AFL Barwon breaks silence on North Shore’s future and letter to the club

AFL Barwon has spoken out amid uncertainty over North Shore’s place in the 2025 football season.

Picture: Alan Barber

AFL Barwon has broken its silence on North Shore ahead of the 2025 season, explaining its letter to the Seagulls and saying there remains “some work to be done” for the club to field senior football sides.

North Shore met with AFL Barwon at the peak body’s headquarters on Thursday afternoon following an explosive letter uncovered by this masthead which was sent to key Seagulls figures on Tuesday.

It revealed AFL Barwon’s plan to exclude North Shore from the senior and reserves 2025 Geelong football season due to low numbers and failing to meet requirements — including a minimum of 60 registered players on PlayHQ — which caught the club off guard.

However, AFL Barwon maintained that North Shore had not provided enough information to them nor “shown reasonable cause”.

Harry Purcell, Dale Purcell, Jacob Sammut and Greg Dennis. Picture: Alan Barber

“AFL Barwon has been closely monitoring the situation surrounding North Shore Football Netball Club and its efforts to establish a sustainable football program for the 2025 season. AFL Barwon, AFL Victoria, and the North Shore FNC Executive have been engaged in ongoing discussions to explore a viable path forward,” an AFL Barwon spokesperson said.

“Discussions were held on December 18th, where AFL Barwon expressed concerns about their football playing numbers. At this meeting, AFL Barwon presented the 2025 Action Plan for the Greater North Geelong Future Football project.

“On February 13th, AFL Barwon issued a letter to North Shore FNC, providing the club with an opportunity to demonstrate its ability to field Senior and Reserve football teams in 2025. This was prompted by the fact that, at the time, North Shore FNC had no registered Senior male footballers.

“Despite some verbal assurances, North Shore FNC had been unable to provide the relevant written confirmation to this request and show reasonable cause. By February 28th, AFL Barwon requested a meeting on March 3rd, at which North Shore Co-President representing netball was the only representative in attendance.

“Due to lack of confirmation by North Shore FNC, AFL Barwon had no choice but to begin planning scenarios for the 2025 season without North Shore FNC participating in the 2025 GFNL football competition as a contingency.”

The peak body said every effort will be made to ensure North Shore takes the football field but the Seagulls are yet to be officially approved.

“AFL Barwon is still assessing North Shore FNC’s ability, in its current form, to meet AFL Barwon By-Law 13.2, which states: “All Clubs must field teams in Senior & Reserve football grades, and all Netball grades from A Grade down.” Noting a netball exemption has been in place in recent seasons. It is not a viable solution to only have one senior football team,” the statement said.

“Whilst this assessment is still taking place and there has been an increase in registrations, there remains some work to be done regarding North Shore’s ability to field senior and reserve football teams in 2025. AFL Barwon must take proactive steps to support all clubs and players. While every effort is being made by North Shore FNC in establishing a sustainable football program, the ongoing uncertainty necessitates careful planning to protect the integrity of the competition and the interests of all participating clubs.

“AFL Barwon remains committed to supporting all clubs within the region to ensure strong and sustainable football and netball competitions.”

North Shore players went to training on Thursday evening unsure whether the club would be taking the field this year.

But club figures at the meeting with AFL Barwon relayed a positive message to players and coaches on Thursday night.

New coach Mark Hounslow was initially led to believe it was business as usual for the Seagulls.

Capain Jacob Sammut talks to the players at training. Picture: Alan Barber

Seagulls players voted with their feet on Thursday night with more than 30 players, including five new faces, turning up — one of their best attendances on a single night this pre-season. Another handful were unable to attend due to work and other commitments.

The letter earlier this week revealed North Shore had just 19 registered players on PlayHQ and a host of Seagulls completed their registration after training.

Following the letter, North Shore sent through several pieces of information about their current numbers including a playing list of 47 players.

Hounslow conceded the leaked letter was a wake-up call.

“It was a good wake-up call for everyone to go, ‘Okay, (folding) is an actual possibility, people are looking at it like that’,” Hounslow said.

“So let’s get on the front foot, let’s get moving and keep ramping up towards round one and get the club back on track, because no one wants to see it go.

“Obviously a proud history and been a successful club in the past, but that’s up to us now to commit and start making our own bit of history there.”

This masthead contacted AFL Barwon for comment surrounding North Shore’s situation on Friday but the governing body did not respond before the publication deadline.

Questions were asked around what deadline had been issued to North Shore and how many registered players North Shore were required to have.

AFL Barwon was also asked to provide information around contingency plans should North Shore be deemed ineligible to compete in the 2025 season.

Originally published as AFL Barwon breaks silence on North Shore’s future and letter to the club