South Morang’s improving financial situation will ensure it survives cancelled Northern Football League season
Already operating on a reduced budget as well as timely sponsorship revenue will ensure South Morang ride out the cancelled NFL season, while the reduced salary cap could help player retention.
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South Morang’s improving financial position and timely sponsorship revenue has protected the club from the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown.
The Lions have been operating with smaller budgets and salary cap for the past couple of seasons due to Northern Football League sanctions as they repay outstanding debts.
It’s a silver lining for the club in a cancelled season.
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President Chris Donnelly said the club’s committee had been working hard to get back in the black.
“We’re better than most (financially),” he said.
“The league has reduced our salary cap the last couple of years because we had a debt hanging over.
“We’ve been chipping away at that debt … so we’ve been doing a lot of (cost) trimming anyway and it won’t affect us too much.
“We’re also fortunate to get all our sponsorship money in before the pulled the season and no one has asked for that back.”
The NFNL confirmed the salary cap would be slashed across the league in 2021.
Division 3 clubs will have a limit of $60,000, only $5000 less than what South Morang were sanctioned to pay this season.
Donnelly said the cap reduction would benefit the club two-fold, ensuring continued financial stability and the Lions young talent wasn’t poached by higher clubs.
“With the league coming out and reducing the salary cap across the board is a little bit of solace for as a third division club,” he said.
“I don’t think we’ll have too many young players poached from our club like recently.
“Whilst we wish our youth the best, the Division 1 and 2 clubs have made a habit of poaching our players every season.
“Of course the young fellas want to play the highest level possible, so until we’re able to get out of Division 3 we’re always going to be a breeding ground for others.
“With the salary cap confirmed it gives us an idea of how much we can spend and start signing players on.
“It wouldn’t have been prudent to go and sign them up without knowing what the salary cap was.”
South Morang fell agonisingly short of promotion last season, beaten by Panton Hill in the grand final.
The Lions have often punched above their weight with a focus on youth development - the Lions’ under-19 winning the Division 2 premiership by 107 points last season.
Coach Gary Hall is yet to sign on for 2021 but Donnelly said the job was his if he wanted to continue.
“The first port of call will be Gary Hall, he’s a South Morang person, so he’ll get first preference,” he said.
“He’s performance over the last two years we’ve played has been excellent with the list we’ve got and the players we’ve lost.”
The expected return of Tye Hall from a knee reconstruction will be a massive boost to South Morang’s hopes in 2021 and the club is also confident of retaining key players Alex Colaidis and Jake Potter.