THE Southern Mallee Giants have had their request to leave the Horsham District Football Netball League approved last night, despite some opposition from the league’s board.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The league’s chairman Graeme King said there were some differing views on the situation as the board held a meeting on Wednesday night to address the request.
“We have granted a request from the Southern Mallee Giants to be released from our competition,” Mr King said.
“There was lots of discussion from the board. The vote wasn’t unanimous, but the vote passed with a reasonable majority in favour.
“There were different views on why they should go. Essentially they are only dominant in a senior football aspect. Do you focus totally on one grade compared to about 12 grades of sport?
“There was debate back and forth as to the merits of it.”
The Giants are also currently in the process of applying to the Wimmera Football League and the Wimmera Netball Association.
There was lots of discussion from the board. The vote wasn’t unanimous, but the vote passed with a reasonable majority in favour.
- Graeme King
The Giants are not the only team that could be applying for a leave request before the season starts.
Edenhope-Apsley has been discussing a potential merger with Border Districts, with a merger club expected to compete in the Kowree-Naracoorte-Tatiara Football League.
“My understanding at this stage is that a decision will be made by Edenhope-Apsley by the end of this week,” Mr King said.
“If they merge we would have one less team and be back to a 10-team competition, and have to do a new draw.
“We had 10 teams for several years prior to Jeparit-Rainbow and the Giants coming in, so we are okay with running that again.”
Mr King said while more changes this close to the 2018 season were not ideal, they could be a positive for the future of country football.
“It’s not ideal from a planning point of view,” he said.
“It’s inevitable in country football there will be mergers and movement going forward. While we lose a team, they are playing sport elsewhere, so sport still wins.”