Northern Football League coaches react to decision to cancel season
Coaches and players have been left devastated by the Northern Football League’s decision to cancel the 2020 season but there is an understanding as to why the controversial call was made.
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Ask a Northern Football League coach for their reaction to the league’s decision to cancel the 2020 season and their first word is usually “disappointing”.
However, invariably that’s followed by “but I can understand it”.
It’s understandable, coaches and players are the hardest hit by the NFL’s decision having seen seven months of dedication come to nothing.
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“It was disappointing to hear. We were hopeful of getting a shortened season in,” West Preston-Lakeside dual premiership coach Rob Maiorana said.
“I feel for the players that have been training hard behind the scenes to maintain condition in readiness to come back.
“It’s a challenging environment and there’s a lot of considerations but it would have been good to get community sport going.”
Division 1 rival Greensborough’s Mick Harford said while no one wanted a line ruled through the season, it was a decision that many saw coming.
“It’s disappointing not to be playing when there was a glimmer of hope but I also think it was also a decision we were all expecting,” he said.
Along with the Eastern league, the NFL was the first senior metropolitan competition to announce a decision on its 2020 season.
The four remaining metro leagues – WRFL, EDFL, SFL and VAFA – will wait until June 22 to announce their futures, hopeful the Victorian government will further ease restrictions to ensure crowds can attend games.
Heidelberg West coach Michael Missen would have preferred the league stay the course.
“I was a bit frustrated … we’ve done the hard yards to get through 10 weeks, another two aren’t going to hurt,” he said.
NFL chief executive Peter McDougall said a range of issues were behind the decision, including financial costs, burden on volunteers and unanswered questions around crowds.
“As disappointing as it is, I think ultimately I think it’s the right decision,” Thomastown coach Mario Bandera said.
“No one wants to miss a year but with all the unknown and how much responsibility that would have fallen on volunteers, I think the NFL made the right decision.”
Diamond Creek counterpart Andrew Tranquilli praised the league for taking a stand while rival competitions continue to wait on the State Government.
“I think it was the right decision, it was a courageous decision,” he said.
“As much as we’d love a game of footy, there’s still a health pandemic that we need to be all over.
“Do I think they jumped the gun early? No. I think they’ve just made the right call. If other leagues do play, then good on them.”
While senior football has officially been called off, the NFL remains hopeful of starting netball and junior football in coming months.