SA Footy

jo172 wrote:Must say 20 seems short. Play every game and a couple of finals and you'll hit 20 in a year.

AFL Victoria has dished out suspended fines totalling nearly $300,000 for breaches of the player points system uncovered at 70-plus country football clubs across Gippsland, with every individual blunder copping a penalty fee of $1500.

The fines issued to clubs have been capped at $6000, which equates to four errors in calculating a player’s points allocation, and have been suspended for two seasons.

An initial breach by Warragul Industrials for incorrect allocations was discovered during the West Gippsland league finals series and led to the club being fined $3000, with another $500 suspended.

But AFL Victoria’s John O’Donohue said Warragul Industrials’ punishment had been changed to a suspended fine as part of a “consistent” approach after discovering the problem was more widespread.

“There is room for improvement at all levels and it serves as a warning for everyone to do better,” he said.

“Everyone starts next year with a clean slate that every player is correct.

“There will be some training provided in the new year and that will be statewide.

“It’s up to clubs to turn up and be diligent to get everything right.”

The Weekly Times spoke to multiple club officials who were adamant problems were largely due to teething problems with the PlayHQ administration system introduced this year, but weren’t prepared to comment on the record.

PlayHQ contains player histories that determine what point allocation each player receives.

Former Gippsland AFL commissioner John White. Picture: Jason Edwards
Former Gippsland AFL commissioner John White. Picture: Jason Edwards
Former AFL Gippsland commissioner John White said AFL Victoria and AFL Gippsland were avoiding blame in the issue.

“In what has become an unacceptable but usual defence, AFL Victoria immediately placed the responsibility and blame onto the hundreds of volunteers navigating what is often seen as a complex set of criteria,” he said.

“Good leadership and management by AFL Victoria and AFL Gippsland would have avoided this becoming a very divisive matter.”

Warragul Industrials official Nick Gooden, who was responsible for the interpretations at the club that ultimately led to the fines, said he was “thankful the footy club doesn’t have to find $3500 for a mistake I made”.

“If you do the wrong thing there should be a punishment,” he said.

“But when 60 or 70 clubs in the region are making the same mistake there is more to it.

“Hopefully this is a line-in-the-sand moment for the player point system because I’m sure it’s not just Gippsland that has got it wrong.”