forum held at Karoonda on Sunday.
Clubs have until August 10 to decide whether to stave off the closure of the competition or look for other playing avenues.
Sunday’s meeting was held to discuss the future of the Mid Murray and Mallee competitions.
It was prompted by the Mid Murray league’s struggle for numbers and concerns over the future of several Mallee clubs, including Karoonda and Peake.
By the end of the meeting it become evident the Mid Murray competition, which is currently being administered by the Riverland Football League, was under threat.
Low junior numbers and an increasing reliance on players from outside of the region have brought the league’s future into question.
Ramco is investigating a move to the RFL’s Independent competition, while Morgan-Cadell’s future looks grim, leaving three clubs to decide where they will play in the future.
Murray Mallee Barrier zone administrator Tim Jackson fronted the meeting, providing a chance for clubs in the two leagues to state where they think their future lies.
“The landscape is changing quickly and we can’t predict what’s going to happen in five years,” Mr Jackson told the assembled crowd of around 100 football supporters from across the region.
Describing the situation as the ‘elephant in the room’, Mr Jackson said the MMFL clubs needed to consider whether they would join the Mallee Football League.
He said that despite having to travel even further for their football, the two leagues have a common thread through their various farming interests and said a merger could benefit both parties.
“Everyone benefits if you all survive,” Mr Jackson said.
Mallee officials conceded their competition too was under threat and they are happy to travel further in order to ensure the survival of football in the region.
Speaking on behalf of the Lameroo Football Club, legendary player Rodney Maynard described the importance of football in the region.
“It means everything to us,” he said.
“I’ve got a young family and I want to see them involved.
“I was going to retire at the end of this season but if this happens (new teams joining the competition) it might make it more interesting.”
A Karoonda official described the battle his club faced for survival prior to the season.
He conceded the club may “fall over” in coming years but it needed to remain viable for as long as possible for the community’s benefit.
“We looked like falling in a hole at the start of the year,” he said.
“We are going to be around next year, but who knows after that?”
Murrayville player Drew Crane succinctly described the situation and what it represents to the communities.
“If the club dies, then so does the town,” he said.
Clubs officials will now go back to their members and discuss the outcomes of the meeting and where their future lies.
The Blanchetown Swan Reach Football Club will host the next meeting, at which it is expected some resolutions for the region’s football future will be passed.
The startling figures
During the meeting Murray Mallee Barrier zone administrator Tim Jackson provided some startling player figures.
The statistics provided stark illustration of the position Mallee and Mid Murray football is in.
Mallee:
Senior players - 240 required (186 locals playing, with 115 travelling). Juniors - 240 required with only 127 registered.
Mid Murray:
Senior players – 200 required (115 locals playing, with 61 travelling). Juniors – 200 needed with only 106 registered.
Between the two competitions there are 475 players with 176 travelling from outside of the community.
Meanwhile, the region is in the West Adelaide Football Club’s recruiting area and while it is one of the largest zones in size, it has the lowest number of junior players between 10 and 19 years of age.
The Riverland picture
RIVERLAND based football clubs are safe for now but not necessarily so in the future.
Describing the situation at Sunday’s meeting, Riverland Football League commission member Terry Wheeldon said the clubs based in major towns are safe for the short term.
“In the long term, the drought is going to have a significant effect,” he said.
“From an education perspective I can tell you that six schools in the Barmera area have dropped classes in the last few years.”
Mr Wheeldon described the Independent competition as sound but lopsided.
“It seems the towns situated closer to the bigger towns seem to be holding numbers and competitiveness,” he said.
“The three that sit a bit further removed from the Riverland are a year by year proposition based on the hard work of their communities.”
Under age programs also face changes
By ROB McLEAN
A RESTRUCTURE of SANFL under age football could see more of the region’s young stars available to play locally as soon as next season.
Speaking at Sunday’s Mid Murray and Mallee football forum at Karoonda, West Adelaide general manager of football operations Scott Turner said the proposed changes would have big ramifications for local clubs.
Under the proposal being backed by the Bloods, the current under 17s and under 19s competition will be changed to a one team under age structure.
A competition featuring either an under 18 or 19 players will remain.
Mr Turner said an under 18 or under 17 competition held over eight weeks in March or April will also be held – the abbreviated competition meaning the talented youngsters will now be available for their home clubs more often.
Previous reviews of the SANFL underage program have often stalled, however, Mr Turner said this time changes are in store.
“The big difference is that the SANFL is driving it as they see the impacts it’s going to have right through,” he said.
Mr Turner said the new system could even be in place as early as next season.
Opinion: Crunch time for football
By ROB McLEAN
SUNDAY’S football forum at Karoonda provided some very bleak news for those who are passionate about grass roots football in the Riverland, Mid Murray and Mallee.
At the moment the situation is basically affecting Mid Murray and Mallee competitions – their survival threatened by declining populations.
Looking over the discussions on the day, it would seem elementary that the Mid Murray competition will fold at the end of this season, if not the next, ending a shared history of many years.
Mallee football experts expect their competition to further downsize in the next few seasons as well.
Some will say “so what, it’s only football”.
However, the football teams are the lifeblood of those towns, they bring so many more benefits other than just entertainment, health and recreation.
Football clubs bring other people into their towns every two weeks, it may be only for a day but the petrol stations and food providers certainly get a little bit of extra business on those days.
The local bakery and butcher sell pies, pasties and steaks to the footy clubs for lunches and dinners.
The football is also a place to meet and catch up with mates.
With the advance of technology in our lives, we don’t have to leave home if we don’t wish to. Removing a football club from the community further disconnects us from our neighbours and insulates us from those whom we share commonality with.
We can all look back fondly on the times when country football was king, sadly for communities like Morgan and Cadell and even Karoonda, which is relying on its recruiting after nearly folding this year, those boom times are long gone.
Clubs have merged and amalgamated, whole competitions have been disbanded and now it seems even those downsized leagues have plenty to fear.
It is rare to find a club in either of these two leagues that has not been forced to merge in the past – Robertstown in the Mid Murray Football League being an exception.
Noticeable at Sunday’s meeting was that there was very little presence from any of the 13 Riverland Football League clubs.
East Murray and Brown’s Well clubs were in attendance – only too aware of the bleakness of their future.
However, the RFL clubs also need to sit back and take notice of this situation.
As while clubs – particularly those regarded as the ‘Big Six’ – are strong at the moment, the times are a changing.
Where will the Independent competition be in 20 years time? How about the RFL? Will there be enough players for a seconds competition in two decades time?
As rural populations further decline those clubs that believe they have a future will need a far-sighted approach if they are to survive.
Meanwhile, the Mid Murray Football League, especially, doesn’t have that much time.
It is going to be a harrowing three weeks for club officials in that league as they consider the future.
A decision to fold or fight will be made by August 10 – whatever they decide, the march towards oblivion seems unstoppable as the dominoes keep falling over.
You're my only friend, and you don't even like me.
by KS41 » Thu Jul 24, 2008 9:35 pm 
Football 
