Dimboola Football Netball Club asked the league in February to consider a proposal that included reducing junior sides to 16 players on the ground.

It also asked the league to cap club junior team player numbers at 25.

Chief commissioner Greg Schultz said the league had researched the options and spoken with clubs before making its decision.

He said the constitution stated that if teams were short, they could field smaller sides.

‘‘It’s still in the by-laws that if two clubs meet and they’re short on the day, they can discuss and play to as little as 14-a-side and still have guys on the bench,’’ he said.

‘‘They can play with lower numbers depending on the day, and that’s for juniors and reserves as well.’’

Dimboola president Brenden Hoffmann said junior numbers were an issue in country football.

‘‘I’m very concerned about the juniors. I’m disappointed junior numbers weren’t capped,’’ he said.

‘‘There are some strong clubs with numbers and weaker clubs with less numbers. We might struggle for numbers, but so will other clubs. We’ll just have to work within the rules we have.’’

The league also flagged the possibility of reducing player numbers for the reserves competition, but the clubs rejected it.

‘‘We thought it would open the game up in the reserves and bring something new,’’ Mr Schultz said.

‘‘The clubs have had a chance to discuss it, and they’ve decided not to go with it.

‘‘It was one of the best meetings we’ve had for a very long time, with lots of healthy debate.’’

Mr Schultz commended the clubs for their involvement at last week’s ice forum.

The commission has also created a welfare portfolio off the back of a second pilot seminar at Swan Hill at the weekend.

The seminar focused on the mechanical sides of clubs and educated people on dealing with certain incidents and people.