Victoria’s easing of restrictions do little for country footy hopes

Despite an easing of restrictions across regional Victoria, the country footy season is all but over.

Country footy is all but over. Photo: Aaron Cook.

An easing of restrictions across regional Victoria may not be enough to save the country footy season.

Only outdoor training is permitted under the revised restrictions with Premier Daniel Andrews revealing the rules at set to remain in place until the end of September.

Competitions across the state had already pushed their seasons back as a result of the lockdown with some leagues forecasting grand finals on the first weekend in October.

In such a situation, the two teams who finished first and second on the ladder would play off for a premiership in just under a month’s time.

But Bendigo league manager Cameron Tomlins said it would not be an option for his competition.

“The weekend of September 25 was always our final date, we couldn’t afford to push into October,” he said.

“We released a range of different scenarios when the lockdown was announced but unfortunately those have all fallen over under the new restrictions.

“It’s incredibly unfortunate but we’re understanding of the situation.”

Despite the disappointment of the announcement, Tomlins said he was looking for positives in the situation.

“We’re grateful to have had the opportunity to play again this year,” he said.

“At the start of the season we anticipated there would be some hiccups along the way, it’s just a shame as to how it’s played out.

“Being able to play game was important for player retention but it also ensured people were able to connect with their community clubs.”

Warrnambool and District league president Kylie Murphy said officials would not look to push back the competition’s grand final which was scheduled to be held next week.

“It’s disappointing for the season to finish this way,” she said.

“We were fortunate to have a clean run for the first half of the second but the challenges continued to grow in the back half.

“It would have been incredibly hard for players to stay fit and motivated during this time off because no one was sure what was going to happen next.

“If we were to play again we couldn’t have asked players to train on Thursday night then play a game on Saturday after so much time off.”

Elsewhere, Ovens and Murray league chairman David Sinclair said officials were meeting on Wednesday night with an official announcement expected on Thursday.

Last month, Wimmera league officials announced its intention to play a grand final between the top two teams on October 2 if play was unable to resume before that date.

It remains unclear if it is still the competition’s intent.

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