Kyabram District League: Grand final to be played on AFL public holiday

A country footy competition is targeting hosting its big day on the AFL grand final public holiday creating a festival of footy in the Goulburn Valley.

Tallygaroopna and Nagambie faced off in the 2019 decider. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

Goulburn Valley footy and netball fans are in for a treat with a grand final bonanza later this year.

The Kyabram District Football Netball League (KDFNL) has announced it will play its grand final on the AFL Grand Final public holiday, September 24, after reshaping its fixture.

The decision will see fans be able to enjoy the AFL’s big day on the Saturday before it concludes with the Goulburn Valley League’s big dance on September 26.

It could potentially mean all four competitions – including the Murray and Picola District leagues – could all have their grand finals on separate days for the first time in years.

KDFNL president Fraser Kerrins said he was excited by the prospect of what lay ahead.

“We’ve had great support from our clubs and we think this year might be the perfect time to trial it,” he said.

“It will be a massive weekend for our region and hopefully we can get plenty of people through the gates.

“As a competition we’re really excited by the potential to show off the talent we have on our books.

“We’re the first local competition to do it and we’re hopeful we can prove it can be done.”

KDFNL officials are hopeful of resuming the competition on June 19 meaning two rounds have been rescheduled.

The split round has been condensed into one weekend to allow round 8 games to be moved to July 31.

Meanwhile, games which were scheduled for the upcoming weekend have been shifted to August 28.

The changes mean the season has been shifted back a week.

“We thought it was important to give our clubs some time to prepare to play again,” Kerrins said.

“It would have been difficult to ask people to play without any training for several weeks.”

Other local competitions are yet to announce their plans as some had said they had hopes of playing this weekend.

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