THE Central Murray A Grade Netball competition will have a different look about it from Saturday.
The Kerang Football Netball Club’s exemption to not field an A Grade netball team was revoked by the Central Rivers board recently, forcing the Blues to enter an A Grade team for the final four games of the season.
Before this weekend, Kerang had an exemption to not field a team in the CMFNL A Grade competition, after approaching the Central Rivers board before the season, citing a lack of players as a key reason.
However, after a number of league clubs withdrew their support for the exemption to continue, the Board were left with the decision to revoke the exemption and thus forcing Kerang’s A Reserve netball team to move up into A Grade.
AFL Central Rivers leagues manager Taylah Morris spoke with The Guardian following the announcement and outlined the reasons for the decision.
“It was a lot to do with club support – at the start of the year, when Kerang requested to have that exemption in place, most of the clubs supported it and were happy to grant the exemption and allow them to build their club back up because they were struggling with numbers,” Morris said.
“But following their performances throughout the season, a lot of clubs ended up pulling that support – the board also thought it would give them (Kerang) a good opportunity to get back into A Grade standard netball as well ahead of a return to the top flight competition next season.
“(Kerang) were informed earlier this season that they probably wouldn’t get an exemption next year, so this decision will help give their younger players that experience before going full time back into the A Grade competition next season.”
Kerang were notified of the decision following the Central Rivers July board meeting and were allowed to play one last A Reserve game (against Woorinen in round 13), before being forced to move up into A Grade for this weekend’s fixture against the Mallee Eagles.
The decision has also left Kerang without a team in A Reserve team, where it will now forfeit the remainder of the season – handing the Mallee Eagles, Lake Boga, Tyntynder and Swan Hill the four points for each game.
The move has in turn ruled Kerang ineligible to qualify for finals in A Reserve, where they sit in fourth on the ladder with seven wins and one draw.
“The board looked at the remaining fixtures and they’re fixtured against three of the top teams, but thought that the impact of bringing Kerang back up into A Grade and also on the A Reserve competition was going to be minimal based on past results from the A Reserve and A Grade games,” Morris said.
“Kerang won’t be eligible to play A Reserve finals – they essentially won’t have an A Reserve team now that they have moved back into A Grade, but their B Grade and B Reserve teams will remain where they are.”
With the Blues now essentially out of finals contention in the A Grade and A Reserve competitions, their players have little to play for.
With just four rounds remaining, it was disappointing scenario for the club, according to secretary Kirstyn Waddingham.
“Whilst we appreciate the board giving us the exemption at the start of the season, when we were in an incredibly difficult situation – and we also realise that the decision that was made was unprecedented – we also feel pretty gutted that they have come to this decision with just four rounds remaining,” Waddingham said.
“As a general rule, they don’t give exemptions like that too often, so we really did appreciate their support on it – we also understand the situation that they’re in and the fact that there’s been some push back from the other clubs.
“But with four rounds to go and with the season almost complete anyway, we’re just disappointed that they’ve voted to pull the exemption now.
“It was outlined from the beginning that it could be pulled at any point and we’ve been in regular dialogue with the board across the season – but there was never any indication that it was looking like being pulled, which for us was the hard part.
“We were never out to win a premiership, we came into the season with a severe lack of players and we were really just trying to rebuild the club. We always said it was it was about trying to develop the club and give some of the juniors a bit of an opportunity in the senior grades and get through the season.
“But I guess that’s where we’ve come to the hard part of being pulled from the finals. It’s not just the finals that this decision will have a bearing on, but also for those individuals who may have been in the running for awards such as the best and fairest and the like.”
As for the ones affected most – the players – they too are feeling the pain of having their season turned upside down.
“They’re very disappointed, probably more so though than us,” Waddingham said.
“They have a lot of questions that they feel they’re not really getting answers to – they’re very disappointed in the decision and the affect it will have on their netball going forward.”
