Weekly Wrap | One of the big offseason stories of the 2023 season was the stripping of the Ovens and Murray FNL 2022 premiership from the Wangaratta FNC due to breaching the league’s salary cap.
We are almost at a final conclusion to this event as the decision on the appeal submitted by the club is due to be finalised within a week after the committee accessing the appeal have asked for some further time to make their decision. It will be interesting to see which way it goes. Another big story this week was the news that the Portland FNC have been approached by the SANFL to join a newly redeveloped league in 2024 as 3 local SA country footy leagues are under a restructuring proposal. Portland FNC have been a member of the Hampden FNL since 2013 when they moved from the Western Border FNL. If the Tigers do choose to move for season 2024, they would re-engage with old Western Border FNL rivals in North and South Gambier FNC’s. It looks like a busy few months for the club to assess their 2024 options, all while focussing on their current season fortunes.
Unfortunately this week saw two games abandoned across 2 leagues due to serious injuries sustained by players. In the South West District FNL a footballer from Caramut FNC was airlifted to the Royal Melbourne Hospital after being injured in a reserves match at Derrinallum which led to the Seniors match being called off. Similarly in the Ellinbank and District FNL match between Yarragon FNC and Neerim South FNC was called off as the game neared the end of the second quarter due to a concussed Yarragon player remaining on the ground for 30 minutes to receive medical treatment. Despite Neerim’s South FNC’s large lead at the time the game was abandoned.
Another week saw more former AFL players gracing the country footy playing fields, with former Rising Star winner Lewis Taylor debuting for Terang Mortlake FNC in their 68 point win over Hamilton FNC in the Hampden FNL. Up in the Golden Rivers FNL it was former Sydney Swan captain and premiership player Josh Kennedy who lined up with the Murrabit FNC in their clash with Wandella FNC. Aided by 4 goals from another ex AFL player in Damian Cupido, Kennedy was able to help the Blues chalk up win number 1 for the 2023 season.
Looking at the scores this week, we’ve kept our run of drawn matches going. Not for the first time this year we saw poor kicking cost a club the win with Grovedale FNC managing 8.19 67 to be level with North Shore FNC’s 10.7 67 in their Geelong FNL match. In the Central Highlands FNL inaccuracy again impacted the final result with Daylesford FNC scoring 9.9 63 to be equal at the final siren with the more accurate 10.3 63 from Beaufort FNC.
A bag of 15 goals from Chiltern FNC’s Mark Doolan headed this week's list of players who kicked 10 or more goals in games this week, including his Swans teammate, Jake Cooper, who also snagged 10 of his own in the same game. We’ve waited a few weeks to get the first footballer to kick 50 goals for this season and we’ve ended up with 3 hitting the milestone after this week's matches. Charlie Burrows from Waaia FNC in the Picola and District FNL and Nathan Gardiner from Cora Lynn FNC in the West Gippsland FNC both hit a total of 52 after their weekend games, while Swan Reach FNC’s Max Solomon ended the round on 51. There are a further 9 players with tallies ranging from 49 - 46 goals of the season who could potentially pass 50 goals after next week’s matches.
Finally, the past week there has been an incredible outpouring of support and responses from football leagues and clubs right across Victoria and Australia in response to the tragic events last week in the Bendigo FNL. The impacts of the events have hit home for anyone who is connected to a local football club and our thoughts remain for the family and friends of Dallas Keogh-Frankling, his teammates and everyone involved within the Castlemaine FNC.
