Local AFL competition finals clash with coming Geelong vs Collingwood fixture

In the latest example of community sporting leagues clashing with elite sport, the Ovens and Murray Football Netball League in north-east Victoria has expressed that the first round of its season finals this Saturday will clash the AFL finals series opener between Geelong and Collingwood.

With the AFL having scheduled its first finals game for 4.30pm this Saturday afternoon, clashing with key games in many local league, the Ovens and Murray Football Netball League has objected to the AFL game being scheduled at that time in the afternoon, saying regional people would have to leave early in the day to make it to the game, and others would be glued to their televisions.

Expressing fears that the clash will cannibalise spectators, volunteers and even players from local games, Ovens and Murray Football Netball League Chairman, David Sinclair told the ABC “there is no doubt it will have a tangible impact on our finals.

"It's a real kick in the teeth to community football."

Yarrawonga Football Netball Club president Ross Mulquiney said it was a sign of a bigger conflict between struggling community sporting clubs and major leagues with their eye on peak broadcast times.

Mulquiney explained "essentially they're killing the goose that laid the golden egg, by not allowing them to prosper.”

Expressing a belief that community sport needs protection from broadcast sport going ‘against the gate’ Mulquiney stated “we're competing with subscriptions for $10 a month where you can watch football whenever you like ... (against) live sport on a Saturday afternoon when we're hopeful to get people either to come down and watch, or come down and participate.

"We are fighting a losing battle.

"How much do we value people being out, active and healthy and socialising, versus a few more dollars to some professional sports people to play a game?"

The Ovens and Murray Football Netball League’s entire 2020 season was cancelled due to COVID-19, and statewide restrictions and lockdowns saw the 2021 season called off in August, before finals could begin.

Sinclair added “for most of us it's been three years since we've played any finals.

"This is our opportunity now to raise some revenue, and we're trying to do it against the backdrop of one of the biggest blockbuster finals in the AFL in recent years.

"It's just a massive distraction that community football doesn't need."

Such clashes are not unique to AFL.

Last weekend Football NSW played the finals of its NPL competition at Sydney’s CommBank Stadium, clashing with the finals being played by local competitions across the state.

Local AFL player takes fight against eight-week striking suspension to Supreme Court
In another development in regional AFL in Victoria, Gippsland AFL player John Ginnane is taking his objection to an eight-week striking suspension to Victoria’s Supreme Court,

Ginnane, who is set to miss finals in the Gippsland Football League this weekend because of the suspension, appeared in the Supreme Court on Tuesday arguing that the decision by AFL Victoria Country should be reviewed.

The Court heard that Ginnane was suspended for striking against Wonthaggi in round 12, in an incident which resulted in an opposition player losing consciousness and breaking his collarbone.

Ginnane’s suspension over the incident was handed down by the Gippsland league's independent tribunal and later upheld by the AFL Victoria Country Appeal Board.

However, David Mence, the lawyer for Ginnane, who has already served four weeks of the ban, asked the Court to undertake a judicial review of the decision by AFL Victoria and to suspend the playing ban while the review process took place, effectively allowing Ginnane to play in the finals.

However, Ben Ihle, QC, who appeared on behalf of AFL Victoria, said the appeal was "factually, legally and jurisdictionally misconceived".

Justice Andrew Keogh told the Court that Ihle had instead submitted it should be a contractual claim, interrogating the agreement Ginnane had entered with the Gippsland league and AFL Victoria.

As reported by the ABC, after hearing arguments for about two hours in the Supreme Court on Tuesday, lawyers representing Ginnane told the Court they would withdraw their client's application.